Legends thrive, but there is little tangible evidence about dozens of Malay kingdoms, which are said to have flourished long before the emergence of Melaka in the late 14th century. The Bujang Valley in South Kedah, for one, is Malaysia’s richest archaeological site. The valley is the guardian of countless hidden tales which are waiting to be unveiled. Here, the beliefs of the Malay ancestors were centred upon nature and the spirits which permeate every aspect of their lives. These beliefs (...) have been passed down to the next generation by the elderly. They have valuable information to share about their families and ethnicity of which written evidence is often scarce. Such tales may perish if they are not well documented. Oral history, adopted as its testimony, permits us to gather data not available in written records. Oral history techniques are able to elicit facts, feelings, and descriptions, contributing to social history. Moreover, this technique is able to reveal how individual values and actions shaped the past, and how the past shapes present-day values and actions. Findings include offerings made to appease the spirits of the rivers and lands. Other findings include the revelation of the Bujang Valley as the centre of knowledge. The establishment of madrasah – “sekolah pondok” brought about a better understanding of Islam resulting in the inherent beliefs in the supernatural to slowly diminish. All these recollections form a body of knowledge that is priceless and worth recording. Knowledge published in tangible forms is a key factor to worldwide recognition. Therefore, these efforts to safeguard oral history and family stories should be a top priority for new knowledge development and commercial enhancement for generations to come. (shrink)

The objective of this research is to investigate the effects of corporate governance scores and environmental, social, and governance scores (ESG) on firms’ cost of capital in emerging countries. The sample consists of 800 firm-year observations collected from Thomson Reuters. We analyze the data using panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE) regressions, which correct for heteroskedasticity issues and contemporaneous errors in the data. When moderated with emerging market variable, our findings indicate that in the financial sector, corporate governance and ESG score is (...) negatively associated with cost of capital. Nonetheless, in the nonfinancial sector, no evidence is found on the effect of corporate governance and ESG on cost of capital. Our findings indicate that emerging countries, different institutional, ownership, and legal structural has an effect on corporate governance and ESG implementation. (shrink)

This study examines the influences of individual behaviour and organizational commitment towards the enhancement of Islamic Work Ethics at the Royal Malaysian Air Force. It involved 312 respondents of different backgrounds and the data were analysed using descriptive analysis and structural equation modelling analysis. The results show that both individual behaviour and organizational commitment have significantly correlated with the enhancement of IWE. The findings could help managers especially of multinational corporations operating in Muslim countries to enhance the company performances by (...) instituting elements of IWE in their organizations. This can be done by promoting the understanding of IWE and providing a conducive environment to practice it. (shrink)

Today, the business world has embraced increasing uncertainty and abrupt changes. The concern for business owners is business sustainability, which is crucial for their business to remain relevant and flexible in unpredictable business environments. The process of change forces business owners to be ready for any consequences that affect their business. Due to overwhelming tasks and responsibilities, single mothers may need help to succeed in business. The present research offers a comprehensive review of business continuity from the perspective of single (...) mothers. Within the scope of this research is an exhaustive and methodical investigation of the business acumen of single mothers as entrepreneurs. A literature review was conducted, and the findings may offer a comprehensive discussion of several dimensions of entrepreneurial competency. The findings contribute new information to the existing body of knowledge regarding entrepreneurial competency, which has been a recurrent topic of discussion among earlier academics who have explored the subject matter to investigate. At the end of this paper, practising entrepreneurial competency with single-mother entrepreneurs has several implications. These findings can be applied and utilized by single-mother entrepreneurs, as well as by the government, industry, and the community. (shrink)

The concept of self-efficacy has been widely studied and shown to contribute to individuals’ job satisfaction. For counselors, the concept measures their belief in their ability to conduct counseling sessions. However, it is an understudied area. As Bandura states, self-efficacy and its sources should be investigated and measured within its domain, which in this case is school counseling. This study examined the impact on school counselors’ self-efficacy and job satisfaction of the personal and environmental factors: mastery experience, social persuasion, vicarious (...) learning, physiological and affective state, the access to training, and perceived supervisor support of training. The cross-sectional study involved 541 Malaysian secondary school counselors nationwide via a random sampling-distributed questionnaire. Results which were analyzed using PLS-SEM, with importance-performance functionality embedded in it, indicated that mastery experience, access to training, and perceived supervisor support of training explained 45.6% variance in counseling self-efficacy and together with counseling self-efficacy, contributed 13.2% variance in job satisfaction among the school counselors. The importance-performance map analysis revealed supervisor support of training as of greatest importance in shaping counseling self-efficacy. Counseling self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between mastery experience, access to training, supervisor support toward training, and job satisfaction Arising from this finding is a proposed theoretical framework in which efficacy information, environmental determinants and cognitive determinant corresponded together congruently and lead to higher job satisfaction. Suggestions are also made for training providers, content developers, and policymakers to include these factors in professional development training and continuous education, to sustain the wellbeing of school counselors. (shrink)

Source: Author: Marwan Kadhim Mohammed, Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya Martin Amis's manipulation of the patriarchal concept of power is a notable indication of his transgressive attitudes that raise remarkable questions about the human identity. Transgressing power investigates the violation of the normal and familiar trends of literature in order to circulate a new discourse by which a new identity is reframed. Hence, the study of power in Martin Amis's novels, as an important technique of identity re-definition, is not taken into (...) consideration in the light of Foucault's theory of power. The objective of this study is to examine the role applied by transgression as a technique of subverting the common discourse of power in the field of identity re-formation. The study investigates the concept of power manipulated in Amis's Money to define the identity of the 'New Man'. Accordingly, the Foucauldian theory of power is taken as a framework of this study. The study reveals a conclusion in which the transgressive aspects of power are effectively utilized by Amis to re-define the identity of his protagonist in the novel. Although John Self-has finally lost his name and fortune, which are necessary demands to define one's self-in the patriarchal society, he finds his own new identity away from the materialistic norms of the common discourse. ]]>. (shrink)

This study examines how values and communication in the workplace differ across different generations, with data analyzed from 223 participants using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The research reveals notable differences in individual and organizational values between different generations and evaluates how effectively values are communicated and aligned across various age groups. Some key discoveries include variations in how different age groups view the level of respect towards personal values within an organization (H5, f = 3.632, p = 0.015) and (...) the recognition of individual values (H8, f = 2.912, p = 0.038). However, the theories regarding the importance of organizational values (H1), smooth intergenerational communication (H3), and the influence of aligning values on job satisfaction (H10) were not supported. The research highlights the significance of recognizing and dealing with differences in values among different generations in order to improve communication and unity within organizations. (shrink)

Publication date: 30 November 2016 Source: Author: Wen Lee Ng, Manimangai Mani, Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya While the growing body of research on Tan Twan Eng’s The Gift of Rain focuses on the protagonist, Philip Hutton’s traumatic condition, his Chinese identity, and his ambiguous identity, this study devotes particular attention to the complexity of interactions between various cultures practised by Philip. This study aims to address this gap by applying the concept of transculturalism to analyse the processes of acquiring a (...) foreign culture and incorporating the foreign culture into traditional cultures experienced by Philip. In other words, this study employs the concept of transculturalism to examine multicultural depictions in the novel. Scholars, such as Khan, Tiwari, Sheoran and Tan C. S. who have examined multicultural depictions in various literary texts, have found that multicultural circumstances cause certain ethnic groups to lose their cultures and identities. Hence, the multicultural circumstances depicted are perceived as negative phenomena. However, this study has found that by examining the interactions between various cultures, rather than focusing on the end products such as portrayals of hybridity, the positive sides of multicultural depictions could be revealed. The transculturation process experienced by Philip shows that the new cultural practices he has created are made up of both his traditional cultures and the foreign culture he has acquired. This means that Philip does not totally lose his traditional cultures and identities. Therefore, this study concludes that multicultural depictions in The Gift of Rain could be read positively, provided that the interactions between various cultures, which resulted in the incorporation of a foreign culture into traditional cultures, are examined. (shrink)

The existence of ‘human-like’ attributes and actions in the Qur’an and Hebrew Bible entails to various interpretations towards anthropomorphic verses among the Muslim and Jewish counterparts. Al-Ghazali and Maimonides in their discourses strongly affirmed the unity of God and refuted anthropomorphism. Therefore, this study expounded al-Ghazali and Maimonides’ methods in affirming the incorporeality of God through outlining the similarities and differences in their interpretation. This study was qualitative in nature which analyses writings of al-Ghazali and Maimonides in encountering anthropomorphism. It (...) can be deduced that both scholars were found to be employing allegorical interpretation with different level of interpretations in their attempts to repudiate the corporeal form of God. Alternatively, they both agree on the literalist’s approach with conditions that one must not perceive God’s essence in a bodily figure. Consequently, believing so will lead one to heresy. In sum, their emphasis on an incorporeal God brought them to similar interpretation despite their different religion and theological or philosophical orientation.Contribution: This article contributed to comparative theological study in understanding anthropomorphic verses through the discourse of al-Ghazali and Maimonides in Islam and Judaism, respectively. (shrink)

Social media is a prominent communication platform. Its active usage permeates all generations and it is imperative that the platform be fully optimized for knowledge transfer and innovation diffusion. However, there are several considerations regarding platform usage, including media affordances. Social media affordances enable users to interact with the world around them through features of modality, agency, interactivity, and navigation. Previous studies have indicated that social media affordances significantly influence user behavior and usage. However, research exploring the effect of social (...) media affordances on knowledge acquisition and the reduction of decision-making complexities is limited. Therefore, focusing on 179 paddy farmers in Malaysia, this study examined the effect of social media affordances on information quality, knowledge acquisition, and complexity reduction regarding innovation adoption decisions using a quantitative approach. This study’s findings reveal that social media affordances have a significant effect on perceived information quality, knowledge acquisition, and complexity reduction. (shrink)

It is commonly held that implicit learning is based largely on familiarity. It is also commonly held that familiarity is not affected by intentions. It follows that people should not be able to use familiarity to distinguish strings from two different implicitly learned grammars. In two experiments, subjects were trained on two grammars and then asked to endorse strings from only one of the grammars. Subjects also rated how familiar each string felt and reported whether or not they used familiarity (...) to make their grammaticality judgment. We found subjects could endorse the strings of just one grammar and ignore the strings from the other. Importantly, when subjects said they were using familiarity, the rated familiarity for test strings consistent with their chosen grammar was greater than that for strings from the other grammar. Familiarity, subjectively defined, is sensitive to intentions and can play a key role in strategic control. (shrink)

Goodman’s paradox gives rise to a cluster of problems, problems that are in need of different answers. I will discuss some variants of the grue hypothesis applied to the technological context. One conclusion in this paper is that there is room for rational decisions, and that solutions to the paradoxes in technology can be found in the practical choice situation. *Received April 2008. †To contact the author, please write to: Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, SE‐581 83 Linköping, (...) Sweden; e‐mail: ingemar.nordin@liu.se. (shrink)

The current study presents an integrative model examining the double-edged sword effect of unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) from the perspective of the actors. Drawing on the moral self-regulation perspective and psychological entitlement literature, we propose that employees who engage in UPB may experience an increase in moral deficits and psychological entitlement, resulting in increased organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and decreased work effort, respectively. We further propose that moral attentiveness strengthens the positive relationship between UPB and moral deficits but weakens the (...) positive relationship between UPB and psychological entitlement. Moreover, the strength of the indirect effects of employee UPB on OCB and work effort is also contingent upon employees’ moral attentiveness. The hypothesized moderated mediation model is supported by a multisource and time-lagged research design based on a sample of 256 supervisor–subordinate dyads. Key theoretical and practical implications and future research directions are discussed. (shrink)

One problematic aspect of the rationality of medical practice concerns the relation between expert knowledge and non-expert knowledge. In medical practice it is important to match medical knowledge with the self-knowledge of the individual patient. This paper tries to study the problem of such matching by describing a model for technological paradigms and comparing it with an ideal of technological rationality. The professionalised experts tend to base their decisions and actions mostly on medical knowledge while the rationality of medicine also (...) involves just as important elements of the personal evaluation and knowledge of the patients. Since both types of knowledge are necessary for rational decisions, the gap between the expert and the non-expert has to be bridged in some way. A solution to the problem is suggested in terms of pluralism, with the patient as ultimate decision-maker. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:59. HUME ON IDENTITY It is well-known that Hume has a quite unusual theory of personal identity. For him, personal identity is but the identity of mind. But to him mind is just a bundle of perceptions which keeps changing its constituent members; hence a mind is not something constant. In other places he also argues that mind is not a substance which unites all the perceptions which a (...) person may have. His conclusion is that cases of personal identity for ordinary people are not genuine cases of identity for him at all. This probably is a direct consequence of his unusual notion of identity. My concern then is to see what Hume takes identity to be as an idea and as a relation. The idea of identity, according to Hume, is an idea betwixt unity and number. (T 201 J1 So I want to see first how the ideas of number and unity originate. Hume says that; a single object, plac'd before us, and survey 'd for any time without our discovering in it any interruption or variation, is able to give us a notion of identity. For when we consider any two points of this time, we may place them in different lights: We may either survey them at the very same instant; in which case they give us the idea of number, both by themselves and by the object; which must be multiply 'd, in order to he conceiv'd at once, as existent in these two different points of time. (T 201)2 What is surveyed is a single object, i.e., an object which is neither interrupted nor varied. According to Price, "At this stage of [Hume's] inquiry, he ought only to be talking of sense-impressions ( 'perceptions ')," so, here instead of talking about a single object, I shall talk about a single perception, i.e., an uninterrupted, unchanged perception which persists through a certain period of time. Roughly speaking, a perception is interrupted if it is not temporally 60. continuous; it is varied, if it changes either its sensible qualities, or its spatial characteristics, viz., shape, size, pattern. But what is a single perception which is uninterrupted and unchanged? This question as stated is misleading, for it suggests that there may be a single though interrupted or varied perception. The question I am now asking is the question of individuating perceptions. It is clear that for Hume the principle of individuation of perceptions is their invariableness and uninterruptedness through a supposed variation of time. (T 201) Hence there would be no such thing as a single but interrupted or varied perception. Since Hume gives us no example of an uninterrupted and unchanged perception, let us choose an example for ourselves. Suppose we have nothing but twelve eggs in front of us, and suppose that the eggs and their immediate environment do not change during a certain period of time. Then the perception we have of these twelve eggs during this period of time would be an uninterrupted and unchanged perception. Let P be 4 this perception. What Hume wants to do is to consider two points of time t ^ and t2 in this period. Let P1 and P2 i,s the perceptions we have of the twelve eggs at t, and t2, respectively. P ^ and P2 are then two stages of the perception P. Since P is uninterrupted and unchanged, its 'content' at each point of time during this period should remain the same. As Hume puts it, we suppose the change to lie only in... time (T 203); and the change in time, when applied to an unchangeable object, 'tis only by a fiction of the imagination, by which the unchangeable object is suppos'd to participate of the changes of the coexistent objects, and in particular of that of our perceptions. (T 200-201) We now are told to survey P. and P. at once. But this can only be done at a time t- which is 61. later than both t ^ and t 2·How can we survey them after t ^ and t2? Presumably by memory we may recall P1 and P 2 at t3. Now Hume tells... (shrink)

本书包括社会建构论与科学社会研究的转向、科学知识社会学的学术实践、双重黑箱:传统社会学的科学观等。.

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between posttraumatic growth, resilience, positive coping style, and self-efficacy among the primary caregivers of children with developmental disorders in Chongqing, China. A total of 198 primary caregivers aged from 22 to 66 years old, including 155 females and 43 males, were enrolled. The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10, Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire, and General Self-Efficacy Scale were used for data collection. The results found that PTG could be positively predicted by resilience. (...) Positive coping style and self-efficacy mediated the relationship between resilience and PTG. The different levels of PTG were determined by the resident location, monthly income and education of the primary caregivers. The results suggest that it is critical to improve the mental health of the primary caregivers of children with developmental disabilities. Our results also provide a scientific basis for future research. (shrink)

Resumen: En las dinastías Tang y Song, los clanes zongzu oficiales comunes dominaron gradualmente la comunidad de clanes, lo que interrumpió el riguroso sistema de sacrificios orientado a los estratos. Por lo tanto, como una forma emergente de sacrificio ancestral privado, la sala de imágenes yingtang apareció en las mansiones de los funcionarios comunes o en las casas de la gente común. Cuando la estatua anterior dio paso a una imagen, este nuevo signo cultural llevó a cada ejecutor del sacrificio (...) a lograr una identificación psicológica y emocional con la comunidad. A través de imágenes o retratos colgados en los salones, los albaceas pudieron comprobar si se podía crear visualmente un reino espiritual para comunicarse con sus antepasados o contarles sus oraciones. (shrink)

: Whilst the recent electoral performance of Parti Islam seMalaysia and Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu in Terengganuhas generated much interest, there are lack of studies over the involvementand motivations of the most committed party players; the grassrootsparty activists. PAS and UMNO are strongly supported by committed andextraordinary party members at the grassroots level who devote their time,money, effort, and energy to ensure the party they support wins elections andremains relevant. Unlike other professions, they are working for the party on afull-time (...) basis yet receive no specific income from the party. Their uniquenesshas directed this study to examine the factors which influence them to becomepolitical party activists. This study interviewed thirty-two party activists whowere selected using the purposive sampling technique, and the data was thenthematically analyzed through the content analysis method. Combining theCivic Voluntarism Model and the General Incentives Model into a frameworkto understand factors that motivate informants’ political party activism. Thisstudy discovered five major factors which include the ideology of the party,religious beliefs, defending ethnic supremacy, parental influence, significantpolitical events and educational institutions. This study also academicallydefies the common perception that party activists enjoy material rewards byvirtue of their party activism. (shrink)

《孟子仁义思想研究》一书由万光军博士在学位论文的基础上修改而成. 该书以孟子的仁义思想为重点, 对孟子的思想作了较为系统的研究. 作者首先将孟子放在儒学发展的历史过程中加以考察, 追溯了孟子仁义思想的历史源头, 并从先秦思想的演化过程中, 对孟子仁义思想作历史的定位.--.

Improving the innovation ability of organizations is the focal point of management study. This paper puts forward that innovative self-efficacy and employees’ innovative behaviour are continuous mediating variables, and discusses the influence mechanism of employees’ involvement and open service innovation from the individual factor level. In this study, a sample of 103 employees from travel companies was used to examine the hypothesis. The results show that employee engagement is positively related to open service innovation. Innovative self-efficacy plays a completely intermediary (...) role between employee engagement and employee innovative behaviour; Creative self-efficacy and employees’ innovative behaviour play a continuous intermediary role between employees’ engagement and open service innovation. The results of this study will eventually help enterprises to carry out service innovation behaviour. (shrink)

To understand the gaps between current bioethics education and the requirements of practicing nurses, a semistructured questionnaire was used to invite the directors of nursing departments at all 82 teaching hospitals in Taiwan to participate in this survey. The response rate was 64.6%. Through content analysis we obtained information about previous bioethical training, required themes and content, recommended teaching strategies, and difficulties with education and its application. The results suggest that Taiwanese nursing personnel need to be instilled with both self-cultivation (...) of morality and mental cultivation to acquire nursing virtues and the right attitudes toward bioethical issues. Good communication skills to prevent damage to the harmonious relationships between patients, their families and medical team members, policies that support the provision of systematic formal knowledge of ethics, small group training, and clarification of values were also shown to be important in bioethics education. (shrink)

In this study, the levels of knowledge, awareness, and acceptance of research misconduct were investigated among the Pharmacy academics and students in Malaysia. A cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire was carried out. A total of 393 pharmacy academics and students in Malaysia were involved. Perceived research misconduct, as defined in this study as the perception of any research misconduct performed or observed by the respondents at their institution, was captured and further analyzed. The data was analysed using PLS-SEM to (...) assess the hypotheses which were formulated prior to the survey. The findings show that there is a statistically significant positive relationship between the awareness of terminologies regarding research misconduct and perceived research misconduct in the workplace of respondents. However, the acceptance of unethical practices in research demonstrates a negative correlation with perceived research misconduct. Knowledge and awareness regarding research misconduct have no statistically significant relationship with perceived research misconduct in this study. Both awareness of terminologies and acceptance of unethical practices explained a 10.8% variance in perceived research misconduct. Therefore, our study indicates that the awareness, knowledge, and acceptance of research misconduct might not be the main predictors of questionable conduct of research among pharmacy academics and students. Future study on the relationship between other factors which might contribute to research misconduct is highly recommended to investigate the significant contributing factors of irresponsible conduct of research among the Pharmacy academics and students in Malaysia. (shrink)

This article compares Habermas’s and Taylor’s approach to the role of religious language in a liberal democracy. It shows that the difference in their approach is not simply in their theories of religious language. The contrast lies deeper, in their incompatible moral theories: Habermas’s universal discourse ethics vs Taylor’s communitarian substantive ethics. I also explore William Rehg’s defence of discourse ethics by conceding that it is based on a metavalue of rational consensus. However, I argue that Habermas’s and Rehg’s discourse (...) ethics and translation proviso are untenable. While Taylor rightly argues that there is no reason to exclude religious reason from the formal political sphere, his proposed fusion of horizons to generate a new hybrid framework is also problematic. I suggest that Taylor’s historical hermeneutics should be extended to include the narrative approach to ethical deliberation as conducive to mutual experiential understanding, and hence to achieving a fusion of horizons of the diverse worlds of citizens in a liberal democracy. (shrink)