Purpose Social media is a popular communication tool for college students in many countries including Malaysia. Even though the literature indicates that the use of social media in a higher learning environment is likely to enhance academic performance of college students, the mechanism that explains such association is yet to be explored. Based on the claims that the integration of social media use is purposeful to enhance student engagement, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of student engagement as a potential mediator between social media use and academic performance of college students in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach A total number of 227 business students in one of the public universities in Malaysia were randomly chosen to participate in this study. Questionnaire was used as the main data collection technique, which was personally administered during class sessions. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling-partial least square (SEM-PLS). Findings The result showed the multidimensionality of student engagement. It also indicated that cognitive engagement mediated the relationship between social media and academic performance, but not behavioral, emotional, or agentic engagement. The result suggests that social media has the potential to be used in a learning environment as it promotes cognitive engagement of students in class and subsequently their academic performance and success. Research limitations/implications One of the limitations of the present study is that the generalizability of the finding to a much larger population of students may be limited as the sampled students were recruited from business students in one of the public universities in Malaysia only. Students of different academic programs in different universities may have a different pattern of using the social media. Practical implications This study will help higher learning institutions and educators think of ways to integrate the use of social media in learning activities to help students achieve better academic performance. As shown by the findings, such use can encourage students to be cognitively engagedt in class in which the students can be more active learners. Originality/value The present study adds to the literature in social media use by addressing the issue of how it helps enhance academic performance of college students in a single model. Past studies tended to examine the role of social media and student engagement and the effect of student engagement on academic performance separately. Furthermore, this study took into consideration various types of social media used by college students who tend to have multiple accounts.
PurposeAlthough the significance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in influencing economic growth is recognized, the performance of SMEs all over the world including Nigeria is unanticipated. Thus, this research aims to investigate the effect of strategic flexibility by moderating the effects of sustainability strategy on the SMEs' performance in Nigeria from a business strategy perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses of the study were tested using personally administered survey questionnaires; the study obtained 486 valid questionnaires, which were evaluated using SmartPLS algorithm and bootstrapping functions.FindingsThe research findings were established using SmartPLS algorithm and bootstrapping functions. According to the results, the research constructs have a satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity. Equally, the overall model has a very high predictive relevance. The study established a strong positive influence of strategic flexibility on the SMEs’ performance. In addition, the study also established the moderating influence of sustainability strategy on the constructs.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is explorative and designed to yield results and to be generalizable. Future research is thus encouraged to confirm or contradict the results of this study in a different context.Practical implicationsThe research findings may be beneficial to policymakers and academics. It can particularly be useful in understanding strategic flexibility, its influence on the performance of SMEs and whether it can fit between the sustainability and strategic direction of a business enterprise.Originality/valueThis study fulfils an identified need to study strategic flexibility and its influence on the performance of SMEs using a dynamic perspective specifically in the context of emerging economies such as Nigeria.
Safety is an important employment issue that needs to be tackled because of the cost implications it brings to organizations. As Malaysia aspires to become a developed nation by 2020, reducing workplace accidents is one of the key employment concerns it aims to address.Literature indicates that one of the reasons for occupational accidents at work is unsafe behavior. Adding to the safety research literature, this study examined to what extent perceptions of safety affect employees to comply with safety behavior at work. A survey was conducted in a big telecommunication company in Malaysia among 135 technical employees.Partial least square (PLS) analysis was employed in this study to test the research hypothesis.Our measurement model resulted in five facets of employee perception whose validity and reliability were confirmed. The analysis on the structural model revealed that management safety practices was the most significant predictor of safety compliance, followed by, co-worker safety and job safety. However, no significant effect was found for supervisor safety and satisfaction with safety programs. Practical implications, limitations of the study, and future research direction are discussed.
We examine the relationship between career-related practices and knowledge sharing behaviour in Oman. The practices considered in this study are perceived security, employability, and promotion opportunities. Although studies on knowledge sharing behaviour at work are plentiful, limited empirical evidence exists of the role of careerrelated practices in this regard. Hence, in fulfilling this gap, a survey was conducted among 129 employees at both managerial and professional levels across various industries in Muscat, Oman. Using multiple regression analysis, the results showed that all practices significantly predicted the dimension of knowledge collecting behaviour, but not knowledge donating behaviour. The implications of the findings on the importance of putting in place practices to support and develop one's career are discussed as a way to promote knowledge collecting in the organisation.
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