This study empirically investigated the ERM Implementation model and proposed framework to identify and manage risks in Oil and Gas Sector in Malaysia. The study examined the role of ERM framework implementation in improving business performance by utilizing Economic Value Added as a measurement tool. The study also provides insights to the Oil and Gas Sector to gain higher profit returns, reduce cost of capital, and improve shareholders value. Moreover, it contributes significantly in the field of Enterprise risk management in Malaysia. The identification and management of risk is significant to organizations in managing risks efficiently. Expectations of stakeholders of the organization are high from executives and board of directors in managing the risk effectively. Linear regression analysis is utilized in analyzing the data obtained from the data collection performed for this paper. Purposive sampling has been employed in order to select the firms that are operating in Malaysian oil and gas sector. Primary data has been utilized to collect data with the help of structured questions and interview techniques that involve semi structured questions. The results of the regression analysis conducted for in this study suggested that a significant and positive relationship between Enterprise Risk Management with operational risk; market risk; political risk; health, safety and environmental risk; and, also business performance.

Unit trust is a convenient way of investing and a sensible way to build one’s wealth in the medium term and subsequently in the long-term. Investment specialists will manage the investments and spread the risks through careful diversification. The basic nature of the unit trust is that it carries a low-level of risks and accordingly determines a lower level of returns compared to other financial instruments. There is a lack of research that empirically investigates the factors that influence an investor’s decision in unit trust investment, particularly in a Malaysian setting. The purpose of this study is to analyse the factors that influence an investor’s investment decision in purchasing a unit trust. This paper aims to narrow this research gap, whereby financial status, risk taking behaviour, investment revenue and related information are hypothesized to exert statistically significant influences on the investor’s decision in unit trust investment. The empirical study uses a quantitative research approach whereby survey data have been sampled from 202 participants using a convenient sampling technique. This research is cross-sectional and uses primary data for analysis. Data analysis has been carried out using multiple regression analysis. The empirical research finds that financial status, risk taking behaviour, and sources of information significantly influence the investors’ investment behaviours in unit trusts. However, there was not enough evidence to support the claims that investment return and revenue have a statistical relationship to the investors investment behaviours regarding unit trusts. The findings from this research will have huge implications for investors and for financial institutions. This paper helps fund managers and brokers to understand the behaviours of an individual investor in response to a unit trust. On the other hand, this helps them to better target their customers, and persuade customers to make their investments in a unit trust effectively and efficiently, thereby helping them to manage their financial wealth with less risk but better future prospects.

Purpose: This study aims to examine the impact of foundational competencies on work engagement in the context of the Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) service sector.Design/methodology/approach: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in Malaysia, and data were gathered via a survey on 312 employees representing SMEs service sectors. Partial least squares techniques were used in testing the hypothesized linkages.Findings: The findings indicated that foundational competencies have a significant positive effect on work engagement.Research limitations/implications: Considering the research approach, generalizing the findings of this study must be done with caution. Longitudinal data are recommended, as these could provide additional support to the results. Further studies can as well extend the framework by testing whether job resources play a positive role in enhancing the relationship between foundational competencies and work engagement in Malaysia.Practical implications: The findings suggest that foundational competencies positively relate to work engagement. Therefore, training and coaching sessions could be organized by managers/policy makers to enhance these competencies, which will strengthen work engagement and career development of the employee; it may specifically be very helpful for fresh graduates whose careers would have just started.Originality/value: To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to examine the effect of American Society of Training and Development foundational competencies on work engagement in SMEs in Malaysia.

The Facility Layout Problem (FLP) is a challenging task with significant sustainability implications. Due to its multifaceted nature, it is classified as a non-deterministic polynomial-time (NP)-hard problem, further compounded by increasing computational demands. The FLP aims to optimise the allocation of factory facilities to maximise production efficiency while minimising material handling costs. To tackle these challenges, researchers have developed a two-phase heuristic algorithm called The Origin (TO), which draws inspiration from the experiential process of the bin-packing problem. The TO algorithm considers various factors, such as operating and capacity limitations, as well as material handling costs, to optimize facility layout designs. Extensive evaluations of the TO algorithm using benchmark sizes ranging from 14 to 125 have shown that it outperforms alternative metaheuristic approaches. The TO algorithm yields more sustainable outcomes by minimising material handling costs while improving production efficiency. These results highlight the importance of addressing various constraints, especially industrial constraints, in facility layout designs and demonstrates the potential of heuristic algorithms to support these efforts.

Hyperlink analysis, an emerging research area in web structure mining, extracts hidden information from hyperlink data. This study analyses the websites of USA's best 50 small companies to determine the association between the Webometrics data and business performance measures as well as traffic ranking. The results show that there is an association between the Webometrics data and the company's business information as well as traffic ranking. This suggests that Webometrics data could be used as an indicator for evaluating the business performance of the company as well as the visibility of its website to a target audience.