Sara Abhari | Universiti Sains Malaysia (original) (raw)

Papers by Sara Abhari

Research paper thumbnail of The indirect effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on multinational companies competitiveness and resilience through work from home

International Journal of Environment, Workplace and Employment

Research paper thumbnail of Indirect effect of extra-industry network and innovativeness on performance through proactiveness

Journal of Facilities Management

Purpose The current study aims to advance the research on the extra-industry network, innovativen... more Purpose The current study aims to advance the research on the extra-industry network, innovativeness and performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by examining the mediation role of proactiveness. The study also aims to examine the mediating role innovativeness between extra-industry network and performance. Design/methodology/approach This study used the proportionate stratified random sampling method to select the study sample and the questionnaire survey approach to 580 SMEs. A total of 150 completed questionnaires were returned. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was administered to analyze data via Smart PLS 3.0 software. Findings The results reflect that proactiveness is mediated by the relationship between the extra-industry network and the performance of Iranian SMEs. In addition, the results illustrated that proactiveness is mediated by the relationship between innovativeness and the performance. The findings also address the limitation of previous ...

Research paper thumbnail of Halal food image with relevance to tourist satisfaction in the Asian region: A systematic review

International Food Research Journal

Recently, halal foods have been recognised as an alternative symbol of hygiene and safety. Conseq... more Recently, halal foods have been recognised as an alternative symbol of hygiene and safety. Consequently, halal tourism is not only limited to Muslim countries, but also has been projected to increase globally. The present review aimed to systematically review a broad range of tourist satisfaction and purchase intention in relation to consuming halal foods, and to identify various standard dimensions of the halal food image such as cognitive image, affective image, and purchase intention. To this end, a comprehensive systematic review was conducted using 23 selected scholarly articles published between 2010 and 2020. The existing literature has been reviewed based on defining the research criteria and search databases including Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Scopus, using keywords of the selected studies. Based the results, a thorough analysis was achieved concerning the halal food image as a superior predictor of the repurchase intention and awareness of tourist satisfaction pat...

Research paper thumbnail of Determinants influencing customers’ acceptance of smart restaurants in Penang, Malaysia

Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research

PurposeThis study investigated the linkage between customers’ acceptance (CA) level and smart ser... more PurposeThis study investigated the linkage between customers’ acceptance (CA) level and smart service competencies in the food sector across Penang, Malaysia. This research aims to develop a vision of how smart technology may transform the business model in hospitality industry to create value.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the level of CA of the smart restaurant is proposed as the dependent variable, while the perceived security (PS), perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived enjoyment (PE) are proposed as independent variables (IVs). The quantitative approach and simple random sampling method were adopted in this study. Data were collected from 150 respondents by distributing 225 survey questionnaires to restaurant customers across Penang, Malaysia. The data were analysed by the reliability test, factor analysis and multiple regression analysis using SPSS 23.0 softwareFindingsThe study outcomes indicated that PE and PEOU emerged as the most significant predictors for C...

Research paper thumbnail of The indirect effect of high-performance work practices on employees’ performance through trust in management

Journal of Facilities Management, 2021

Purpose The construction industry activities play a key role in achieving socio-economic developm... more Purpose The construction industry activities play a key role in achieving socio-economic development and sustaining economic growth in many countries. Increased awareness about the role of human resource management in employee performance has led construction firms to evaluate and focus on high-performance work practices (HPWPs) components, which intend to cultivate employee and organizational performance. This study aims to explain HPWPs affect employee performances through the mediating influence of trust in management in Aqaba, Jordan. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was administered to collect data among the contractors Grade1 across Aqaba, Jordan. This research was designed as a quantitative study and data were collected at one point of time. In total, 311 questionnaires were returned and only 279 completed questionnaires to test the relationship between HPWPs and employee performances according to the ability, motivation and opportunity conceptualized framew...

Research paper thumbnail of The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on small businesses in tourism and hospitality industry in Malaysia

Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, 2021

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the economic impacts of the current coronavirus disease, w... more Purpose This paper aims to investigate the economic impacts of the current coronavirus disease, which is globally known as (COVID-19) pandemic, on small businesses in the tourism and hospitality industry, including food and beverages (F&B) industries in Malaysia during and after the enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and conditional (CMCO) with the emergence of new business models. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the implemented methodology involved a secondary qualitative research design based mainly on the existing literature, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reports, the government’s documents, in addition to online sources and observations regarding local business experiences. Findings The findings revealed that implementing effective strategies of recovery, shaping resilience solutions and supporting policies such as the National Recovery Plan, which is backed by the government played a pivotal role in avoiding the turndown of small businesses. Origin...

Research paper thumbnail of Sculpting a Community for Tourism Enterprise: A Case Study in Lenggong Valley, Malaysia

International Journal of Business and Society, 2021

Entrepreneurship training is an integral element that promotes entrepreneurship across a wide ran... more Entrepreneurship training is an integral element that promotes entrepreneurship across a wide range of industries. In rural areas, the success of tourism destination heavily and solely depends on community involvement. Hence, community-based tourism enterprise (CBTE) appears to be a practical approach in encouraging the community to be involved in entrepreneurial activities. Nevertheless, efforts are scarce to document the training modules of CBTE program established in rural tourism. This study, hence, explored the training modules for CBTE development in the Lenggong Valley and measured the effectiveness of the training. The program has been initiated by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) with cooperation from Northern Corridor Economic Implementation (NCIA). The CBTE training was successfully conducted, wherein the community had placed high ranking for most of the items. The identified main challenge refers to sustenance of the business entity. This article contributes to CBTE liter...

Research paper thumbnail of Customers’ Acceptance Level Of Smart Restaurant Services In Penang

Nowadays, the world is changing rapidly, with innovative technology, a new set of challenges need... more Nowadays, the world is changing rapidly, with innovative technology, a new set of challenges need to be considered and addressed. The discussions about using technology in restaurants and food service sector only cover some of the main topics such as information system management and integration, automation, data analytics, and guest-facing technology. However, despite the positive prospects of smart technology in the hospitality industries, they have not been adopted widely in Food and Beverage (F&B) sectors in some Asian or Middle Eastern countries. This study aims to investigate the core motivations for adopting smart restaurant services in developing countries such as Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the predictors' variables such as perceived cost, perceived enjoyment, novelty, and customers' acceptance level of smart restaurant services as a dependent variable. A research framework is developed based on the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI). The quantitative research approach was applied to the empirical part of this study to test the conceptual model. Therefore, to achieve this purpose, a survey was conducted in Penang, Malaysia. The data was collected from 150 respondents and analysed by SPSS statistical software. The research results indicate that perceived enjoyment (PE) is the most significant predictor in customers' acceptance of a smart restaurant which is followed by perceived cost (PC). However, Implications of the findings is relevant and helpful to both academia and F&B operators along with future research opportunities with an industrial standard for restaurant entrepreneurs.

Research paper thumbnail of The indirect effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on multinational companies competitiveness and resilience through work from home

International Journal of Environment, Workplace and Employment

Research paper thumbnail of Indirect effect of extra-industry network and innovativeness on performance through proactiveness

Journal of Facilities Management

Purpose The current study aims to advance the research on the extra-industry network, innovativen... more Purpose The current study aims to advance the research on the extra-industry network, innovativeness and performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by examining the mediation role of proactiveness. The study also aims to examine the mediating role innovativeness between extra-industry network and performance. Design/methodology/approach This study used the proportionate stratified random sampling method to select the study sample and the questionnaire survey approach to 580 SMEs. A total of 150 completed questionnaires were returned. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was administered to analyze data via Smart PLS 3.0 software. Findings The results reflect that proactiveness is mediated by the relationship between the extra-industry network and the performance of Iranian SMEs. In addition, the results illustrated that proactiveness is mediated by the relationship between innovativeness and the performance. The findings also address the limitation of previous ...

Research paper thumbnail of Halal food image with relevance to tourist satisfaction in the Asian region: A systematic review

International Food Research Journal

Recently, halal foods have been recognised as an alternative symbol of hygiene and safety. Conseq... more Recently, halal foods have been recognised as an alternative symbol of hygiene and safety. Consequently, halal tourism is not only limited to Muslim countries, but also has been projected to increase globally. The present review aimed to systematically review a broad range of tourist satisfaction and purchase intention in relation to consuming halal foods, and to identify various standard dimensions of the halal food image such as cognitive image, affective image, and purchase intention. To this end, a comprehensive systematic review was conducted using 23 selected scholarly articles published between 2010 and 2020. The existing literature has been reviewed based on defining the research criteria and search databases including Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Scopus, using keywords of the selected studies. Based the results, a thorough analysis was achieved concerning the halal food image as a superior predictor of the repurchase intention and awareness of tourist satisfaction pat...

Research paper thumbnail of Determinants influencing customers’ acceptance of smart restaurants in Penang, Malaysia

Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research

PurposeThis study investigated the linkage between customers’ acceptance (CA) level and smart ser... more PurposeThis study investigated the linkage between customers’ acceptance (CA) level and smart service competencies in the food sector across Penang, Malaysia. This research aims to develop a vision of how smart technology may transform the business model in hospitality industry to create value.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the level of CA of the smart restaurant is proposed as the dependent variable, while the perceived security (PS), perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived enjoyment (PE) are proposed as independent variables (IVs). The quantitative approach and simple random sampling method were adopted in this study. Data were collected from 150 respondents by distributing 225 survey questionnaires to restaurant customers across Penang, Malaysia. The data were analysed by the reliability test, factor analysis and multiple regression analysis using SPSS 23.0 softwareFindingsThe study outcomes indicated that PE and PEOU emerged as the most significant predictors for C...

Research paper thumbnail of The indirect effect of high-performance work practices on employees’ performance through trust in management

Journal of Facilities Management, 2021

Purpose The construction industry activities play a key role in achieving socio-economic developm... more Purpose The construction industry activities play a key role in achieving socio-economic development and sustaining economic growth in many countries. Increased awareness about the role of human resource management in employee performance has led construction firms to evaluate and focus on high-performance work practices (HPWPs) components, which intend to cultivate employee and organizational performance. This study aims to explain HPWPs affect employee performances through the mediating influence of trust in management in Aqaba, Jordan. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was administered to collect data among the contractors Grade1 across Aqaba, Jordan. This research was designed as a quantitative study and data were collected at one point of time. In total, 311 questionnaires were returned and only 279 completed questionnaires to test the relationship between HPWPs and employee performances according to the ability, motivation and opportunity conceptualized framew...

Research paper thumbnail of The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on small businesses in tourism and hospitality industry in Malaysia

Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, 2021

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the economic impacts of the current coronavirus disease, w... more Purpose This paper aims to investigate the economic impacts of the current coronavirus disease, which is globally known as (COVID-19) pandemic, on small businesses in the tourism and hospitality industry, including food and beverages (F&B) industries in Malaysia during and after the enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and conditional (CMCO) with the emergence of new business models. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the implemented methodology involved a secondary qualitative research design based mainly on the existing literature, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reports, the government’s documents, in addition to online sources and observations regarding local business experiences. Findings The findings revealed that implementing effective strategies of recovery, shaping resilience solutions and supporting policies such as the National Recovery Plan, which is backed by the government played a pivotal role in avoiding the turndown of small businesses. Origin...

Research paper thumbnail of Sculpting a Community for Tourism Enterprise: A Case Study in Lenggong Valley, Malaysia

International Journal of Business and Society, 2021

Entrepreneurship training is an integral element that promotes entrepreneurship across a wide ran... more Entrepreneurship training is an integral element that promotes entrepreneurship across a wide range of industries. In rural areas, the success of tourism destination heavily and solely depends on community involvement. Hence, community-based tourism enterprise (CBTE) appears to be a practical approach in encouraging the community to be involved in entrepreneurial activities. Nevertheless, efforts are scarce to document the training modules of CBTE program established in rural tourism. This study, hence, explored the training modules for CBTE development in the Lenggong Valley and measured the effectiveness of the training. The program has been initiated by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) with cooperation from Northern Corridor Economic Implementation (NCIA). The CBTE training was successfully conducted, wherein the community had placed high ranking for most of the items. The identified main challenge refers to sustenance of the business entity. This article contributes to CBTE liter...

Research paper thumbnail of Customers’ Acceptance Level Of Smart Restaurant Services In Penang

Nowadays, the world is changing rapidly, with innovative technology, a new set of challenges need... more Nowadays, the world is changing rapidly, with innovative technology, a new set of challenges need to be considered and addressed. The discussions about using technology in restaurants and food service sector only cover some of the main topics such as information system management and integration, automation, data analytics, and guest-facing technology. However, despite the positive prospects of smart technology in the hospitality industries, they have not been adopted widely in Food and Beverage (F&B) sectors in some Asian or Middle Eastern countries. This study aims to investigate the core motivations for adopting smart restaurant services in developing countries such as Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the predictors' variables such as perceived cost, perceived enjoyment, novelty, and customers' acceptance level of smart restaurant services as a dependent variable. A research framework is developed based on the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI). The quantitative research approach was applied to the empirical part of this study to test the conceptual model. Therefore, to achieve this purpose, a survey was conducted in Penang, Malaysia. The data was collected from 150 respondents and analysed by SPSS statistical software. The research results indicate that perceived enjoyment (PE) is the most significant predictor in customers' acceptance of a smart restaurant which is followed by perceived cost (PC). However, Implications of the findings is relevant and helpful to both academia and F&B operators along with future research opportunities with an industrial standard for restaurant entrepreneurs.