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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of the external environment on the strategic thinking dimensions in Malaysia and Palestine on the banking sector.

This paper focuses on dynamism and complexity in political and economic external environments. This study uses qualitative methodology through a comparative case study method. Purposive sampling was used to collect data from in-depth semistructured interviews with 33 bank executives from Malaysia and 17 from Palestine.

The findings revealed that the banking sector in both Malaysia and Palestine shared five common strategic thinking dimensions, including vision, creativity, conceptual thinking, futurism and opportunity. However, a sixth dimension, intent-focused, was unique to Palestinian bank executives. This study indicates that Palestine’s financial strategic thinking environment is more dynamic and complex than Malaysia’s. Additionally, the study highlights the significant influence of both microenvironments (such as types of banks) and the macroenvironment (such as political and economic situations). These findings hold important implications for decision-makers in the banking sector of both countries.

As with many studies, this study has some limitations. First, the analysis examines only the turbulent and stable environment in the two countries by using a qualitative approach which enables the analysis of thoughts and actions and exposes the beliefs, perceptions, mental maps and structures of belief in their perceptions (Cavana et al., 2001). As such, the results are limited to a particular time, date and geographical location; thus, opinions and perceptions might be altered due to changes in the external political and economic environment. The second limitation of this work is that the case study might not be appropriate for generalization (Stake, 1978). Finally, the limited number of female participants in Palestine shows a high level of inequality compared to Malaysian participants.

This study explores the implication of uncertain environments at the national level on executives’ cognition and actions, links the micro- and macro-environment of the banking industry to a theoretical perspective and develops a conceptual circular model to show the effect of macro environments on bank performance. The findings offer practical contributions to the current literature, providing insights for executives to navigate a dynamic and complex banking industry.

This study fills the literature gap by exploring how strategic thinking dimensions triggered by macro- and micro-environments impact banking sector performance in Malaysia and Palestine.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of Islamic home financing and some of its practical issues. In addition, the study also intends to draw attention to some recommendations to the issues highlighted from the viewpoint of industrial experts.

The methodology for this study follows the qualitative research approach which aims to capture the thoughts and extensive knowledge of a few related experts in the field. Eight respondents who are mainly scholars and bankers in Islamic banking were selected for the interview purpose. A semi-structured interview was adopted to investigate a series of themes concerning the Islamic home financing in Malaysia.

In terms of development, the findings showed that a majority of the participants agreed that the Islamic banking and finance (IBF) is developing in line with its counterpart – the conventional banks. This is due to its innovation in products as well as offering a variety of financial products including home financing. Some of the practical issues highlighted by the respondents include pricing, adherence to conventional framework and interest rate movement. Islamic home financing is argued to be much more expensive and faces difficulty in working within a conventional framework. The issue of interest rate movement is also becoming a major hurdle in Islamic banking due to the absence of a proper benchmark for IBF. At present, IBF still follows the benchmark set by its conventional counterpart. Furthermore, the respondents also believed that the product of home financing, together with other financial products, are not in line with the teaching of Shariah principles and guideline. In addressing those issues, the respondents provided some suggestions to counter those problems, which include promoting Islamic home financing, particularly in terms of Musharakah Mutanaqisah (MM), ensuring the transparency of products, strengthening due diligence, legal aspect and others.

This study is limited in terms of the relatively small number of respondents used to generate its findings. Time constraint is another limiting factor of the research. Additionally, potential respondents in a higher position were unable to take part in the study. Due to these factors, the generalisation of the study’s findings will be visibly restricted.

This paper is expected to generate several practical implications. Firstly, the study’s exploration of the issues surrounding home financing will likely provide a general overview of the recent development in Islamic banking and the challenges it faces. Consequently, this will indirectly help policymakers and bankers alike to design a better policy when dealing with Islamic home financing issues. In the review of various literatures in the field, a majority of research studies were observed to mainly focus on a quantitative approach. Hence, in terms of methodological innovation, the study’s use of qualitative inquiry based on an interview method may provide a deeper understanding of the matter. The resolutions proposed by the various experts are hoped to contribute to shaping a better framework and system in Islamic and conventional home financing in Malaysia.

Despite having many literatures revealing mixed results concerning Islamic home financing, especially the Bai Bithaman Ajil and MM, addressing the issues of Islamic home financing, particularly from an expert perspective, has been lacking. The majority of research studies claim those issues from a theoretical viewpoint rather than a practical one. With this gap and lack of initiative, the current study is motivated to undertake an in-depth analysis on the issues of Islamic home financing and how to address those arising issues from an industrial expert’s point of view via a qualitative approach.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potentials of nano-additives in enhancement of oxidation and thermal stability of biolubricants thereby, improving the resistance of dispersed nanolubricants to thermal degradation under elevated temperature.

This study evaluates the oxidation stability and tribological performance of nano-enhanced biolubricants. Graphene and maghemite nanoparticles at 0.1% volume concentration were dispersed into coconut oil. Oxidation stability was analysed using a thermal analyser to understand the effect of nano-additives on thermal degradation of lubricants under increasing temperature. In addition, tribological performance and viscosity of the tested lubricants were evaluated using a four-ball friction tester and viscometer according to American Society for Testing and Materials standards.

The results reveal that the oxidation stability of biolubricants dispersed with nano-additives improves due to delayed thermal degradation. The nano-enhanced biolubricants’ oxidation onset temperature was delayed by 18.75 °C and 37.5 °C, respectively, for maghemite (MGCO) and graphene (XGCO) nanolubricants. This improvement imparts the performance viscosity and tribological performance positively. For graphene-enhanced nanolubricant, 10.4% and 5.6% were reduced, respectively, in coefficient of friction (COF)and wear scar diameter (WSD), whereas 3.43% and 4.3% reduction in COF and WSD, respectively, for maghemite-enhanced nanolubricant compared with coconut oil. The viscosity index of nanolubricants was augmented by 7.36% and 13.85%, respectively, for maghemite and graphene nanolubricants.

The excellent performance of nanolubricants makes them suitable candidate as sustainable lubricants for machining with regard to environmental benefits and energy saving.

The effect of graphene and maghemite nanoparticles on the oxidation stability and tribological performance of biolubricants has been investigated. It is an original work and yet to be published elsewhere.

For better mapping the path of intellectual capital (IC) research, the purpose of this paper is to selectively review empirical studies of IC published, and identify theories, components and three dimensions of analysis: national IC (NIC), regional IC (RIC) and organizational IC (OIC).

The systematic literature review (SLR) subject to analysis is based on empirical studies made between 1960 and 2016, and focuses on three dimensions of analysis: NIC, RIC and OIC. Four research questions were designed, using the following databases, namely, Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar, for data collection purposes.

The SLR unveils a multidimensional taxonomy for measuring and classifying the type of IC applicable to the different levels of analysis and provides some recommendations for future studies of NIC, RIC and OIC, by outlining the need for clear definitions of components and measures of IC and identifying strengths, limitations and future research avenues.

In order to fill the gap found in the literature and the non-existence of a study clarifying the multiple dimensions of analysis of IC, this SLR makes a twofold, original contribution to the literature on management: providing an SLR of the main empirical studies dealing with different units of analysis; and identifying a multidimensional taxonomy for measuring and classifying the type of IC applicable to the different levels of analysis.