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Exploring the
antecedents of Needs and Job Satisfaction Among Employees of a Leading Bank in
Malaysia: Implications for Managing Bank Staff
by Lew Tek Yew & Liew Mei Yin
In view of the rising competition as a result of globalisation, managers have
placed great importance on the construct of job satisfaction. This paper
investigates the perceptions of need satisfaction and job satisfaction among
the employees of a leading bank in Malaysia. This study utilises the Cornell
Job Descriptive Index and the Porter Need Satisfaction Questionnaire. The
findings indicate that salary, self-actualisation and autonomy needs are
regarded as the least fulfilled needs while the most important needs perceived
by the employees were salary, self-actualisation and job security needs. The
results show that respondents from the supervisory category generally perceived
less need satisfaction compared to respondents from the clerical category. All
five job facets of the Cornell JDI had strong significant relationships with
overall job satisfaction and the partial correlation coefficients are above
0.70. Meanwhile, almost 36% of employees are not satisfied with promotion
opportunities which is the most important job facet influencing the level of
job satisfaction.
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Women Entrepreneurs and their Selection Criteria for Banks: An Exploratory
Study
by Dr Rosli Mahmood
This paper focuses on a study that examined bank selection criteria employed by
women entrepreneurs in Malaysia. A total of 100 women business owners
participated in the study. The findings reveal that the main factors
determining bank selection are: fast and efficient service, ease of obtaining
loans, reception received at the bank, friendliness of bank personnel, lower
interest charges on loans, bank's reputation and image, confidence in bank
manager and confidentiality of bank. The findings are of interest to bankers
because they provide information on the selection criteria by a crucial segment
of potential customers.
Analysing IPO
Types and Investor Returns: Did the Guard Dog Bark?
by Prof Steven M Dawson
Some IPOs do well, and others do not. How can investors without the benefit of
hindsight separate the two? We look at the two types of IPOs, public offers of
new shares and offers for sale of existing shares, to see if they provide a
clue to solve this mystery. Using data for November 1999 to October 2005 we
find that new share IPOs, as occurs in Hong Kong but not in Singapore, are more
underpriced when offered to the public, but then they behave about the same as
existing share IPOs in market trading over the following year.
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The US Current Account Deficit: Causes, Consequences and Concerns
by Fadzlan Sufian
The US current account deficit, which has been growing steadily since 1991, has
raised concerns among economists and policymakers. Most economists agree that
the deficit is the major threat facing the US economy, while policymakers have
suggested that the large and growing deficit may be unsustainable. This paper
attempts to examine causes, consequences and concerns of the deficit. It
concludes that, over the near term, a deficit of the current magnitude is
sustainable and unlikely to disrupt the US economy.
Supranational
Institutions and Domestic Bond Markets
by Ismail Dalla & Prof Bala Shanmugam
Since the 1997 Asian financial crisis many East Asian countries began to value
the need for domestic bond markets. By working closely and jointly on several
key areas such as creating of rules, guidelines and tax benefits, these
countries were able to attract foreign bond issuers, which, in turn helped to
stimulate and develop the domestic bond markets of these countries. In fact,
domestic bond markets in East Asian countries have accumulated to a healthy
US$1.3 trillion. The success achieved by East Asia in developing in developing
an active bond market has been mirrored by similar success in Latin America.
While domestic bond markets has gained reputation in East Asian and Latin
American countries, much of these efforts originate from supranationals. The
tireless contributions by the World Bank, IFC, IDB and ADB in setting up a
strong infrastructure to facilitate bond issuance has created a pathway for
East Asian countries to increase their bond market share. It is hoped that
other nations would follow the steps taken by these 'bond-active' countries in
developing their domestic bond markets.
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