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    The role of religiosity in ethical decision-making : a study on Islam and the Malaysian workplace : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Sulaiman, Rahizah Binti
    In light of the ongoing debate on the relationship between religiosity and ethical decision-making, this thesis seeks to investigate this relationship in the Malaysian workforce environment. This investigation focuses on the Islamic religion, and considers how religiosity affects the articulation and feelings of frontline employees in ways that lead to ethical decisions. To this end, five factors were tested empirically to determine their mediation of the relationship between religiosity and ethical decision-making. These factors were: perceived importance of the ethical issue, moral judgment, ego strength, intention, and conscience. A quantitative research study was undertaken to test eleven hypotheses developed in the thesis. With 160 responses, the initial analysis was an exploratory factor analysis, which was conducted to see how the measures might group into constructs. This analysis was followed by a confirmatory factor analysis to confirm the previous analysis, and to reduce items in the scale, as well as to test validity and reliability of the scales. The final scales were subsequently used for hypotheses-testing using hierarchical regression analysis. The control variables in this study were perceived ethical environment and social desirability responding bias. The findings of this thesis indicated positive relationships between religiosity and perceived importance of ethical issues, moral judgment, intention, and conscience. However, among these, only conscience mediates the relationship between religiosity and ethical decision-making. The thesis gives insights to the perspective of the Islamic religion, especially for Muslims in Malaysia, while contributing to the ongoing discussion in the literature on the relationship between religiosity and ethical decision-making. The highlight in the conscience results inspires employers to hold educational talks to empower employees in terms of Islamic knowledge, on how to navigate the challenging working place. Additionally, there are benefits in using elements such as posters and calls to prayer to remind employees of religious values. The research serves as a good basis for new investigations to explore other personal attributes that mediate the relationship between religiosity and ethical decision-making. Analysing this relationship can assist employers in developing ethical human resources in the organisation. These efforts will not only benefit the organisations, but will contribute to the betterment of society as a whole.
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    Religious ethical values and earnings quality : some evidence from Malaysia : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Accountancy at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2012) Abdul Rahman, Rahayu
    The main purpose of this thesis is to examine the association between religious ethical values and earnings quality. This study builds upon the principals and ethical framework of Islamic teachings (Shariah). It analyses how such ethical values affect the earnings quality of Malaysian listed firms. Shariah is the Islamic code for day-to-day conduct of individuals under Islam. It provides principles of good practices including accountability at both individual and organizational levels. It promotes justice and welfare in society by encouraging better ethical conduct. Based on these premises, it is hypothesised in this thesis that Shariah is associated with high quality reported earnings. Two different attributes of earnings quality are used to test the above hypothesis. These are earnings management and accounting conservatism. A sample of 1,878 firm-year observations from 2000 to 2007 of Malaysian firms is used for examining the association between Shariah and earnings quality. The study finds a significant negative association between Shariah, and real and accrual-based earnings management. In particular, this study finds that Shariah is associated with lower abnormal discretionary accruals, abnormal cash flow from operations, and abnormal discretionary expenses. Further, results of the study reveal that Shariah is associated with higher levels of accounting conservatism. Overall, the results suggest that Shariah is an important monitoring mechanism in limiting managerial opportunism and, consequently, enhances the quality of accounting earnings.