Manuscript type: Research paper. Research aim: This paper aims to investigate the external factors that influence tax auditors’ conciliatory style when dealing with tax disputes. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: A self-administered questionnaire which serves as the research instrument was used in this study. Respondents were tax auditors attached to the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM) in Peninsular Malaysia. Research findings: Findings show that the external factors of tax complexity and managerial control significantly influence tax audi-tors’ conciliatory style. However, taxpayers’ cooperation carries no impact. Theoretical contribution/ Originality: This study provides empirical evidence which demonstrates the influence of external factors (such as taxpayers’ cooperation, tax complexity and managerial control) on tax auditors’ conciliatory style. Practitioner/ Policy implications: The findings are relevant to the IRBM who can use the outcome to improve its dispute resolution process as well as to gain a better understanding of tax auditors’ behaviour. Research limitation/ Implication: The findings of this study can only be generalised to the population in Peninsular Malaysia. Thus, future studies may be conducted in East Malaysia and other Asian countries so as to examine if tax auditors’ behaviour differs across cultures.

The financing of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has been a topic of great interest among both policy-makers and researchers because of the growing importance of SMEs in the economic development around the world. There is also sizeable evidence that SMEs face large growth constraints and have less access to formal sources of external finance such as bank loans, which potentially explains the lack of SMEs' contribution to economic growth. Thus, to understand SMEs' startup financing, we rely on the human capital of owner-manager and SMEs' business strategy to investigate how human capital and business strategy influence SME startup with bank loans. Using survey data based on 76 SMEs in Tripoli and Sabha, the logit model is employed to examine the hypothesized factors. The results show that business plan and owner-manager experiences do influence SMEs' startup bank loan in Libya.

This study aimed to examine the relationship among the five dimensions of entrepreneurial orientations (innovativeness, risk taking, autonomy, competitive aggressiveness, and proactiveness) and performance of Takaful agencies in Malaysia. A total of 211 questionnaires were collected via purposive sampling from Takaful agency's managers from three main Takaful operators namely Etiqa, Takaful Malaysia and Takaful Ikhlas. A structural equation model that assessed the relationship between the proposed variables was tested using PLS 2.0. The findings revealed that of the five dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation, proactiveness and autonomy were found to have significant influence on business performance.

This paper attempts to review the literature on the Islamic values and principles in an organization, then presents the importance of its delineated dimensions. Two main theories of Islamic work ethics and practices are discussed comprehensively based on the Qur'anic verses as the ultimate source in Islamic thinking. The review includes the comparison between certain components' implementations and the views of other religions in several countries. This reveals that each of dimensions are clearly functional in organizations. It suggests that Islamic emphasizes on commercial activities which denied the authors' opinions on its' teaching for not governing the materials aspect or success in business performance. The Islamic religion seeks to deliver the goodness to all mankind according to its rules and principles. The integrated system of the Islamic worldview encompasses all aspects of both worldly and hereafter- including the aspect of business.

The way a tax auditor deals with taxpayers can give an impact on audit settlement outcomes. Qualitative studies show that tax auditors often use the conciliatory style as a strategy to resolve disputes because it expedites audit settlement and promotes long-term compliance. However, there is no study that has empirically examined the factors that influence tax auditors' conciliatory style. This study aims to examine the influence of personal characteristics i.e. attitude towards achieving goals, experience and ethical ideology on tax auditors' conciliatory style in resolving audit settlement disputes. Six hundred and thirty-six questionnaires (63.6% of response rate) were usable for data analysis. The results revealed that all the personal characteristics surveyed significantly influenced tax auditors' conciliatory style. This study can extend the literature on tax auditors' behaviour and facilitate the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia in better understanding their auditors. � 2017 Universiti Putra Malaysia Press.

The present study is focused on the effects of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) on performance of large sized firms in Malaysia. These companies are currently facing more challenging environments compared to past, as their survival rates are declining and suffering from low level of profitability. The paper uses survey method and secondary sources by collecting data from 130 companies listed in the main market of Bursa Malaysia. In order to analyze the survey data, the study uses Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach to Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). This study has concluded that the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is positively related to firm�s profitability but has no relationship with firm�s growth whereas corporate venturing (CV) is positively related to firm�s growth but has no relationship with firm�s profitability. The environmental dynamism moderates these relationships. The paper has significant implications for the top management decision making on the importance of CE on firm growth and profitability. Besides, in developing countries like Malaysia, most of the researches on entrepreneurship are based on small firms or individual entrepreneurships. Thus, it is timely to conduct research on CE among the large sized firms to further expand the literature. � 2016, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. All rights reserved.

Length of stay, a concept not properly addressed in migration studies, refers to the usual period spent by an immigrant in the host country up to the moment he/she is surveyed for research purpose. This paper adopted a mix approach that blends review, synthetisation and discussion of existing research to apprehend the use of this concept in the literature and draw useful insights on the extent to which it influences business establishment and performance. Our discussion concluded with the following notes: First, immigrant entrepreneurship researchers have so far favoured length of stay over firm age in predicting the entrepreneurial outcomes. Second, length of stay was used in two different ways: Backward and forward. Third, immigrants with short lengths of stay or short settlement intentions tend to have lower propensities for self-employment compared to their peers who have longer settlement intentions, and they are most likely to locate their businesses within their ethnic communities. In contrary, immigrants with long length of stay or long settlement intention are in better positions to understand the mainstream market, more likely to behave like natives, have higher propensities to start a business, and prefer to locate their businesses outside the co-ethnic community. � 2020 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.. All rights reserved.