Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to determine the critical factors to accessing the level of service quality of banks by re-examining the SERVQUAL model, originally pioneered by Parasuraman. Further, the technique of dominance analysis is used to measure the relative importance of each critical factor in closing up overall service quality gap of banks. Design/methodology/approach -The sample consists of 308 bank customers from different parts of Malaysia. The data were collected by using a structured questionnaire, which consists of three parts. Part 1 deals with consumers' usage of banking channels and their banking behavior. Part 2 contains 26 statements related to service quality dimensions based on past literatures. Finally, Part 3 contains the questions related to the socio-demographic profiles of respondents. Findings -The modified SERVQUAL model consists of four critical factors (dimensions) as detected by factor analysis. They are: tangibility, reliability, competence and convenience. The results reveal that there are significant differences between the respondents' expectation and their perceptions. Among the four dimensions tested, tangibility has the smallest gap whereas convenience has the largest gap. The application of dominance analysis indicates that competence and convenience together can help to reduce the SERVQUAL gap as much as 76 per cent. The banking sector needs to become more competent by being more responsive and fulfilling the assurance of the customers and providing the banking facilities more conveniently. Originality/value -The paper shows that hardly any work has been conducted which applies the dominance analysis approach in SERVQUAL dimensions to determine the relative importance of the critical factors in closing the overall service quality gap. Measuring the relative importance of service quality dimensions consistently will provide insights to the banks as to what areas need to be emphasized in order to retain their customers and attract new ones. It provides the guidelines for the banks to develop proper strategies and react faster to the changes of customers' banking behavior.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.Abstract This paper examined the sources of occupational stress among Malaysian managers working in multinational companies (MNCs). A total of 440 managers participated in this survey. Data is collected through a questionnaire distributed to managers in 34 multinational companies operating in Malaysia. It was found that workloads, working conditions and relationship at work were the main concern of the managers that lead to stress at the work place. The results also indicated that certain demographic variables do influence the level of stress among managers.

This study examines the effect of hiring managers' demographic characteristics on employee selection preferences, and the strength of the manager's selection preferences towards candidates' demographic characteristics when the candidate's relative qualification changes. A sample of 156 respondents from various industries in Malaysia was acquired and analysed using cross-tabulation, Chi-square and t-test of differences in means. Six variables examined were age, gender, race, religion, marital status, and locality of education. The effect of hiring managers' demographic characteristics on the decision to hire a candidate is significant for two variables: race and religion. Also, the strength of preference, based on the candidate's race and religion, remains high even though their qualification was lower. Implications of the study are discussed.

The importance of risk-taking in business ventures has been emphasised by many. Attempts to distinguish entrepreneurs on their risk-taking propensity have produced conflicting results. Data on two measures of risk-taking propensity were collected from entrepreneurs, prospective entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneur others. While the groups did not differ significantly on risk-taking propensity as measured by the Choice Dilemma Questionnaire, entrepreneurs and prospective entrepreneurs differed significantly from others on the Magnitude of Loss Questionnaire. Similarly, entrepreneurial aspirants differed significantly from the nonentrepreneur group. These results highlight the significance of loss, an important aspect in risk-taking, which is often ignored in entrepreneurial and managerial studies. The riskiness in business ventures which has been the main stumbling block for many is not the low probability of success but the high stakes involved in entrepreneurship.

This paper examined the raters' and the ratees' preferences in Malaysia regarding the performance appraisal process and feedback. A total of 52 managers (raters) and 122 subordinates (ratees) participated. Analysis by t test and correlation showed significant differences between raters and the ratees on most factors. Ratees preferred to have more frequent appraisals than once a year and preferred to have more frequent feedback from the managers about their performance. Ratees' preference for the purpose of information on performance was towards salary increase, promotion, training, and career development whereas the raters gave more importance to training and career development.