Social media nowadays have a huge influence on the tourism sector. With the advancement of search engines, tourists can search for any information they need on their tourism preferences. Today, there are tons of social media websites (such as TripAdvisor, Trivago, Booking.com, Agoda.com) that can help the tourist to find and decide the best tourism places and activities around the world. Studies have shown that social media is one of the best tools that are used by a tourist in the decision-making process. This paper is written to have a better understanding and to find a gap in the studies related to this topic. Hence, this paper focuses on conceptual review using a systematic review based on 24 published journals and theses from 2015 to 2019 on the influence of social media and its impact on the decision-making process for the tourist. Based on the findings, the majority of the scholars supported that social media have a big impact on how people make the decision for their tourism destination. The gaps that derived from this review have proven that only limited studies have been conducted in Malaysia; most of the research used a quantitative approach; only a few studies have included the theory related to this issue, and the targeted respondents were mostly among young travellers. Therefore, further studies on the role of social media in the decision-making process can be done by focusing on these gaps, especially in the Malaysian context. Keywords: Decision-making, influence, social media, tourism, tourist.

PurposeStudies showed that a proactive delivery system employing innovative artificial intelligence (AI) in urban services might perform better. This has become an important national policy for many countries. Thus, this study aims to explore the influence of AI in urban services in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachOfficial documents such as Structure Plan and Government Transformation Programme Policy Document covering various levels of cities in Malaysia, articles related to urban studies mostly written by researchers regarding urban growth in Malaysia and the Urban Development Bulletin from the Federal Department of Town and Country Planning from 1957 to date were reviewed and analysed.FindingsThe findings show that the influence of AI in urban services has long existed and been carefully planned by local authorities since colonial times. The development of global digital technology influences the upgrading of AI in urban services in Malaysia. Also, the success of AI in these municipal services is influenced by the rate of information technology literacy among the urban population. These developments have led to the definition of a conceptual city.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper's findings and conclusion were based on reviewed literature but did not compromise the strength of this paper. Thus, as part of the implications for future research, mixed-methods research design has been suggested.Practical implicationsAs part of the implications, this article intends to promote AI in urban services in Malaysia and other developing countries with similar urban services challenges.Originality/valueThis paper encourages AI applications in urban services because it enhances service delivery performance. This intends to key stakeholders to promote AI via policies across Malaysia's urban services as part of the study implications.

Over the years, there has been tremendous growth of interest in employee participation in decision-making or PDM from a various discipline of studies such as industrial relations, management, human resource management (HRM), organisational behaviour, and political economy. Therefore, this paper aimed to identify the types of employee"s direct participation particularly on delegative, consultative and non-participation in decision-making at the middle management in the six selected ministries in Putrajaya, Malaysia. To achieve the objective, a quantitative research design was used and 758 questionnaires were distributed and 454 (59.9%) were returned. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis by mean, standard deviation, percentage, and frequency. The results of the study showed that majority of the middle management employees were involved in consultative decision-making rather than delegative decision-making, and only a small percentage of employees experienced with non-participation in the workplace. It can be concluded that employees were encouraged to participate in the decision-making process, however, most of the important decisions are still made by the top management. Also, there is no serious issue of very low level or high level of nonparticipation among the middle management employees in the Malaysian public sector. Contribution/ Originality: This study enhances the existing body of knowledge by providing new empirical evidence to fill the gaps in the literature that might exist in previous studies of employee PDM in organisations and contributes to the limited number of studies on employee PDM, especially at the middle management level in the Malaysian public sector.

PurposeThe development of higher learning institutions (HLIs) is considered a strategy to trigger urban space development – and it is the economy in most developing countries. HLIs can develop and maintain pace with the experience economy in the current urban economy, particularly in the services sector. This paper seeks to evaluate the influence of HLIs on elements of the experience economy in the urban services sector in Bandar Baru Bangi (BBB), a knowledge-based city.Design/methodology/approachThe research adopted a purposive sampling technique and engaged 382 urban community respondents in BBB, Malaysia. The study used four elements (education, gastronomy, health, and the retail sectors) to assess the experience economy performance.FindingsThe results show that the local community is the “active users” of the services, and the active users have enjoyed the existence of the experience economy. Findings reveal a preference for education and health over gastronomy and retail sectors. Of these four sectors, the education sector experience had the most prominent effect, thereby showing that the higher learning institutions around this city served a major role in the sector development of urban services.Research limitations/implicationsThe research used a purposive sampling method and engaged 382 respondents in BBB, Malaysia. The restriction of the study area to BBB is a limitation component. Future studies should explore a large-scale investigation to evaluate better and validate the results.Practical implicationsThe research has shown that the city's higher education institutions have affected the development of the experience economy in the four sectors.Originality/valueThe study shows that the framework of the experience economy and the establishment of HLIs can stimulate the experience economy within the urban services sector.

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