DEVELOPING A MODEL FOR HALAL FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN IMPLEMENTATION A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Wan Marhaini Wan Omar Master of Business Administration (Northern University of Malaysia) Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Saint Louis University, USA) School of Business IT and Logistics College of Business RMIT University March 2017 DECLARATION I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; the content of the thesis/project is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged; and ethics procedures and guidelines have been followed. Wan Marhaini Wan Omar March 2017 Page | ii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to: My beloved parents, Late Haji Wan Omar Wan Ali Hajjah Halimah Mohamed AND My loving husband, Zakaria Deraman AND My beautiful children, Nur Amani Batrisyia Muhammad Adib Izzuddin Nur Aisya Alifa Page | iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Praise for Allah s.w.t for granting me perseverance, patience and strength throughout my PhD journey. Thank Him for His blessings in making this journey a successful one. As a PhD student, a wife and a mother of three children, life has never been easy. Without His blessings and unconditional support from family and friends, the completion of this thesis could not have been accomplished. Thus, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to those who have contributed to the completion of this thesis and supported me throughout this challenging and amazing journey. Firstly, my deepest appreciation goes to my senior supervisor, Professor Shams Rahman, for his precious guidance, continuous support, invaluable advice and motivation. His ideas, critiques and immense knowledge have greatly improved my capability to become a better scholar and researcher. Indeed, his superior insights have helped me at every milestone of my research. Despite his busy schedule, he always gave me advice and support when I was down, lacked confidence and was depressed due to personal and family problems. I will always consider him my advisor and mentor. Thank you, Prof! My sincere thanks are also expressed to my associate supervisor, Dr Ferry Jie for sharing his thoughts, suggestions and encouragement. My sincere gratitude is extended to the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia and my employer, University Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Malaysia in general and in particular, Universiti Teknologi Mara Kelantan (UiTM Kelantan), Malaysia for awarding me this scholarship and financial support. Pursuing a PhD at RMIT University Melbourne would not have been possible without the financial support from these institutions. Page | iv Special thanks to the academic and administrative staff at the School of Business Information Technology and Logistics (SBITL), RMIT University for being extremely supportive and pleasant throughout my journey. I am also very appreciative of Professor Dr Zainudin Awang for guiding me with statistical advice, particularly on structural equation modelling (SEM). This thesis is also dedicated to my special friends and colleagues, who have always been good listeners when it was needed the most, suggested several ideas towards my thesis, and shared moments of happiness, sweat and tears. Thanks, mates! My heartfelt gratitude is given to my beloved husband, Zakaria Deraman, for his endless support and constant motivation to complete my study. To my lovely children, Amani, Adib and Aisya, you are my sunshine, happiness and strength. Thank you for being with Umi throughout the hard times along this journey. To my loving mum, Halimah Mohamed, thank you for your continuous Doa and prayers. Exceptional thanks are also to my sisters, brother, mother-in-law and other family members for their constant and unconditional support. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all. This journey would not have been completed without your prayers and supports. “The halal market is set to grow beyond Muslim majority countries. It should also be noted that the halal agenda has been placed at a much higher level of priorities in many parts of the world, irrespective of whether Muslims are the majority or minority in those populations. Many nations now view halal as an emerging market force and an important value proposition, capable of contributing towards their respective national economies.” (Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry Malaysia, speaking at WHW 2016, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) Page | v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ................................................................................................................................ ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...................................................................................................................iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .....................................................................................................................vi LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................................. xi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................... xiii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................... xv PUBLICATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE THESIS ......................................................................... xvii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. xviii CHAPTER 1 ..................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Background ........................................................................................................ 1 1.3 Research Scope ................................................................................................................. 5 1.4 Research Setting ................................................................................................................ 6 1.5 Problem Identification....................................................................................................... 8 1.6 Research Objective and Research Questions .................................................................. 11 1.7 Methodology Used in this Research ............................................................................... 11 1.8 Significance of the Research ........................................................................................... 13 1.9 Structure of the Thesis .................................................................................................... 14 1.10 Chapter Summary............................................................................................................ 16 CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................... 18 OVERVIEW OF HALAL FOOD INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA ................................................................ 18 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 18 2.2 The Emerging Halal Food Market and its Potential......................................................... 18 2.3 Malaysian Halal Food Industry ........................................................................................ 24 2.4 Malaysian Government Plans for Halal Industry ............................................................. 28 2.5 Halal Food Issues in Malaysia .......................................................................................... 31 2.6 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 32 CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................................... 34 LITERATURE REVIEW, RESEARCH FRAMEWORK ......................................................................... 34 AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT .............................................................................................. 34 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 34 Page | vi 3.2 Theoretical Foundation of the Research ......................................................................... 34 3.2.1 Conventions Theory (CT) ......................................................................................... 34 3.2.2 Resource-based View (RBV) .................................................................................... 37 3.3 The Concept of Halal (Permissibility)..............................................................................