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Halal food
The relationship between halal supply chain
traceability system adoption and integrity

environmental factors on halal

food supply chain integrity
in Malaysia Received 24 January 2018
Revised 12 October 2018
Accepted 16 March 2019
Norasekin Ab Rashid
Faculty of Business and Accountancy, Universiti Selangor,
Shah Alam, Malaysia, and
Jamil Bojei
Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,
Serdang, Malaysia

Abstract
Purpose – Muslim consumers have been shocked with the news of cross-contamination issues in the
Halal food that they consumed. These issues make them put more effort in ensuring the products that they
purchased being monitored throughout the supply chain. In this case, food companies must be prepared to
implement systematic traceability system to ensure the authenticity of Halal products and comprehend
the importance of Halal industry environmental factors (HIEF) in enhancing integrity of Halal food supply
chain and protect from any risk of cross-contaminations. This paper aims to clarify the relationship
between the Halal traceability system adoption (HTSA) and HIEFs on Halal food supply chain integrity
(HFSCIn).
Design/methodology/approach – The study opted quantitative research approach by using the self-
administrated questionnaires. The questionnaires were distributed during Malaysia International Halal
Showcase (MIHAS) 2014 and Halal Fiesta Malaysia (HALFEST) 2014. 127 Malaysian Halal food and
beverages companies have been involved in the study. Most of the respondents are the general manager or
owner of the company, Halal executives, quality assurance managers, operation managers and sales
manager.
Findings – The study found that there is a significant relationship between HTSA and HIEF on HFSCIn.
The study also found that the highest adoptions of Halal traceability system are among the producer and
end user, while the highest contributions in influencing the HIEF are the economic and socio-cultural
factors.
Research limitations/implications – This study only focused on Halal food industry particularly the
food and beverages category. Thus, future study can explore further on every category in food industry such
as raw materials and ingredients; poultry, meat and dairy; fast food and premises and make comparison
between pharmaceutical, cosmetics and health care in Halal industry. In addition, the sample size (N = 127)
can be considered small; therefore, it is recommended that in future the subject matter be explored with a
much larger sample to allow generalization of the result.
Originality/value – This study provided, perhaps for the first time, an analysis of the relationship
between traceability adoptions and HIEF on HFSCIn.
Keywords Food industry, Halal traceability system, Halal industry environmental factors,
Journal of Islamic Marketing
Halal food supply chain integrity, Halal product © Emerald Publishing Limited
1759-0833
Paper type Research paper DOI 10.1108/JIMA-01-2018-0016
JIMA 1. Introduction
The various cases of contaminated Halal food such as mixing of Halal and non-Halal food in
storage, poultry and meat slaughtering do not comply with the Shariah requirement (Omar
and Jaafar, 2011), fraudulent Halal certification and physical contamination (Zulfakar et al.,
2014), and the report by the Ministry of Health (MOH) that Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut
and Cadbury Dairy Milk Roast Almond analyzed by the MOH tested positive for traces of
porcine DNA (New Strait Times, 2014) have forced the product to be immediately removed
from the marketplace and damaging the company’s reputation.
The production of Halal food needs a very cautious understanding throughout the
supply chain. Nowadays, Muslim consumers are very curious and want assurance that the
products they consume are authentically Halal and should be tayyib, meaning wholesome,
pure, healthy, nutritious and good (Othman et al., 2009). Therefore, the Halal foods supply
chain integrity becoming an increasing concern (Suhaiza et al., 2010a; Lam and Alhashmi,
2008; Zulfakar et al., 2012, 2014).
To achieve the untainted Halal food supply chain integrity (HFSCIn), each partner in the
supply chain from supplier until the end user need to be monitored, so that users can satisfy
with the authenticity of Halal products (Bahrudin et al., 2011). Therefore, it is important to
observe the integrity of each of the supply chain partners. In addition, the adoption of Halal
traceability system should be addressed while the increasing demands for better Halal food
supply chain among customers. This is crucial to diminish and to assure that the
contamination does not exist throughout the process in handling Halal food in accordance
with Shariah compliant. Furthermore, the traceability can also be used to trace the Halal
status of particular food products at every stage of the supply chain and increase the Halal
transparency and strengthens the Halal integrity (Zulfakar et al., 2014). According to Wilson
(2012), a working knowledge of halal and the ability to establish networks and partnerships
of knowledge sharing and collaboration are more crucial as the fact that the halal sector is
wide-ranging and expanding.
Although numerous studies have been conducted in Halal integrity and food supply
chain integrity (Abdul and Hazlinda, 2011; Zulfakar et al., 2014; Russly and Nurrulhidayah,
2013; Ali et al., 2014; Zulfakar et al., 2012; Suhaiza et al., 2010a), little have focusing on
factors enhancing HFSCIn. In addition, Suhaiza et al. (2010b) added the Halal traceability
system can be used to strengthen the Halal food supply chain. Furthermore, it is important
to comprehend the importance of HIEF in enhancing integrity of Halal food supply chain.
However, there is no empirical study focused specifically to shows the relationship between
Halal traceability system adoption (HTSA) and environmental factors on HFSCIn.
Thus, to help bridge this gap in literature, this study attempts to examine to what extent
the HTSA and environmental factors are relevant in enhancing the HFSCIn particularly
within supply chain partners. Furthermore, this study also will observe which partners in
the supply chain have the highest adoptions on Halal traceability system and the highest
contributions in influencing the HIEF.

2. Research context and research model

This section consists of several sub-sections. Its start with a description of Halal concept and
continues with the HTSA, HIEF (HIEF) and HFSCIn. This paper intends to investigate the
relationship between HTSA and HIEF on HFSCIn. Therefore, the purpose of this literature
review is to examine the related constructs which are HTSA and HIEF as factors in
influencing the HFSCIn.
2.1 Understanding the halal concept Halal food
Halal is an Arabic word which means lawful or permissible by Islamic law (Ibn Manzur, supply chain
2019). Generally, Halal means lawful and permissible according to Islamic law and principle
(Samori et al., 2014) which refers to the teachings of al- Quran and exemplary conduct of
integrity
Prophet Muhammad as quoted in Hadith (Yusuf et al., 2016). The Halal concept (especially
for foods) is truly from the farm to the table, and requires nutritious items prepared from
permissible ingredients in a clean and hygienic manner (Hanzaee and Ramezani, 2011) and
compliant with the Islamic laws. From the Islamic point of view, the concept of Halal is
holistic focusing on both physical attributes and moral sense in the entire supply chain
(Hassan, 2013). As evidence in Quranic verses:
O you who believe! Eat of the good things (toyyib) that We have provided you with, and give
thanks to Allah if Him it is that you serve. (Al-Baqarah 2: 172)
From this verse, it is understood that Islam sets two essential criteria for food consumption,
namely, Halal (permissible) and Tayyib (good quality) (Zalina, 2008).
And eat of what Allah provided for you [which is] lawful and good. And fear Allah, in whom you
are believers. (Al-Maidah 5: 88)
While this verse explains that Islam underlies to all Muslims who live on this earth should
find rizk, which is Halal and Tayyiban. They must eat Halal food and avoid eating dirty food
and any food that is prohibited in Islam so that it will not ruin their bodies and lives (Omar
and Jaafar, 2011).
In addition, the principle of permissibility of things describes that everything is created
by Allah is permissible to Muslim except what has been stated in Quranic verses and the
Prophet tradition (Al-Qaradawi, 2002). The aspect of permissibility in this principle is not
only limited to the things and objects being used or consumed but also includes all human
actions and behavior (Abdul and Hazlinda, 2011).

2.2 Halal traceability system adoption

With regard to Halal food industry, the application of traceability is at a new stage due to its
infancy of large-scale production of Halal products (Shafii and Wan Siti Khadijah, 2012).
From the requirements of Halal food production, traceability is critical to manufacturers,
producers and distributors as the aim is to provide products with safety and healthy
assurance, good quality and most importantly the products must comply with Shariah.
According to Suhaiza et al. (2010a), traceability in the Halal industry is defined as a
communication tool to ensure that information related to Halal food and products is
available along the supply chain. In addition, traceability can be used to trace the Halal
status of a particular food product at every stage of the supply chain (Zulfakar et al., 2014)
and traceability must be set up with the purpose to increase transparency in the production
chain.
Based on the definitions given by various literatures, for the purpose of the current study,
Halal food traceability system is defined as the ability to trace and track the history of food
and food ingredients through specified stages of supply chain; thus, traceability can be
applied through all stages of production, processing and distribution of Halal food. This is
due to the reason that traceability system usually involves many participants in the supply
chain (i.e. supplier, producer, logistics, and end users). Thus, it is obvious that Halal food
traceability is not a single firm’s responsibility. It is a shared commitment between all the
players along the supply chain which involves the integration of both the supply chain
management and the inter-organizations information flow (Engelseth, 2009). Consequently,
JIMA it is very crucial for each of the partners in the supply chain cooperates to ensure the
authenticity of the Halal food and no contamination issues occur along the production chain.
In the current study, the adoption of Halal traceability system will be viewed from the
supply chain partners’ perspectives (i.e. supplier, producer, logistics and end user).
2.2.1 Supplier traceability. Suppliers are those who supply the raw materials to the food
producers who in turn will supply the materials to the retailers and wholesalers before they
distribute to the end user (Siti Zakiah et al., 2011). As the supplier in the Halal industry, the
concern is to ensure that the livestock they supply meets the Shariah requirement such as
being fed with good, clean, permitted and legal nutritious food. In addition to that, the
livestock industry needs to allocate a unique identification number to every livestock animal
that comes from their farm (Pettitt, 2001). Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the supplier
to ensure that any slaughtering processes, packaging and logistics operators that they
choose follow the Shariah guidelines and Halal requirement. The detailed information on
Halal raw materials needs to be conveyed through labelling and tagging. Thus, consumers
are able to know whether the food is Halal or otherwise and the Shariah requirements have
been satisfied during the processing stage. The packaging and labelling are very critical
specially to ensure the food will not be mistakenly contaminated or mixed with non-Halal
products during the distribution:

H1a. Supplier traceability is positively related in enhancing the HTSA.

2.2.2 Producer traceability. Producers play the most important role as they need to
understand the whole supply chain and the flow of production (Muhammad et al., 2009).
Every step in the production process needs to be verified as Halal-compliant. First, the food
producers must be able to trace the raw materials to prevent unsafe and non-Halal
ingredients from entering the production process or the entire supply chain (Starbird and
Amanor-Boadu, 2006). It is their responsibility to ensure that there is a review mechanism to
identify the Halal status of the food ingredients that comes from the suppliers (Riaz and
Chaudry, 2004). Next, the Halal food producers need to ensure they use Halal materials and
equipment for packaging and ensuring that all labelling are correct. They must also provide
clear information on origin and processes, thus, being transparent to their customers to
ensure relevant information being shared with all the industry players so that non-Halal
products, processes and ingredients can be bypassed at all levels (Siti Zakiah et al., 2011).
Furthermore, the employees must practice the concept of hygiene permitted by Islamic law.
They must have awareness regarding Halal requirement and fully understand the Halal
principles. For example, in the slaughtering process, employee’s knowledge of the Islamic
slaughtering process and method will ensure that the final animal product is Halal.
Meanwhile, in production line, the purchasing department, distribution and storage
departments, the way the products or materials are processed, stored and transported must
follow the Shariah compliant. By doing so, the Halal food producers may prevent any
misconception and gain customers’ confidence and trust in their products:

H1b. Producer traceability is positively related in enhancing the HTSA.

2.2.3 Logistics traceability. Halal logistics is well described by Tieman (2013) as the process
of managing the procurement, movement, storage and handling of materials, parts,
livestock, semi-finished or finished inventory both food and non-food, while the related
information and documentation flows through the organization and the supply chain follow
the general Islamic principles. From this definition, it indicates that Halal logistic
traceability involves every aspect of supply chain, from upstream to downstream
(Tieman, 2011). In addition, the flows of inbound vehicle (i.e. truck, container) have to be Halal food
monitored to avoid the mixing of Halal and non-Halal products. Furthermore, the supply chain
segregation in containers and warehouses are needed if there are non-Halal and Halal
products in the same containers or warehouses:
integrity

H1c. Logistics traceability is positively related in enhancing the HTSA.

2.2.4 End user traceability. The end users in the current study are focused towards retail,
shop and customers. Traceability activities that can be implemented by the retail and shop
are to maintain the freshness, cleanliness and Halal products safety to be sold. In addition,
retailers should monitor the shelf rack to avoid mixing them with non-Halal products and
segregation needs to be done if they sell Halal and non-Halal products. Meanwhile, the
implementation of traceability among consumers is being done by looking for any
complaints from customer and enhances the service quality by providing the customer
portal website or customer service centre (Siti et al., 2011).

H1d. End user traceability is positively related in enhancing the HTSA.

Based on these discussions, with respect to Halal traceability system, all the players
involved in the food supply chain are required to store the necessary information related to
the food products and processes that links inputs with outputs, so that when the information
is needed, it could be provided to the Halal food inspection authorities immediately.

2.3 Halal industry environmental factors (HIEF)

The HIEF in this study represent the macro-environmental factor in the sub-dimensions of
political-legal, economic, socio-cultural and technological environments as suggested by
Mohamed et al. (2010), Ward and Rivani (2005), Pulaj and Kume (2013), Talib and Hamid
(2014) and Hassan (2013). These factors will give some idea of what constitutes Halal
because Muslim populations originate from different continents, bringing their own
differences in culture, taste and school of taught. Therefore, it is imperative for Halal food
and beverages producer to understand each dimension of the macro-environmental factors
associated with the industry as discussed below:
2.3.1 Political-Legal factors. The role of the government is apparent in the Halal industry
as the political interventions such as Halal standards, Halal enforcement, and Halal
incentive, will accelerate the growth and development of Halal industry in Malaysia. Apart
from that, Halal industry players in every part of the world have various government
assistance programs to encourage their participant in the lucrative Halal market. The
political and government support can be seen from various efforts such as introducing Halal
certification and standards for Halal products and services, tax incentives, financial
supports and guidelines (Ramli, 2006; Muhammad et al., 2009; Tan et al., 2012; Talib and
Hamid, 2014).
Halal standards are the regulation concerning Halal requirements as to ensure the
integrity of Halal products is being met by the Halal producers along the entire production
chain. Many agencies, associations, councils, or federations have established various Halal
standards globally. Currently, more than hundreds of listed certification bodies implement
various Halal standards worldwide. For Malaysia, the government agency under the
Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) has the authority to produce the
Halal certificate. For example, in food industry, JAKIM has introduced the Malaysian
Standard MS 1500:2009 implemented for Halal Food – Production, Preparation, Handling
and Storage General Guidelines (Second Revision). According to Talib and Hamid (2014), the
JIMA government support also comes in the form of policies, procedures and guidelines. The
government efforts have managed to position Malaysia’s Halal Certification as the most
reliable standard and Malaysia is known for its Halal certification (Muhammad et al., 2009).
In addition, Halal enforcement has been established to ensure that food producers
involved in this industry strictly comply with the Halal standard. In Malaysia, offenses
related to Halal certification and the logo are governed under the Trade Description Act
1972 – Trade Description (Use of the Expression Halal) Order 1975. Other laws are the Food
Act 1983 under the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) that covers cleanliness and safety of
the contents, and Animal Importation Order 1962 under the Agriculture and Agro-based
Industry Ministry Malaysia (MOA) that requires the animals to be slaughtered according to
Islamic ways.
Finally, the Halal incentive may also assist the growing of Halal market by looking at the
various initiatives such as trade and investment promotion, institutional mechanism for the
development and promotion of Halal certification, research and development (R&D) and
capacity building (i.e. IMP3, 2006-2020). In Malaysia, as an effort to enhance the
competitiveness of local Halal products in the global market, a wide range of incentives has
been introduced which includes (IMP3, 2006-2020):

special grant for the development and promotion of Halal products;

investment Tax Allowance of 100 per cent for qualifying capital expenditures for
five years for companies that produce Halal foods;

double tax deductions on expenditures for obtaining Halal certification and
accreditation of international quality system and standard certification; and

grants for business planning and development, product and process improvement,
productivity and quality improvements and certification, market development and
brand promotion.

With regard to Halal food production activities, the Halal standards and incentives provided
by the government enable the Halal food industry especially among small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) to have an extra inducement in succession of their business:

H2a. Political-legal factors are positively related in influencing the HIEF.

2.3.2 Economic factors. Economic indicators provide information regarding industry
development and demand conditions of a particular product. According to Mohamed et al.
(2010), a strong economic and industry growth is one of the aspects in economic factors.
Thus, in the current study, the economics factors of Halal industry will further discuss on
the Muslim population, Halal market growth, standard of living, geographical factors and
Halal compliant infrastructures.
A comprehensive demographic study done by PEW Research Center found that there are
2.1 billion Muslims of all ages living in over 200 countries worldwide in 2012. This number
was forecasted to grow at twice the rate by 2030 representing 27 per cent of global
population (PEW Research Center, 2013). Table I illustrates the estimated Muslim
population and the percentage of world Muslim population in 2030.
By looking at the magnitude and rate of Muslim population worldwide, the potential
demand for Halal food becomes more visible. According to Sumali (2006), the Halal market
opportunities are enormous with Muslims accounted for about one quarter of the world’s
population. As shown in Table II, the world Halal food market size in the year 2010 was US
$652.7bn and this amount is estimated to grow at a tremendous rate. As reported by United
Nation and IMF (2013), the GDP per capita for Muslims worldwide has grown at a
Cumulative Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.8 per cent (Global CAGR = 5.0 per cent) from Halal food
1990 to 2010. supply chain
In addition, standard of living will effect on how people spend their money across the
globe. A higher living standard and lifestyle has increased the demand for better quality and
integrity
convenience food. With regard to Halal food, consumers are eager to pay for premium
products provided that they get the great quality and authenticity of Halal food. As
mentioned by Sungkar (2008), according to KasehDia’s research in major European
countries, it is found that consumers are willing to pay for premium products with better
quality and safety as well as Halal assurance.
Moreover, Halal market exists in all geographic locations around the world. As shown in
Table I, majority of Muslims are located in Asia (59.2 per cent), followed by Africa (37.7 per
cent), Europe (2.7 per cent), and America (0.5 per cent). Each market region has specific
indicators about the demand condition and potential for a Halal marketplace. Despite
demographic differences, similar tastes and preferences within specific market regions can
be found in majority of the population races and cultures. In addition, Adams (2011)
reported that the Halal market will not experience decrease because of dominance in
Muslims’ population growth, rising income and worldwide migration:

H2b. Economic factors are positively related in influencing the HIEF.

2.3.3 Socio-cultural factors. Socio-cultural factors have a great influence on the demand of a
firm’s products and services (Mohamed et al., 2010). Therefore, the socio-cultural factors of
the Halal industry environments discussed in the current study include Halal value,
awareness, acceptance, perception and attitudes among Muslim consumers.
The different interpretations on the meaning of Halal can significantly impact
consumers’ reaction towards Halal products. According to Salehudin and Luthfi (2010),
Halal literacy differs among Muslims due to various interpretations of Islamic laws. His

Region Estimated 2030 Muslim population (000) World Muslim population (%)

Asia-Pacific 1,295,625 59.2

Middle East-North Africa 439,453 20.1
Sub-Saharan Africa 385,939 17.6
Europe 58,209 2.7
Americas 10,927 0.5
World Total 2,190,154 100 Table I.
Muslim population
Source: PEW Research Center (2013) by region

Region Halal food market size 2010 (bn) World Halal food market size (%)

Africa US$153.4 23.5

Europe US$67.0 10.3
Asia US$416.1 63.8
America US$16.2 2.48
World total US$652.7 100 Table II.
Halal food market
Source: Market Indicators Report April 2011 and HDC Analysis size 2010
JIMA study found that consumers with low Halal literacy score had less intention to switch from
product without Halal label than consumer with a moderate to high literacy. Even within an
individual country or society, different ethnic or cultural group might understand, perceive
and respond to these concepts differently, depending on regional situations, ethnic
backgrounds and socio-economic situation (Hassan, 2013).
Furthermore, the increased level of awareness on the Halal concept has also spread
among non-Muslim consumers due to the growing concerns of natural, safe and healthy
products. Besides, Muslim consumers nowadays are more knowledgeable on their food
consumption (Bonne and Verbeke, 2008) and have greater awareness on meat/meat-based
products due to high level of exposure to Shariah principles with respect to slaughtering of
animals, production and processing.
The acceptance of Halal products and services among Muslims and non-Muslims is
increasing because of the perception that Halal is a symbol of a healthier lifestyle and
hygienic preparation (Ambali and Bakar, 2013; Aziz and Chok, 2013). Additionally,
according to Sumali (2006), product with Halal logo was perceived and recognized as a
symbol of cleanliness, safety, and highly quality. Therefore, Halal products and services has
become highly accepted among consumers especially those who have shown a great concern
for high quality standards. Moreover, other socio-cultural factors that affected the
understanding and acceptance of Halal were age, educational levels, level of religiosity, and
geographical area (Rezai et al., 2009).
According to Abdul et al. (2009), trust and confidence have become crucial aspects of
purchasing Halal products and services. Besides, the impact of attitudes in determining the
behavioral intention of purchasing Halal products has been documented in past empirical
studies (Abd Aziz et al., 2010; Hashim and Othman, 2011; Lada et al., 2009; Salehudin and
Luthfi, 2010). Therefore, the variations in attitudes towards Halal might create business
opportunities and influence the decision on adoption of traceability system in Halal food
industry:

H2c. Socio-cultural factors are positively related in influencing the HIEF.

2.3.4 Technological factors. The technological factors of Halal industry have become
apparent in assisting the industry to produce better quality products and also to ensure the
integrity aspect of the Halal products. The Halal-related technological developments
comprise the issues of Halal production technology, Halal packaging technology, Halal
information technology and Halal logistics technology.
Production-related technologies such as machines and production systems have been
applied to improve production methods and outputs. The development of Halal production
technology especially in slaughtering, processing, packaging, and labelling may increase the
quality and integrity of Halal products and enables mass production. In terms of packaging-
related technologies, there are several alternatives that have been developed in ensuring the
environmental consideration such as waterproofing, insect proofing, durables, recycled,
reusable and convenient packaging. The development of Halal packaging technology has
also become apparent in meeting the need of Halal industry which concerns Shariah-
compliant materials.
Moreover, information-related technologies in Halal industry such as electronic Halal
trading portals are getting increasing attention in assisting the industry to promote and
disseminate the products, as well as consumers in reaching the products they want. In
addition, the development of Halal information technology (IT) has also facilitated the
increasing of online Halal software that will assist consumers in checking the Halal status
and logo of the products before they proceed in buying it. For instance, consumer uses smart
phones and multimedia message services (MMS) application to cross-check with Halal Halal food
authority about the legitimacy of a Halal logo on a given product (Junaini and Abdullah, supply chain
2008; Mohd Albakir and Mohd-Mokhtar, 2011). With regards to traceability and integrity,
the development of Halal IT might influence the decision in adopting a more systematic
integrity
traceability system especially in assisting the business of Halal food products.
The use of information technology in logistic helps to improve productivity of logistics
service providers, enhance the effectiveness and efficiency level, and even assist to position
a country to become a logistics hub (Hazen and Byrd, 2012; Piplani et al., 2004). Thus, the
logistics-related technology in Halal industry is vital as it is gaining interest and becomes
lucrative business (Suhaiza et al., 2010a; Tieman, 2010). There are various IT applications
used in Halal logistics, for instance Transportation Management System (TMS), Warehouse
Management System (WMS), Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Global Positioning
System (GPS) and Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) (Bahrudin et al., 2011; Tan
et al., 2012). According to Bahrudin et al. (2011) and Tan et al. (2012), the tracking and
tracing activities in Halal logistics is part of IT and it enhances the service integrity.
Therefore, the applications of IT in Halal logistics benefit the service providers as there are
greater transparency and better control (Tieman, 2010), and for the consumers, it gives them
more assurance:

H2d. Technological factors are positively related in influencing the HIEF.

2.4 Halal food supply chain integrity

Halal integrity has become a foundation in ensuring the successful of Halal industry
regardless of what type of the Halal products. As the Halal integrity of the product is a result
of the various activities in the supply chain, a supply chain approach is important to
guarantee the Halal integrity at the point of consumption (Tieman, 2011). However,
maintaining the Halal integrity is the major challenge for all the parties involved in the Halal
supply chain (Zulfakar et al., 2014). This is because, the possibilities of cross contamination
or tendency of Halal products to be handled together with non-Halal product is quite high
throughout the supply chain. Therefore, to protect the Halal integrity, complete
understanding of the whole Halal food supply chain is required (Khan, 2009; Lodhi, 2009;
Tieman, 2011). Thus, current study will elaborate the integrity issues for each of the supply
chain partners (i.e. supplier, manufcaturer, control system and customer).
The supply of raw materials is the major concern over the Halal integrity. Globalized
food supply chain benefits such as higher availability make Halal food not excused from
sourcing imported raw materials (Ali et al., 2014). Thus, the appropriate sourcing, safety and
quality genuinely is important as very few countries are implementing Halal food
certification and standards through government’s involvement (i.e. Brunei), while the other
countries are still dependent on the private associations. Despite foreign certificates’
recognition by JAKIM being in place, the Halal raw materials integrity doubtful cannot be
eliminated. The swarming issues around the raw materials and certification suggest the
concern of Halal integrity in raw materials is important (Ab Talib and Johan, 2012). In
addition, the ethics aspects of supplier in term of pricing, efficiency and delivery time were
also expected to affect the integrity of supplier particularly in Halal industry.
The production of Halal food is administrated by standards and legislation (i.e.
MS1500:2009, HACCP, GMP, GHP, etc.). According to Ali et al. (2014), production or
manufacturing is the most emphasized stage in Halal food supply chain to determining the
quality and integrity of the food. This is because the production processes involve numerous
stages from choosing the ingredient or raw materials, assembly process, packaging,
JIMA labelling and storage of finished products. Thus, if there are slight changes in the
ingredients, the integrity of the food which was certified as Halal will be doubtful. In
addition, Halal food production also exposed to the risk of contamination from equipment
which will eventually affects Halal supply chain integrity. Ali et al. (2014) suggested the use
of appropriate equipment is not only limited to the factory and kitchen sections, but should
be applied to all level of supply chain. Furthermore, customers are demanding for logistics
services that can guarantee the Halal status remains intact even during distribution
activities with the concern on the integrity of Halal products and services (Talib and Hamid,
2014). Thus, the container or transport needs to be ritually cleaned and consignment
properly segregated to ensure the requirements are observed and the logistics are dedicated
to the Halal product shipment (Jaafar et al., 2011). On the other hand, the Halal food
producers or manufacturers need to pertained transparency in the whole process of
production and have to make sure that all employees encompass an adequate awareness to
ensure the integrity of Halal product remains until the point of consumption.
Control system integrity in Halal industry can be observed through Halal certification
and logo, Halal standard, and traceability and tracking activities. According Zulfakar et al.
(2014), Halal certification is one of the factors in enhancing HFSCIn. In essence, Halal-
certified products encourage sense of confidence and trust among customer that the food
products they purchased are Shariah compliant. In addition, Riaz and Chaudry (2004) added,
Halal certification such as Halal logo or certified of compliance, issued by reputable and
accredited agency shows that the product has sufficiently met the Islamic dietary. Thus, the
authorized Halal logo or certificates issued by trustworthy organization may improve
integrity and prevent from any fraud, fake and misleading logo or certificates. Furthermore,
Halal standard is another concern in ensuring the integrity of control system. Halal standard
and guidelines are diverging due to various Halal authorities and agencies in different
countries. According to Evans (2011), due to multiple authorities and different Islamic
practices, it is difficult for the Halal industry players to have a global standard that can be
practiced worldwide. In addition, this has resulted in multiple Halal standards that would
cause questionable Halal certification (Zulfakar et al., 2014) and consequently affects the
integrity. Accordingly, having the Halal certificate and applying Halal standard will
facilitate the company to practice a complete traceability system. According to Suhaiza et al.
(2010b), the Halal traceability systems should be set up with the purpose to increase the
Halal transparency in the production chain. More transparency will increase customer trust
on the products and increased information on the total supply chain processes. Zulfakar
et al. (2014) added, a comprehensive and reliable traceability system in the Halal food supply
chain can increase the Halal transparency and strengthen the Halal integrity.
The increasing awareness, knowledge and perception of Muslims all over the world on
their obligation to consume food based on Islamic dietary requirements creates greater effort
among food producers to create reliable Halal foods. According to Randolph (2003),
awareness means the knowledge or understanding of particular subject or situation. With
regards to Halal context, awareness means having special interest in or experience of
something and/or being well informed of what is happening at the present time on Halal
foods and products. In addition, increasing customers’ confidence in food and reducing
customer complaints will increase food quality and safety (Arana et al., 2002; Liao et al.,
2011; Mousavi et al., 2002), consequently will increase the integrity. Furthermore, customer
sensitivity and cooperation in giving information regarding Halal foods status is also
expected to increase the integrity of the Halal foods.
In addition, the use of traceability systems in food industry has been recognized as a tool
to assist in the assurance of food safety and quality as well as to achieve consumer
confidence (Aung and Chang, 2014). Suhaiza et al. (2010b) proposed Halal traceability Halal food
systems that can be used to strengthen the Halal food supply chain. Meanwhile, Siti et al. supply chain
(2011) and Zulfakar et al. (2014) suggested that Halal traceability systems will assist to
sustain the integrity of Halal product. In addition, traceability system increases the quality
integrity
of food and food production system as it increases the awareness of workers through the
focus on data capturing and documentation process (Donnelly and Olsen, 2012), and
consequently, this will increase the integrity. Therefore, this study expected the HTSA has a
positive effect towards HFSCIn:

H3. HTSA has a significant influence on the importance of HFSCIn.

Furthermore, environmental factors have been identified as having a detrimental effect on
supply chain (Lee, 2004; Xiao et al., 2007). For example, the political legal factors such as
Halal standards are the regulations concerning Halal requirements to ensure the integrity of
Halal products is being met by the Halal producers along the entire production chain. For
this reason, it is expected that HIEF will also affect the HFSCIn. Accordingly, this study
posits:

H4. HIEF have a significant influence on the importance of HFSCIn.

3. Materials and methods

The unit of analysis of the study is the organizational level consists of Halal food producers
that have been certified by JAKIM (Figure 1). The self-administrated questionnaires were
distributed during Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS) 2014 at KLCC, Kuala
Lumpur on 9th-12th April 2014 and Halal Fiesta Malaysia (HALFEST) 2014 at MIECC, Mines
Seri Kembangan, Selangor on 3rd-7th September 2014. The exhibitors came from all around
the globe and also came from every state in Malaysia. As this study only focuses on
companies which are operating in Malaysia, all international participants are excluded from
the survey. The products range presented during this exhibition includes foods,
pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and services. However, due to the focus of this study is food

SuppT
H1a-

ProdT
H1b
HTSA
LogTr H1c H3
SuppI

H1d
EndTr
ManIn
HFSCIn
ContI
Pol-
H2a-
CustIn
H4
Eco H2b
HIEF

Soc-
H2c

H2d Figure 1.
Techn
Research model
JIMA manufacturers, thus, the questionnaires were only distributed among Halal food
manufacturers during the exhibition. Most of the respondents are the general manager or
owner of the company, Halal executives, quality assurance managers, operation managers
and sales manager.

3.1 Data collection

Two hundred self-administered questionnaires were distributed to the exhibitors via face-to-
face during MIHAS and HALFEST exhibition from 9th to 12th April 2014 and 3rd to 7th
September 2014. A total of 175 of them were collected, but only 127 of them can be used for
data analysis purpose. The other 48 returned questionnaires are unusable because of poor
quality of data, and they are not in food and beverages category. Only the person with good
knowledge of the company and have Halal certified product is qualified to complete the
survey.

3.2 Questionnaire design

In the current study, the questionnaire comprises of four sections. Part A consists of
information regarding products; Parts B, C and D consist of items relating to the constructs.
It was anticipated that each respondent would require about 15 min in completing the
questionnaire. The following is a detailed discussion of each section.
3.2.1 Part A. This section includes five questions asking information on the product that
the company produces.
3.2.2 Part B. In this section, there are four subsections consists of 20 questions asking
respondents to evaluate the degree of HTSA applied among supplier, producer, logistics,
and end user which is perceived important by using five-point differential scale from no
adoption to substantial adoption. Each subsection includes three to eight items each. The
items are adapted from Samsi et al. (2011) and Bahrudin et al. (2011) studies.
3.2.3 Part C. This section includes four main subsections of HIEF that are political-legal,
economic, socio-cultural and technological factors. There were 20 questions which the
respondents need to evaluate to what extent they agree with the attributes perceived to be
important in influencing the Halal food production measured by a five-point Likert scale
ranging from (1) Strongly Disagree to (5) Strongly Agree. The items were adapted from
previous established instruments measuring the macro-environmental factors in Halal
industry context (Hassan, 2013 and Talib and Hamid, 2014) and were modified to fit the
objectives of this study.
3.2.4 Part D. This section contains 28 questions asking the Halal food producers’
perception on factors enhancing the HFSCIn which is perceived important by using five-
point differential scale from very low to very high. There are four subsections on factors
enhancing HFSCIn comprises from supplier integrity, manufacturer integrity, control
system integrity and customer integrity. Each subsection includes five to nine items each.
The items are adapted from Ali et a.l (2014) and Tieman et al. (2012) studies.
Before the questionnaire is distributed to the actual respondents, the questionnaire was
pre-tested to check on its reliability and validity.

3.3 Measurement model assessment

The research model for current study is tested using partial least squares (PLS). Smart PLS
version 2.0 (Ringle et al., 2004) is used to assess the measurement and structural model for
this study. Based on previous studies, the validation of a reflective measurement model can
be established by testing its construct validity, convergent validity, and discriminant
validity (Lewis et al., 2005; Straub et al., 2004). The following subsections present the Halal food
findings for each of the analysis used to evaluate the reliability and validity of the supply chain
measurement model for current study.
integrity
3.4 Construct validity
According to Sekaran and Bougie (2010), construct validity testifies to how well the results
obtained from the use of measure fit the theories around which the test is designed. The problem
is, whether the instrument cover the concept as theorized. This question can be solved by
assessing through convergent and discriminant validity. It can be done by looking at the
respective loadings and cross loading to evaluate if there are problems with any particular items.
Hair et al. (2013) suggested the cut off value for loading at a minimum of 0.5 as significant. The
cross loading is a significant problem if any items which has loading of higher than 0.5 on two
or more factors. Table III shows that all items measuring a particular construct loaded highly on
that construct and loaded lower on the other construct thus confirming construct validity.

3.5 Convergent validity

Convergent validity is the test to measure the same construct and shows that they are
related. Hair et al. (2010) suggested that to access convergent validity, the cut off value for
loading should exceed 0.5, and the CR is higher than 0.7. The cut off value for AVE is also
0.5 (Barclay et al., 1995), and this indicates that, on average, the construct explains more than
half of the variance of its indicators (Hair et al., 2013). Table IV summarizes the result of the
measurement model. The result indicate that all construct used are all valid measures of
their respective constructs according to their parameter estimates and statistical
significance (Chow and Chan, 2008).

3.6 Discriminant validity

Discriminant validity is:
[. . .] the extent to which a construct is truly distinct from other constructs, in terms of how much
it correlates with other constructs, as well as how many indicators represent only a single
construct (Hair et al., 2013).
It was assessed by examining the cross loading (Chin, 1998) and Fornell-Lacker’s criterion
(Fornell and Larcker, 1981). The loadings of an indicator on its assigned latent variables (LVs)
should be higher than its loadings on all other latent variables. In addition, the LVs should
explain better the variance of its own indicators than the variance of other LVs and the AVE of
a LVs should be higher than the squared correlations between the LV and all other variables
(Chin, 2010; Chin, 1998; Fornell and Larcker, 1981). As shown in Table V, the calculated square
root of the AVE (ranging from 0.833 to 0.929) exceeded the inter-correlations of the constrcut
with the other constructs in the model, indicating adequate discriminant validity.

3.7 Structural model assessment

The first important criterion for assessing structural model is to measure the model’s
predictive accuracy by evaluating the coefficient of determination (R2). The R2 value
indicates the amount of variance in dependent variables that is explained by the
independent variables. According to Chin (1998), R2 values for endogenous latent variables
are assessed with 0.67, 0.33 or 0.19, respectively describing substantial, moderate or weak
level of predictive accuracy. As illustrated in Figure 2, the R2 value for HFSCIn was 0.400
suggesting that 40 per cent of the variance can be explained by HTSA and HIEF. Thus, the
study indicates that the level of predictive accuracy are between moderate to substantial.
 JIMA

loadings
Table III.
Loadings and cross
Items ConInt CusInt Eco EndTrace LogTrace ManInt Pol ProTrace Soc SupInt SuppTrace Tech

CON1 0.808 0.468 0.316 0.391 0.400 0.663 0.372 0.383 0.354 0.552 0.152 0.320
CON2 0.806 0.476 0.257 0.376 0.303 0.573 0.322 0.272 0.322 0.468 0.216 0.352
CON3 0.883 0.547 0.358 0.522 0.503 0.647 0.459 0.569 0.335 0.515 0.237 0.369
CON4 0.889 0.475 0.300 0.456 0.473 0.624 0.386 0.495 0.272 0.544 0.223 0.286
CON5 0.866 0.528 0.293 0.442 0.393 0.578 0.437 0.497 0.326 0.447 0.147 0.246
CON6 0.872 0.564 0.291 0.468 0.367 0.573 0.412 0.503 0.318 0.450 0.238 0.323
CON7 0.850 0.553 0.275 0.447 0.353 0.591 0.365 0.406 0.317 0.531 0.188 0.320
CUS1 0.369 0.828 0.500 0.411 0.310 0.369 0.486 0.369 0.517 0.286 0.100 0.435
CUS2 0.561 0.887 0.450 0.399 0.320 0.445 0.518 0.424 0.504 0.362 0.227 0.410
CUS3 0.599 0.915 0.453 0.451 0.407 0.484 0.510 0.464 0.506 0.413 0.246 0.455
CUS4 0.450 0.759 0.372 0.380 0.325 0.408 0.328 0.285 0.378 0.297 0.284 0.396
CUS5 0.572 0.891 0.413 0.413 0.327 0.542 0.486 0.395 0.496 0.439 0.270 0.476
ECO1 0.256 0.446 0.844 0.513 0.462 0.353 0.552 0.457 0.542 0.215 0.140 0.568
ECO2 0.293 0.423 0.885 0.533 0.448 0.376 0.678 0.425 0.644 0.216 0.079 0.661
ECO3 0.334 0.440 0.851 0.468 0.424 0.400 0.556 0.386 0.616 0.338 0.140 0.542
ECO4 0.349 0.450 0.893 0.537 0.473 0.344 0.513 0.499 0.551 0.206 0.250 0.571
ECO5 0.265 0.408 0.794 0.403 0.319 0.289 0.511 0.337 0.565 0.229 0.166 0.598
END1 0.476 0.493 0.545 0.918 0.658 0.432 0.379 0.772 0.476 0.322 0.279 0.466
END2 0.453 0.388 0.424 0.841 0.674 0.402 0.338 0.630 0.423 0.267 0.299 0.472
END3 0.492 0.412 0.498 0.920 0.759 0.496 0.332 0.749 0.407 0.373 0.348 0.463
END4 0.438 0.415 0.567 0.925 0.704 0.444 0.376 0.711 0.510 0.327 0.308 0.567
END5 0.473 0.435 0.545 0.872 0.682 0.446 0.349 0.660 0.427 0.337 0.302 0.514
LOG1 0.457 0.408 0.457 0.683 0.892 0.469 0.353 0.694 0.326 0.367 0.262 0.459
LOG2 0.427 0.311 0.423 0.726 0.924 0.411 0.335 0.655 0.345 0.331 0.299 0.392
LOG3 0.417 0.377 0.449 0.716 0.939 0.456 0.325 0.662 0.379 0.359 0.284 0.446
LOG4 0.414 0.347 0.495 0.712 0.899 0.404 0.399 0.660 0.355 0.304 0.278 0.491
MAN1 0.565 0.424 0.279 0.398 0.346 0.800 0.292 0.362 0.297 0.669 0.219 0.305
MAN2 0.566 0.424 0.283 0.461 0.417 0.823 0.326 0.453 0.244 0.638 0.217 0.298
MAN3 0.621 0.484 0.339 0.468 0.435 0.876 0.364 0.474 0.324 0.728 0.219 0.352
MAN4 0.616 0.489 0.342 0.460 0.431 0.847 0.392 0.502 0.415 0.689 0.180 0.393
MAN5 0.665 0.480 0.398 0.451 0.397 0.853 0.389 0.479 0.424 0.639 0.184 0.365
(continued)
Items ConInt CusInt Eco EndTrace LogTrace ManInt Pol ProTrace Soc SupInt SuppTrace Tech

MAN6 0.541 0.428 0.402 0.384 0.439 0.827 0.440 0.439 0.360 0.640 0.184 0.317
MAN7 0.599 0.433 0.362 0.376 0.429 0.829 0.393 0.417 0.384 0.694 0.276 0.366
MAN8 0.637 0.433 0.362 0.411 0.406 0.865 0.322 0.429 0.370 0.795 0.209 0.344
MAN9 0.581 0.419 0.368 0.353 0.311 0.860 0.342 0.338 0.347 0.724 0.180 0.326
POL1 0.481 0.528 0.524 0.386 0.386 0.474 0.870 0.418 0.471 0.303 0.054 0.404
POL2 0.496 0.538 0.602 0.387 0.360 0.434 0.921 0.368 0.549 0.318 0.039 0.481
POL3 0.369 0.458 0.596 0.281 0.311 0.356 0.869 0.339 0.513 0.217 0.067 0.412
POL4 0.376 0.486 0.612 0.358 0.332 0.311 0.886 0.346 0.528 0.251 0.062 0.571
POL5 0.324 0.407 0.590 0.343 0.322 0.337 0.881 0.298 0.458 0.235 0.104 0.541
PRO1 0.505 0.439 0.468 0.697 0.649 0.416 0.410 0.880 0.461 0.326 0.377 0.428
PRO2 0.401 0.341 0.482 0.699 0.624 0.404 0.361 0.881 0.433 0.292 0.401 0.448
PRO3 0.446 0.367 0.436 0.668 0.666 0.468 0.294 0.860 0.406 0.392 0.415 0.501
PRO4 0.507 0.419 0.453 0.727 0.664 0.525 0.381 0.904 0.403 0.362 0.351 0.407
PRO5 0.479 0.396 0.405 0.711 0.627 0.423 0.345 0.868 0.425 0.285 0.305 0.472
PRO6 0.423 0.399 0.374 0.621 0.541 0.416 0.326 0.833 0.412 0.299 0.370 0.396
PRO7 0.464 0.442 0.449 0.686 0.652 0.460 0.373 0.888 0.484 0.331 0.402 0.484
PRO8 0.421 0.361 0.351 0.661 0.646 0.455 0.269 0.830 0.326 0.353 0.416 0.391
SOC1 0.363 0.560 0.639 0.464 0.317 0.385 0.519 0.448 0.897 0.252 0.224 0.621
SOC2 0.304 0.488 0.598 0.432 0.322 0.353 0.486 0.407 0.886 0.228 0.099 0.633
SOC3 0.392 0.467 0.628 0.487 0.376 0.425 0.536 0.461 0.910 0.252 0.119 0.642
SOC4 0.257 0.480 0.570 0.379 0.340 0.324 0.470 0.385 0.885 0.248 0.088 0.596
SOC5 0.352 0.506 0.622 0.468 0.360 0.378 0.530 0.450 0.887 0.230 0.102 0.708
SUP1 0.358 0.337 0.149 0.172 0.154 0.608 0.177 0.197 0.186 0.763 0.133 0.170
SUP2 0.553 0.386 0.264 0.327 0.291 0.750 0.221 0.361 0.210 0.875 0.214 0.262
SUP3 0.476 0.318 0.242 0.391 0.383 0.630 0.331 0.389 0.290 0.776 0.176 0.223
SUP4 0.494 0.406 0.264 0.283 0.275 0.702 0.269 0.319 0.251 0.873 0.230 0.255
SUP5 0.576 0.398 0.225 0.318 0.396 0.687 0.309 0.324 0.219 0.872 0.113 0.251
SUP6 0.379 0.285 0.233 0.261 0.326 0.647 0.183 0.244 0.164 0.832 0.251 0.166
SUP6 0.379 0.285 0.233 0.261 0.326 0.647 0.183 0.244 0.164 0.832 0.251 0.166
SUP7 0.557 0.342 0.254 0.354 0.335 0.750 0.245 0.365 0.257 0.834 0.116 0.232
SUP7 0.557 0.342 0.254 0.354 0.335 0.750 0.245 0.365 0.257 0.834 0.116 0.232
(continued)

Table III.
supply chain
Halal food

integrity
 JIMA

Table III.
Items ConInt CusInt Eco EndTrace LogTrace ManInt Pol ProTrace Soc SupInt SuppTrace Tech

SUPP1 0.168 0.221 0.198 0.332 0.302 0.219 0.085 0.407 0.143 0.178 0.953 0.271
SUPP2 0.269 0.265 0.185 0.333 0.280 0.243 0.089 0.384 0.119 0.216 0.940 0.248
SUPP3 0.219 0.259 0.115 0.290 0.275 0.225 0.031 0.427 0.133 0.193 0.894 0.301
TEC1 0.381 0.506 0.649 0.509 0.418 0.403 0.496 0.448 0.697 0.284 0.188 0.906
TEC2 0.321 0.447 0.504 0.473 0.418 0.376 0.409 0.463 0.558 0.241 0.316 0.864
TEC3 0.302 0.447 0.685 0.531 0.496 0.350 0.550 0.467 0.675 0.231 0.265 0.916
TEC4 0.329 0.415 0.654 0.502 0.442 0.351 0.482 0.468 0.654 0.234 0.265 0.914
TEC5 0.340 0.473 0.605 0.480 0.429 0.350 0.519 0.450 0.643 0.230 0.303 0.910

Note: Italic values are loadings for items which are above the recommended value 0.5
Source: Survey data
 Halal food
Construct Items Loadings CRa AVEb
supply chain
Control System Int CON1 0.808 0.950 0.730 integrity
CON2 0.806
CON3 0.883
CON4 0.889
CON5 0.866
CON6 0.872
CON7 0.850
Customer Int CUS1 0.828 0.933 0.736
CUS2 0.887
CUS3 0.915
CUS4 0.759
CUS5 0.891
Economic ECO1 0.844 0.931 0.729
ECO2 0.885
ECO3 0.851
ECO4 0.893
ECO5 0.794
End user trace END1 0.918 0.953 0.803
END2 0.841
END3 0.920
END4 0.925
END5 0.872
Logistics trace LOG1 0.892 0.953 0.835
LOG2 0.924
LOG3 0.939
LOG4 0.899
Manufacturer Int MAN1 0.800 0.957 0.710
MAN2 0.823
MAN3 0.876
MAN4 0.847
MAN5 0.853
MAN6 0.827
MAN7 0.829
MAN8 0.865
MAN9 0.860
Politic-legal POL1 0.870 0.948 0.784
POL2 0.921
POL3 0.869
POL4 0.886
POL5 0.881
Producer trace PRO1 0.880 0.961 0.754
PRO2 0.881
PRO3 0.860
PRO4 0.904
PRO5 0.868
PRO6 0.833
PRO7 0.888
PRO8 0.830
Socio-cultural SOC1 0.897 0.952 0.798
SOC2 0.886 Table IV.
SOC3 0.910 Results of
(continued) measurement model
JIMA
Construct Items Loadings CRa AVEb

SOC4 0.885
SOC5 0.887
Supplier Int SUP1 0.763 0.941 0.694
SUP2 0.875
SUP3 0.776
SUP4 0.873
SUP5 0.872
SUP6 0.832
SUP6 0.832
SUP7 0.834
SUP7 0.834
Supplier trace SUPP1 0.953 0.950 0.864
SUPP2 0.940
SUPP3 0.894
Technological TEC1 0.906 0.956 0.814
TEC2 0.864
TEC3 0.916
TEC4 0.914
TEC5 0.910

Notes: aAverage variance extracted (AVE) = (summation of the square of the factor loadings)/
{(summation of the square of the factor loadings) þ (summation of the error variance)}; bComposite
reliability (CR) = (square of the summation of the factor loadings)/{(square of the summation of the factor
loadings) þ (square of the summation of the error variances)}
Table IV. Source: Survey data

Meanwhile, the cross-validated redundancy (Q2) is a means for assessing the inner model’s
predictive relevance and how well the omitted data are estimated by the model. In PLS, the
omitted data can be estimated in two modes:
(1) Cross-validated communality (H2); or
(2) Cross-validated redundancy (F2).

H2 is where the missing values of the manifest data are estimated using the latent variables
scores and factor loadings. Meanwhile, F2 is where the scores of latent endogenous variables
are estimated by the scores of latent exogenous variables and the weights in the
measurement model. These newly estimated scores of latent exogenous variables are used to
estimate the missing manifest variables score. Both statistics are obtained through
blindfolding procedures in PLS. In addition, Q2 is generally estimated using an omission
distance of 5 to 10 and the rule of thumb indicates that a cross-validated redundancy Q2 >
0.5 is regarded as a predictive model (Chin, 2010).
In the current study, the predictive sample reuse technique was applied (Chin, 2010;
Fornell and Cha, 1994) besides looking at the magnitude of the R-square (R2) as a criterion
for predictive relevance. Figure 3 revealed the current study obtains a Q2 value of 0.522 by
using an omission distance of 7 in the blindfolding procedures. The Q2 larger than 0.5
indicates that the path model has highly predictive relevance for this particular construct. In
this model, HTSA and HIEF predicted HFSCIn. Therefore, this finding indicates that
prediction of observables is of much greater relevance than the estimation of what are often
artifical construct parameter (Akter et al., 2011).
Constructs ConInt CusInt Eco EndTrace LogTrace ManInt Pol ProTrace Soc SupInt SuppTrace Tech

ConInt 0.854
CusInt 0.604 0.858
Eco 0.351 0.507 0.854
EndTrace 0.520 0.479 0.576 0.896
LogTrace 0.469 0.395 0.499 0.777 0.914
ManInt 0.712 0.530 0.414 0.496 0.476 0.843
Pol 0.461 0.545 0.662 0.396 0.386 0.430 0.885
ProTrace 0.525 0.456 0.493 0.788 0.731 0.514 0.398 0.868
Soc 0.375 0.560 0.685 0.501 0.384 0.418 0.570 0.482 0.893
SupInt 0.588 0.426 0.281 0.364 0.372 0.821 0.299 0.380 0.271 0.833
SuppTrace 0.235 0.267 0.179 0.343 0.308 0.246 0.074 0.437 0.142 0.210 0.929
Tech 0.371 0.507 0.690 0.553 0.489 0.405 0.547 0.508 0.718 0.270 0.294 0.902

Note: Diagonals (in italic) represent the square root of the average variance extracted (AVE) while the other entries represent the squared correlations
Source: Survey data

of the constructs
Table V.
supply chain
Halal food

Discriminant validity
integrity
JIMA

Figure 2.
Result of
structural model

Figure 3.
Q2 predictive
relevance

3.8 Path coefficient and hypothesis testing

The path coefficient between constructs was assessed to validate the proposed hypotheses
and the structural model. According to Hair et al. (2011) and Wetzels et al. (2009), the path
coefficient values need to be at least 0.1 to account for a certain impact within the model. The
results of hypotheses testing for current study (Table VI) showed that all proposed Halal food
hypotheses are supported. From this analysis, supported hypotheses are significant at the supply chain
level of 0.01, have positive sign directions and consist of a path coefficient value ( b ) ranging
from 0.292 to 0.945.
integrity
Based on the result below, the highest adoption of Halal traceability system is among the
producer ( b = 0.945, t = 79.610, p < 0.01), followed by end user ( b = 0.912, t = 52.459,
p < 0.01), logistics ( b = 0.867, t = 33.326, p < 0.01), and supplier ( b = 0.505, t = 5.226,
p < 0.01). In addition, the highest contributions in Halal environmental factors are economic
( b = 0.883, t = 32.530, p < 0.01), followed by socio-cultural ( b = 0.872, t = 31.724, p < 0.01),
technological ( b = 0.868, t = 36.650, p < 0.01) and political ( b = 0.803, t = 15.367, p < 0.01).
Meanwhile, HTSA and HIEF was also found to have significant influenced on HFSCIn ( b =
0.414, t = 4.604, p < 0.01); and ( b = 0.292, t = 2.917, p < 0.01).
Several reasons explain the significant results of HTSA on HFSCIn. This finding is
consistent with previous study done by Zulfakar et al. (2014), Bahrudin et al. (2011) and
Suhaiza et al. (2010a) where they found with the implementation of comprehensive and
reliable traceability system will strengthen the Halal food supply chain and increase the
Halal integrity. In addition, a study by Hassan (2013) also found that the development of
Halal logistics such as Halal control system, Halal traceability, Halal tracking system, Halal
transportation and warehousing system has been critical in ensuring the integrity of Halal
products. These results have providing opportunities to understand further on the
importance of HTSA and HIEF in enhancing HFSCIn.

4. Discussion and conclusion

In the Halal industry context, the Halal integrity of the product is a result of the various
activities in the supply chain. Additionally, a supply chain approach is important to
guarantee the Halal integrity at the point of consumption (Tieman, 2011). Therefore,
complete understanding of the whole Halal food supply chain is required to protect the Halal
integrity (Khan, 2009; Lodhi, 2009; Tieman, 2011). According to Ali and Suleiman (2018), the
Halal food industry is relatively less matured, and the Halal food industry is dependent
highly on the consumer trust of its food integrity, thus suggesting the actors in the halal
supply chain pay equal responsibilities in ensuring that all the products fulfills the
requirements at all time.
Through the observation on the relevant sources across the food supply chain context,
the research provides sufficient evidence that the HFSCIn will also be influenced by

Hypothesis Relationship Beta Standard error T-value Decision

H1a HTSA ! SuppTrace 0.505 0.097 5.226** Supported

H1b HTSA ! ProTrace 0.945 0.012 79.610** Supported
H1c HTSA ! LogTrace 0.867 0.026 33.326** Supported
H1d HTSA ! EndTrace 0.912 0.017 52.459** Supported
H2a HIEF ! Pol 0.803 0.052 15.367** Supported
H2b HIEF ! Eco 0.883 0.027 32.530** Supported
H2c HIEF ! Soc 0.872 0.028 31.274** Supported
H2d HIEF ! Tech 0.868 0.024 36.650** Supported
H3 HTSA ! HFSCIn 0.414 0.090 4.604** Supported
H4 HIEF ! HFSCIn 0.292 0.100 2.917** Supported Table VI.
Path coefficient and
Notes: t-values > 1.645 * (p < 0.05); t-values > 2.33 **(p < 0.01) hypothesis testing
JIMA traceability system adoption and environmental factors. Based on the findings, the
traceability system adoption and environmental factors were found to have significant
influence on HFSCIn.
This study only focused on Halal food industry particularly the food and beverages category.
Thus, future study can explore further on every category in food industry such as raw materials
and ingredients; poultry, meat and dairy; fast food and premises and make comparison between
pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and healthcare in Halal industry. In addition, the sample size
(N = 127) can be considered small; therefore, it is recommended that in future the subject matter
be explored with a much larger sample to allow generalization of the result. Furthermore, a large
sample would assist future researchers to make use of other stronger data analysis.
In addition, it is recommended a mixed-method approach (Creswell 2003) to be applied to
investigate the antecedents and consequences of traceability system and supply chain
integrity. The integration of both qualitative and quantitative methods could provide
further insight on the issue of supply chain integrity among food producers. A qualitative
approach can be used as a preliminary stage to build the local meaning attributed to
the constructs. The instrument itself can be adapted to include qualitative statements on
some of the items. The quantitative data allows testing to confirm hypothesized
relationships whilst the qualitative phase of research helps to provide in-depth data to
supplement the interpretation of the quantitative results (Ridenour and Newman, 2008).
Hence, the mixed-method approach is predicted to strengthen the research design, resulting
in more valid and reliable findings.
The study demonstrates that HFSCIn practice must be seen prominently to deliver the
best authentic Halal product to respected customers. Ensuring Halal integrity is a daunting
task for several Halal food companies especially for the SMEs. Thus, by understanding the
importance of HTSA and HIEF in enhancing HFSCIn, the finding may provide a guideline
and better perceptive for developing effective strategies and modifications to improve the
Halal integrity practice and the company’s supply chain performance.

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Corresponding author
Norasekin Ab Rashid can be contacted at: norasekin@gmail.com

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