International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

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Economic Happiness and Workplace Well-being as Drivers of Institutional Productivity: An Islamic Economic and SDG Perspective in Malaysia PHEIs

Open access

Noorkartina Mohamad, Siti Khalilah Basarud-Din, Nor Musfirah Mohamad, Norashikin Baharom, Hamdani Hamdani, Aidil Syah Putra

Pages 606-617 Received: 28 Apr, 2025 Revised: 24 May, 2025 Published Online: 18 Jun, 2025

http://dx.doi.org/10.46886/IJARBSS/v15-i6/17159
This study investigates the extent to which Islamic economic principles, economic happiness, and the integration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) predict workplace well-being, conceptualized as an indirect indicator of institutional productivity, within Malaysian Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs). Drawing upon a cross-sectional survey of 120 academic and administrative personnel from Islamic-oriented institutions, the research employs descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression to evaluate the predictive strength of value-driven workplace practices. The results demonstrate significant positive associations between workplace well-being and both economic happiness (r = 0.698, p < 0.001) and Islamic economic principles with SDG-aligned practices (r = 0.841, p < 0.001). Regression analysis reveals that Islamic economic values (B = 0.567, p < 0.001) serve as a stronger predictor of well-being than economic happiness (B = 0.139, p = 0.014), with both explaining 72.2% of the variance in subjective well-being (R² = 0.722). These findings underscore the institutional importance of embedding Islamic ethical frameworks and sustainability principles to promote well-being, engagement, and productivity.
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