549 © 2018 AESS Publications. All Rights Reserved. THE ROLE OF SUPPLIER, TOP MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNMENT IN HALAL PRACTICES INTEGRITY OF MALAYSIAN FOOD BUSINESS Kamisah Supian 1+ Norasekin Ab Rashid 2 1,2 Faculty of Business and Accountancy, Universiti Selangor, Jalan Zirkon A7/A, Seksyen 7, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia (+ Corresponding author) ABSTRACT Article History Received: 2 May 2018 Revised: 13 June 2018 Accepted: 24 June 2018 Published: 4 July 2018 Keywords Supplier credibility Top management capability Government support Halal integrity practices Halal food. In the last few years, halal food industry has grown substantively and globally. It become crucial to the Muslim consumers due to its safety, hygiene and quality assurance of what is consumed and used. Muslim consumers follow the Islamic dietary law as explained clearly in Quran and Sunnah, which is called as halalan-thoyyiban, i.e. lawful or permissible, wholesome, authentic and safety. In Malaysia, the organization has to comply with MS1500:2009 in the production of halal food and to obtain halal certification. Suppliers, top management of the companies and government should play their role in ensuring the integrity of halal food. Any improper description and inappropriate preparation of halal food provide a huge impact to the demand for halal food as well as to retain the buyers’ trust in consuming the halal food. Given the significant role of supplier, top management and government in the halal production over the Muslim consumers’ life, this study aims to examine the role of supplier credibility, top management capability and government support in halal practices integrity of food business in Malaysia. The questionnaires distributed to the halal food manufacturers during the Malaysian halal food events and festivals. Structural Equation Modeling with Partial Least Square was used to analyze the collected data. The findings show the important role those parties in the halal food production. The results also provide a better understanding of their role in sustaining the integrity of halal food. Contribution/ Originality: This study contributes in the existing literature that provides empirical evidence on the role of supplier, top management and government in the halal food industry. In addition, this study provides the practitioners some clear exposure on the adherence of halal practices integrity along the halal food supply chain. 1. INTRODUCTION According to Fischer (2015) Islam has both produced and is in itself infused by a fascination with the morally proper Islamic way of life in Malaysia. This tendency embraces the consumption of halal goods, which have a beneficial impact on family, community and nation. An example of this could be to prefer certain locally produced and certified halal goods, as in the case of Darul Arqam. Darul Arqam that emerged in the wider resurgence of Islam in Malaysia starting in the 1970s with its own economic base producing variety of agricultural and petty commodity products (Saravanamuttu, 2010; Fischer, 2015). Darul Arqam’s cultivation and marketing of an Islamic International Journal of Asian Social Science ISSN(e): 2224-4441 ISSN(p): 2226-5139 DOI: 10.18488/journal.1.2018.88.549.559 Vol. 8, No. 8, 549-559 © 2018 AESS Publications. All Rights Reserved. URL: www.aessweb.com