PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

The increasing demand for Halal-certified products highlights the need for robust organisational readiness among small and micro food enterprises (SMiEs). This study aims to develop and validate a model of Halal compliance readiness using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Drawing from the readiness organisational for change (ROC) and Readiness of Organisation for Halal Standard Compliance (ROHSC) frameworks, a pretested and piloted questionnaire was distributed to 112 SMiEs. EFA revealed four reliable constructs: motivation for change, informational assessment, perceived compatibility, and efficient communication channels, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.831 to 0.943. The ROHSC demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.988) across 34 item forms grouped into seven separate factors. These results indicate that the developed instrument is reliable and can serve as a practical tool for assessing SMiEs’ readiness to comply with Halal standards. Practically, this toolkit may assist Halal certification bodies and training providers in identifying readiness levels and providing targeted support. The cross-validation study indicated an acceptable model fit and supported the applicability of the model in other contexts. Further research using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is recommended to strengthen its generalisability and reliability across settings.