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1 – 10 of over 6000Pallab Kumar Biswas, Helen Roberts and Rosalind Heather Whiting
This paper aims to investigate the impact of female director affiliations to governing families on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures in the context of Bangladeshi…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the impact of female director affiliations to governing families on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures in the context of Bangladeshi firms.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a quantitative empirical research method grounded in Socioemotional Wealth (SEW) theory. Data was sourced from Bangladeshi publicly listed non-financial sector companies’ annual reports and stock exchange trading and publication reports and consists of 2,637 firm-year observations from 1996 to 2011. Pooled multivariate regression models are used to test the association between corporate social and environmental disclosure and female directors, and the family affiliation (or not) of those directors.
Findings
The findings provide strong evidence that female directors who are affiliated to the governing family, founders and other board members reduce CSR disclosure in family firms; unaffiliated female board directors enhance CSR disclosure, and this effect is significant in both family and non-family firms.
Research limitations/implications
Definitions of family firms and affiliated directors may lead to over-generalization in the results.
Originality/value
The study highlights variation in the nature of female board appointments in emerging market family-controlled firms. The findings bring attention to the role of affiliated female director appointments in family ownership structures and speak directly to family business owners, advisors and policy makers about the importance of unaffiliated female directors as catalysts of improved CSR disclosure in family and non-family firms.
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Muhamad Mu'izz Abdullah, Abdul Bari Awang and Mohamad Sabri Zakaria
This study aims to analyse the mechanism of trust instrument from a Shariah point of view. Analysis of the mechanism would determine the extent to which its implementation can…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyse the mechanism of trust instrument from a Shariah point of view. Analysis of the mechanism would determine the extent to which its implementation can resolve estate planning issues such as frozen estate and the issue of naming beneficiaries under the age of 18.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a qualitative study method through library research. To explore the mechanism of trust instrument, an in-depth interview with five participants using purposive sampling and analyses of documents were used. The selection of this sample allows the researcher to obtain specific data in their field of expertise. Therefore, two officers from the Trust Administration Department of Amanah Raya Berhad (ARB) and three Shariah advisors from ARB (MPS ARB) were interviewed to find out the mechanism of trust instrument from the Shariah perspective. The researcher also referred to the trust deed documents, ARB company policies, field case studies such nomination cases and trust accounts, articles and court cases.
Findings
The trust instrument meets Shariah requirements even though it is based entirely on the Civil Law. The comprehensive and flexible features of trust deeds can help donors to plan systematically during their lifetime.
Research limitations/implications
This study only focuses on the trust instruments that are currently being implemented in the ARB. Five trust products were analysed to achieve the objectives of the study, namely, the Normal Trust, Safecare and Safecare Premium, Takaful Care, Hibah (literally “gift”) as well as Trust and Declaration of Hibah.
Practical implications
The implementation of trust instrument at an early stage can ensure the property is well managed through a trust deed, guarantee the life of the beloved heirs after the death of the donor and prevent the property from being frozen.
Originality/value
This study comprehensively describes the trust instrument from the Shariah perspective and its implementation mechanism in the industry.
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Haruna Babatunde Jaiyeoba, Moha Asri Abdullah and Shahoriyer Hossain
This study uses second-order measurement invariance analysis to investigate the perspective of gender divide on whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) can serve as a…
Abstract
Purpose
This study uses second-order measurement invariance analysis to investigate the perspective of gender divide on whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) can serve as a promotional tool for halal certified companies in Malaysia. Perhaps researching into the perspective of gender on whether CSR can serve as a promotional tool has either been ignored or received limited attention among the researchers from this domain. Hence, this study aims to fill this gap.
Design/methodology/approach
In the quest to achieve the mentioned aim, quantitative research design was adopted for this study and the developed questionnaire was used to collect data from 295 respondents, consisting of 172 males and 123 females. In analysing the data, this study has mainly used second-order measurement invariance analysis to uncover the difference across gender divide on whether CSR can serve as a promotional tool for halal certified companies.
Findings
The findings of this study reveal two perspectives to the issue of interest in this study. The tests of measurement invariance at the model level suggest a significant difference between male and female to a certain extent. The post hoc test (at the path level) reveals that there are significant differences between gender divide with respect to responsible dealings with clients and legal responsibility only. However, there are insignificant differences between them in connection with commitment to halal best practices, zakat and charitable donations, environmental responsibility, halal economic responsibility and employee welfare. Nonetheless, both gender groups agree that CSR activities will promote halal certified companies if these activities are appropriately communicated to halal consumers.
Research limitations/implications
The authors acknowledge that limitations cannot be avoided in any study, such as this study, where a nonprobability sampling technique is used. The respondents were largely drawn from Klang Valley in Malaysia; although Klang Valley’s population represents about a quarter of Malaysia’s total population, the authors admit that the opinions of the respondents may not represent the opinions of others in the country, and this may consequently limit the generalisability of the findings. Also, the authors acknowledge that self-report survey data is subject to response bias, which may reduce the accuracy of the data that were sourced from the respondents; though respondents were constantly reminded to respond honestly to all the questions in the questionnaire.
Originality/value
This study has uniquely employed second-order measurement invariance analysis to investigate the perspective of gender divide on whether CSR can serve as a promotional tool for halal certified companies in Malaysia. This study will enrich literature in this area of study.
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A.B.M. Abdullah, David Mitchell and Robert Pavur
The purpose of this study is to investigate forecast models using data provided by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to monitor and develop forecast models for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate forecast models using data provided by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to monitor and develop forecast models for air quality management.
Design/methodology/approach
The models used in this research are the LDF (Fisher Linear Discriminant Function), QDF (Quadratic Discriminant Function), REGF (Regression Function), BPNN (Backprop Neural Network), and the RBFN (Radial Basis Function Network). The data used for model evaluations span a 12‐year period from 1990 to 2002. A control chart of the data is also examined for possible shifts in the distribution of ozone present in the Houston atmosphere during this time period.
Findings
Results of this research reveal variables that are significantly related to the ozone problem in the Houston area.
Practical implications
Models developed in this paper may assist air quality managers in modeling and forecasting ozone formations using meteorological variables.
Originality/value
This is the first study that has extensively compared the efficiency of LDF, QDF, REGF, BPNN and RBFN forecast models used for tracking air quality. Prior studies have evaluated Neural Networks, ARIMA and regression models.
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Elaine Schornobay-Lui, Eduardo Carlos Alexandrina, Mônica Lopes Aguiar, Werner Siegfried Hanisch, Edinalda Moreira Corrêa and Nivaldo Aparecido Corrêa
There has been a growing concern about air quality because in recent years, industrial and vehicle emissions have resulted in unsatisfactory human health conditions. There is an…
Abstract
Purpose
There has been a growing concern about air quality because in recent years, industrial and vehicle emissions have resulted in unsatisfactory human health conditions. There is an urgent need for the measurements and estimations of particulate pollutants levels, especially in urban areas. As a contribution to this issue, the purpose of this paper is to use data from measured concentrations of particulate matter and meteorological conditions for the predictions of PM10.
Design/methodology/approach
The procedure included daily data collection of current PM10 concentrations for the city of São Carlos-SP, Brazil. These data series enabled to use an estimator based on artificial neural networks. Data sets were collected using the high-volume sampler equipment (VFA-MP10) in the period ranging from 1997 to 2006 and from 2014 to 2015. The predictive models were created using statistics from meteorological data. The models were developed using two neural network architectures, namely, perceptron multilayer (MLP) and non-linear autoregressive exogenous (NARX) inputs network.
Findings
It was observed that, over time, there was a decrease in the PM10 concentration rates. This is due to the implementation of more strict environmental laws and the development of less polluting technologies. The model NARX that used as input layer the climatic variables and the PM10 of the previous day presented the highest average absolute error. However, the NARX model presented the fastest convergence compared with the MLP network.
Originality/value
The presentation of a given PM10 concentration of the previous day improved the performance of the predictive models. This paper brings contributions with the NARX model applications.
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Wafaa Shihadeh Al-Ghwayeen and Ayman Bahjat Abdallah
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of green supply chain management (GSCM) on environmental performance (EP) and export performance in the context of a developing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of green supply chain management (GSCM) on environmental performance (EP) and export performance in the context of a developing country, Jordan. In addition, the mediating effect of EP on the relationship between GSCM and export performance is investigated.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on survey data collected from 221 manufacturing companies in Jordan. The companies were selected from different industry types to ensure diversity. Validity and reliability analyses were performed using SPSS and Amos, and structural equation modeling was used to test the study hypotheses.
Findings
The results revealed that GSCM positively and significantly affects both EP and export performance. In addition, the results demonstrated that EP positively and significantly affects export performance. Further, it is also found that EP positively and significantly mediates the relationship between GSCM and export performance.
Originality/value
The current study is one of the first to investigate the impact of GSCM on export performance, especially in the context of a developing country. In addition, this study contributes to the existing literature by highlighting the mediating effect of EP on GSCM—export performance relationship. GSCM is an under-investigated area in Jordan. The results are expected to promote GSCM implementation among manufacturing companies in Jordan in order to achieve economic benefits by increasing their exports through improvements in EP.
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Shahedul Hasan, Mohammad Faruk, Kamron Naher and Shazzad Hossain
The purpose of this study is to examine how halal marketing affects intention and to assess the mediating effects of halal awareness and halal attitude on the relationship between…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how halal marketing affects intention and to assess the mediating effects of halal awareness and halal attitude on the relationship between halal marketing and intention towards halal cosmetics.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a quantitative methodology and used a convenience sampling approach to acquire data from 266 respondents from different regions of Bangladesh. The survey was conducted from December 2022 to February 2023. The data were analysed and hypotheses were tested using partial least square structural equation modelling.
Findings
The findings suggested that all the formulated hypotheses were significant, indicating that halal marketing positively influenced intention towards halal cosmetics. Moreover, the relationship between halal marketing and consumers’ intentions to buy halal cosmetics was mediated by halal awareness and attitude.
Practical implications
The practical implications of this study are pertinent for Bangladeshi marketers of halal cosmetics. The results of this study will enable the manufacturers and marketers in the halal cosmetics industry to better target their respective customer base. The findings suggest that marketers of halal cosmetics should focus on creating awareness and fostering positive attitudes towards halal products among consumers.
Originality/value
This research has incorporated and tested the impact of halal awareness and halal attitudes as mediating constructs on intention towards halal cosmetics and found both constructs exert a statistically significant impact. Moreover, this paper investigated the halal marketing construct as a higher-order construct consisting of different components of marketing, while previous studies have been found to consider halal marketing as a first-order construct.
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Rasha Zuhair Alkhaldi and Ayman Bahjat Abdallah
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of lean management (LM) on operational performance (OP) in the context of health care in Jordanian private hospitals. LM is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of lean management (LM) on operational performance (OP) in the context of health care in Jordanian private hospitals. LM is measured using four bundles: total quality management (TQM), human resource management (HRM), just-in-time system (JIT) and total productive maintenance (TPM). The study also investigates the effects of OP dimensions on hospitals’ business performance (BP).
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on survey data collected from 260 respondents from 25 private hospitals in Jordan. Validity and reliability analyses were performed using SPSS and Amos, and the study hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.
Findings
The study found that the TQM bundle affects quality performance positively, but does not affect efficiency and accessibility performances, while the HRM bundle positively affects all OP dimensions. Furthermore, the JIT bundle positively contributes to both efficiency and accessibility performances, while the TPM bundle positively influences quality and accessibility performances. Moreover, the results have demonstrated that OP dimensions of quality and accessibility significantly and positively affect hospitals’ BP.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to adapt the four lean bundles popularized in the manufacturing sector and apply them in a health-care context. It examines the effects of the four lean bundles on hospitals’ OP in terms of efficiency, quality and accessibility. In addition, the study demonstrates the role of OP dimensions in improving private hospitals’ BP.
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Esraa Hussein Nabass and Ayman Bahjat Abdallah
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of agile manufacturing (AM) on business performance and operational performance (OP) dimensions in manufacturing companies in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of agile manufacturing (AM) on business performance and operational performance (OP) dimensions in manufacturing companies in Jordan. It also explores the indirect effect of AM on business performance through OP dimensions of cost, quality, delivery and flexibility.
Design/methodology/approach
The study analyzes survey data collected from 282 manufacturing companies from different industries in Jordan. Validity and reliability analyses were performed using SPSS and Amos, and the research hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results demonstrated that AM positively and directly affected business performance. It also positively affected OP dimensions of quality, delivery and flexibility. However, cost performance was not significantly affected by AM. In addition, quality performance and flexibility performance fully mediated the relationship between AM and business performance, whereas cost performance and delivery performance did not show mediating effects.
Originality/value
To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the mediating effects of OP dimensions on the relationship between AM and business performance. In addition, a limited number of previous studies investigated the performance outcomes of AM. Furthermore, this area is under-investigated in the Middle East in general and in Jordan in particular.
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Khursheed Ahmad Wani, K. Mamta and R.J. Rao
The first approach mainly aims at measurement of SPM, SO2 and NO2 from different sources in the Gwalior region and the second and third approach aims at the quantification of…
Abstract
Purpose
The first approach mainly aims at measurement of SPM, SO2 and NO2 from different sources in the Gwalior region and the second and third approach aims at the quantification of water and noise quality of the city of Gwalior. The purpose of this paper is to discuss these approaches.
Design/methodology/approach
The water analysis was carried out by the standard methods of APHA, 2005 and the air and noise analysis were carried out by the standard procedures of CPCB, New Delhi and published work earlier respectively.
Findings
The water quality in the city was well within the standards, however, the noise and air quality in the city was above the standards set by CPCB, New Delhi.
Originality/value
This is the first approach in the city of Gwalior that related air pollution, water pollution and noise pollution to acute and chronic illnesses amongst all age groups. This will lead to the development of a sustainable city, while working to transform the city of Gwalior into a sustainable city.