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This paper seeks to investigate whether the “financial highlights” section of annual reports of a sample of Indian companies satisfy the information requirements of investors.

The research method involves the preparation of a check‐list from those items that have been suggested as significant to be disclosed in annual reports by both the “sophisticated” and “non‐sophisticated” investors as suggested in the study of Joshi and Abdulla. After the preparation of this check‐list, “financial highlights” section of a sample of companies listed on any of the Indian Stock Exchanges has been examined to investigate whether this section contains that information, which has been considered as significant by the investors, in the study by Joshi and Abdulla.

Most of the companies do not disclose information items that are perceived by users of financial information in India as being significant under the “financial highlights” section.

The limitation of the current study rests on the fact that it uses Joshi and Abdulla for evaluating the “financial highlights” section and hence only considers the need of investors in annual reports and in this specific section. Second, the use of the survey result obtained by Joshi and Abdulla might not hold completely true at the present time due to difference in time period.

This is a pioneering study that questions whether the “financial highlights” section in annual reports provides those information items that are considered as “highlights” by investors.

Leadership and change management, employee engagement, strategy

The case is designed to be an effective teaching and learning tool at the bachelors’ and master’s level business programmes in courses on leadership and change management, employee engagement, strategy courses or an elective on strategic consulting.

In October 2011, Mr Abdulla became Chief Operating Officer of Al Asafa Brothers, a large privately driven organization with diversified businesses. The company’s story since then appears to be the typical slash-and-burn turnaround, but the view from the inside is far more interesting for anyone grappling with what it takes to lead a competitive organization and sustain its performance over the long term. Mr Abdulla is a straight-shooting, tough-minded, results-oriented business leader. But he is also a charismatic and persistent coach, determined to help people learn and thereby to provide his company with the best-prepared employees. Al Asafa was undergoing turmoil with a complete lack of leadership and facing financial and operational losses. There were huge cost centres. All employees started their own ventures and got into partnership with the owner and shared incentives with him. The organization kept on expanding and continued to be in huge debts thus facing losses. The case discusses the leader’s role in changing the organizational culture.

Giving students hands-on experience in developing a plan of action for a company in distress. Understanding analysis of the financial situation and suggest measures for improvement. Appreciating the involvement of employees in bringing change. Understanding the role of a leader in changing organizational culture.

CSS: 11: Strategy

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

The aim of this study is to fill a gap in the literature on job satisfaction in the Middle East, reflecting on the experience of women managers from Lebanon.

A survey questionnaire was designed and administered to a sample of women managers in the banking sector. The survey covered several aspects including objective, subjective, and overall job satisfaction.

Overall, the findings revealed that the respondents were satisfied with the subjective aspects of their careers, but not the objective ones. Work‐related factors seemed to better explain the job satisfaction of women managers in the banking industry in Lebanon when compared to individual personal factors.

Given the limited research on job satisfaction in the Middle East and the importance of job satisfaction on performance and retention, this study adds to the little that is known about the effect of individual and work‐related factors on job satisfaction of employees in the Arab Middle Eastern region. The implications of this study can be of great importance for public policy initiatives, practitioners and academic scholars.

Blockchain looks to be the next step of technology transformation and would redesign the business landscape. It is expected to have an impact on business methods in the next few years; which add new challenges and complexity to the accounting and assurance profession. This paper aims to analyze the perceptions of accountants and auditors toward the implementation of blockchain technology in the UAE after the government decided to transform 50% of government transactions into the blockchain platform by 2021.

A qualitative approach has been used in this study. A semi-structural interview has been conducted with 19 accountants, internal auditors, auditors and risk managers on the potential opportunities and challenges of blockchain technology on accounting and auditing practices in the UAE.

The findings show that the blockchain impacts on the accounting profession in terms of recording of transactions, storing evidence and providing a secured environment for conducting business transactions. For the auditors, the results indicate that the blockchain changes their audit process and strategy. The blockchain has great potential to supplement traditional auditing by providing a low-cost and decentralized audit process and automated audit evidence. The accounting of the companies will not be changed but it will be automated with the development of cryptocurrencies and blockchain activities. The blockchain will be developed in assurance services through the awareness and involvement of accounts and auditors.

The study contributes to the existing literature as follows. First, the research is one of the very few studies that discussed empirically the effect of blockchain on the accounting and assurance profession, which contributes to improved knowledge about the potential of blockchain technology to accounting and assurance services. Second, our research is the first to explore the accountants and financial auditors’ perceptions regarding the potential effect of blockchain technology on their profession in the UAE context after the government decided to transform 50% of government transactions into the blockchain platform by 2021. Third, the research identifies the pending challenges for blockchain and possible factors for its effectiveness.

The literature dealing with the firm's financing decisions in developing capital markets is limited. This paper aims to contribute to the published research by documenting the perceptions of managers of Omani firms listed on the Muscat Securities Market with regards to the capital structure of their firms. Survey responses show that financial decision‐making behavior of Omani firms can be explained by the “pecking order” view of capital structure. The effect of tax and bankruptcy on capital structure is not clear. Firms' relationships with banks and government shareholdings minimize the effect of financial distress. Further, managers tend not to release information to the suppliers of funds even though this might reduce the cost of funds required. Most firms seem to maintain spare borrowing policy. The conclusion is that executives of Omani firms are not less sophisticated than their American, Australian, British, Korean, Hong Kong, or Singapore counterparts in terms of their decision‐making process related to financial leverage.

Government agencies are trying to develop strategies to improve their innovative activities. However, due to many challenges and obstacles, employees are reluctant to perform innovatively in such agencies. Human resource management (HRM) practises and an appropriate culture can help to improve service innovation. However, empirical evidence to prove this relationship is insufficient particularly in the government sector. Thus, this study aims to empirically analyses the effect of HRM practises and innovation culture on service innovation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s Government agencies.

The data were collected from government entities in the UAE. Structural equation modelling through partial least squares modelling was used to test the proposed hypotheses. SPSS was also used to conduct preliminary analysis.

Statistical results provide strong evidence that HRM practises and innovation culture positively affected service innovation of UAE’s Government agencies.

Further details and valuable implications are discussed throughout the study. Results have many practical and theoretical implications. Results can help government agencies develop their services innovation by tailoring HRM practises and establishing proper innovation culture in their agencies.

Although several contributions indicated that culture is a key determinant of innovation and a mediator in the link between HRM practises and service innovation, the literature lacks empirical studies investigating this link. Accordingly, this study seeks to bridge this gap and delivers evidence supporting them. In addition, this study is one of the unique studies that use these variables in government agencies in the UAE.

This study aims to explore customers’ green hotel revisit behaviors, proposing the theory of repeat purchase behavior.

An empirical study is conducted through a questionnaire survey method, using personal interview survey approach in Bangladesh. In all, 401 usable data is collected from participants who have visited green hotels before. The following data are analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using Smart PLS 3.3.3.

Results of the study have raveled that habitual attachment and emotional attachment are significantly related to green hotel revisit intentions (behavioral intention) and revisiting a green hotel (actual behavior). The result also has uncovered that green hotel revisit intentions significantly impacted revisiting a green hotel. Moreover, the study results exert that green hotel revisit intentions partially mediate the relationship between habitual attachments, emotional attachment, and revisiting a green hotel.

The current study enriches green hospitality literature by uncovering the integrated effects of habitual attachment and emotional attachment on customers’ revisit intentions and behaviors in the green hotels’ context.

This study aims to examine the influence of stock liquidity on the trade credit of publicly listed companies in Saudi Arabia.

In this study various econometric models were used to test the data of 900 firms listed in Saudi Arabia during the period of 2010–2019.

The robust results of the various econometric models indicate that firms are more willing to offer trade credit to customers when stock liquidity is greater; however, they are less likely to rely on obtaining more payables from suppliers. The findings further indicate that payables and receivables are indeed related, but not exclusively, in the sense that more payables lead to more receivables. The study also reveals a pattern of persistence in payables and receivables during the period of study.

The sample of the present study is only made up of Saudi listed companies. Future research could extend the sample of this study taking into account listed firms in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as a whole so as to gain more insights from the entire region including oil-producing and non–oil-producing countries. More studies are needed to further examine the impact of alternative options for credit access and their linkage to stock liquidity. Finally the difference in difference (DiD) method of analysis as quasi experimental method can be another extension of this research.

The findings would provide implications for managers and investors by recognizing the potential role of stock liquidity in affecting trade credit and understanding the association between the stock liquidity and trade credit. Management of the firms should look for the ways to enhance the stock liquidity of the firms so as to help in reducing the extreme debts usage and therefore, alternative source of funds can be available accordingly. Once the advantage of stock market is identified, firms' managers should search for chances and policies that can promote stock liquidity and hence make use of the advantages of being liquid.

This paper provides new evidence from the emerging market, particularly the Saudi Arabia. The attempt is one of the first in the region to broaden the knowledge about the effects of stock liquidity on trade credit. It provides market participants with insights on the role of stock liquidity in financial flexibility.

Many organisations attempt to improve their performance through innovation but innovative activities exert an undefined influence on police performance. Furthermore, studies on determining the role of creative leadership and knowledge sharing on the relationship between service innovation and police performance are scarce. Thus, the aforementioned relationship was empirically analysed in this study using creative leadership and knowledge sharing as moderating variables.

In this quantitative cross-sectional study, data were collected from 435 Ajman police employees using an online questionnaire. The hypothesised associations were tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling.

The statistical findings clearly demonstrated that service innovation favourably influenced the Ajman police performance. Creative leadership positively moderated the relationship between service innovation and police performance while knowledge sharing did not.

The results presented a wide range of theoretical and practical implications. Police performance can be improved by promoting service innovation, which can be enhanced by creative leadership.

Empirical research that examined the connection between innovation and police performance is scarce. Additionally, the role of creative leadership and knowledge sharing in this relationship is unknown. Thus, this research aims to close the knowledge gap and provided data to support the hypotheses. This study is unique as these factors are used in police agencies.