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The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of a professional development (PD) model for educator growth and learning that is embedded into the school context in Qatar. Because the success of a PD program in practice cannot be judged against its theoretical underpinnings, the paper goes on to examine the perceptions of instructional coaches on the effectiveness of the PD model.

Through the use of a qualitative, constant comparative approach, data were collected from 19 instructional coaches through open-ended surveys followed by focus group interviews. The instructional coaches provided information about the strengths of the PD program, the challenges they faced in their day-to-day implementation of the program, and their suggestions for the improvement of the program’s implementation and outcomes.

The instructional coaches reported several strengths, which were compatible with the literature on effective PD. However, the challenges they faced were deeply rooted within the inherent structure of the program, in addition to external challenges at both the school and Ministry of Education levels. Thus, a general consensus on the way that the program should be implemented was reached.

The study revealed the complexity inherent in transferring research-based principles and theory into practice. It indicated that the components of PD programs interact within complex social settings.

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which Kouzes and Posner’s Transformational Leadership Model is being practiced by school principals as perceived by their teachers in Jordanian schools. Means, standard deviations, t-tests, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were utilized in this study. Results indicated that transformational leadership is being moderately practiced and applied by Jordanian principals. Furthermore, statistical results indicated that gender and school type had an influence on teachers’ perceptions in favor of female teachers and basic schools respectively. Finally, there were no significant differences among the three experience level groups of teachers (new hiring, middle career, and long experience) in their perceptions of each dimension of Kouzes and Posner’s model.

Food industry players obtain the advantages of profits growth within the halal industry whereby the market is dynamic to generate profit. Hence, this study aims to analyse the perception of food manufacturers towards the adoption of the halal food supply chain (HFSC).

For this study, 103 halal food manufacturers in Malaysia were selected as respondents. Perceptions of respondents towards HFSC were recorded using a five-point questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed by authors and adapted from a previous study. The questionnaire was circulated by two experts with proficiency in this filed.

By conducting exploratory factor analysis, the study found the perception of food manufacturers, which is expected business benefits play an important role in the adoption of HFSC. Halal integrity becomes the second factor to lead the company to its adoption. Organizational readiness is the third factor that drives the company to adopt HFSC.

Majority of the sample was responded by Bumiputera companies. The study suggests focussing the study for non-Bumiputera companies to examine their influence towards HFSC. Furthermore, future studies should explore different sectors of halal, such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, travel and tourism, logistics, finance and e-commerce. Moreover, ensuring the status of halal should be more emphasized in food chains; thus, the source of risk in HFSC should be explored to secure the integrity of halal.

The paper includes implications for the halal food industry, whereby the adoption of HFSC will contribute to the business benefits to create a more competitive advantage to the industry. Moreover, the implications of halal practice can create consumers’ trust on the halal product.

This paper fulfils an analysed need to study specifically on upstream parties by adopting HFSC.

The paper explores the roles of involved organizations in the designation of Batu Arang in Gombak, Selangor, Malaysia, as the Coal Mining and Geological Heritage Site, the heritage significance selected as the elements of its designation and the challenges faced by the involved stakeholders during the designation process.

The primary research material is derived from the documentation review on the final draft of the Special Area Plan (RKK) of Batu Arang and the final draft of the Geopark Management Plan, field investigation on the heritage significances and interviews with the involved organizations: the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS), the State of Selangor Malay Custom and Heritage Corporation (PADAT) and the Village Community Management Council (MPKK) of Batu Arang.

This paper found that Batu Arang has the potential to be developed as an important heritage mining site and heritage tourism destination; however, many of the heritage significances are being demolished, invaded and abandoned due to human aggression or effects of nature. In addition, it reveals the roles of each involved organization, issues that occurred and challenges faced by the organizations during the designation process as a heritage site, namely in terms of management, property ownership and promotion.

The paper outlines that a heritage mining site like Batu Arang should be considered an important heritage as well as other heritage sites in Malaysia, and issues and challenges faced during the designation process should be discussed critically to ensure that these heritage significances will not be neglected and abandoned.

This paper aims to re-evaluate and thus recommends possible ways in improving the current practice of hibah trust in Malaysia.

This study conducts a thorough and critical review on relevant literature on Islamic wealth management and estate distribution. Besides, the current practice and application of hibah trust by the Malaysian trustee companies such as Amanah Raya Berhad and As-Salihin Trustee Berhad is analyzed based on information gathered from their publications and direct consultation.

Based on the comparison made between hibah trust and its conventional counterpart, living trust, this study found that that the hibah trust product mirrors the conventional living trust, which provides a high degree of freedom to the benefactor to decide on the distribution of his wealth without taking into consideration the interest of the eligible heirs under farai’d. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the practice of hibah trust would be able to expedite the lengthy and complex procedures of inheritance, reduce administrative costs and avoid legal impediments and inheritance tax.

This paper proposes a comprehensive framework for an improved asset distribution under hibah trust within the Malaysian Islamic wealth management industry by highlighting the significance of fara’id and wasiyyah rules. This proposed framework of hibah trust would become a useful reference for the policy makers in designing a dedicated regulation or legal provisions in the established laws that will govern the practice of hibah trust in Malaysia.

The novelty of this paper lies in highlighting the importance of adhering to the law of Islamic inheritance rules as ordained by Allah s.w.t in structuring contemporary Islamic estate planning instruments such as hibah trust, which is not evident in the current practice.

This study seeks to examine the influence of board independence, CEO duality and ownership structure on the firm financial distressed status using a sample of distressed companies and a matched‐pair sample of non‐distressed companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia.

This study utilized publicly available data from annual reports of a sample of 86 non‐finance distressed firms listed on the Bursa Malaysia and a sample of matched 86 non‐distressed firms for a period covering the 1999‐2001 financial years.

Board independence and CEO duality are not associated with financial distressed status. Management and non‐executive directors' interests are associated negatively with financial distress. A negative association is also documented for outside blockholders. The evidence also supports the contention that ownership by non‐executive directors and outside blockholders effectively increases their incentives to monitor management in ensuring their wealth in the firms is intact.

One limitation of this research is that it relies on publicly available data and agency theory. Future research could apply other theories, such as resource dependency and stewardship. Use of process‐oriented data could also improve the findings.

Independent directors need to undergo training to help them improve and be aware of their responsibilities.

This paper offers evidence on the extent to which distress is associated with corporate governance from a developing country. The paper should be of interest to the regulatory bodies and practitioners.

This is a national study which aims to determine the average waiting time in Malaysian public hospitals and to gauge the level of patient satisfaction with the waiting time. It also aims to identify factors perceived by healthcare providers which contribute to the waiting time problem.

Self‐administered questionnaires were the main method of data collection. Two sets of questionnaires were used. The first set solicited information from patients on their waiting time expereince. The second set elucidated information from hospital employees on the possible causes of lengthy waiting time. The questionnaires were administered in 21 public hospitals throughout all 13 states in Malaysia. A total of 13,000 responses were analysed for the patient survey and almost 3,000 were analysed for the employee survey.

The findings indicate that on average, patients wait for more than two hours from registration to getting the prescription slip, while the contact time with medical personnel is only on average 15 minutes. Employee surveys on factors contributing to the lengthy waiting time indicate employee attitude and work process, heavy workload, management and supervision problems, and inadequate facilities to be among the contributory factors to the waiting time problem.

Public healthcare in Malaysia is in a state of “excess demand”, where demand for subsidised healthcare far outstrips supply, due to the large fee differential between public and private healthcare services. There is a need for hospital managers to reduce the boredom faced by patients while waiting, and to address the waiting time problem in a more scientific manner, as has been carried out in other countries through simulation and modelling techniques.

Healthcare organisations are keen to address their waiting time problem. However, not much research has been carried out in this area. The study thus fills the lacuna in waiting time studies in healthcare organisations.

Organizations today strive to differentiate themselves from others with the help of various tools. Aaker’s brand personality model is one of them. It comprises five components namely, sincerity, excitement, sophistication, competence and ruggedness. This model has been tested and supported by various scholars in the past. Similarly, it also attracted a lot of criticism especially in terms of generalizability across countries and cultures. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to study Aaker’s model from an Islamic perspective; second, considering the dearth of brand personality knowledge in the services sector, to develop Islamic Banks’ Brand Personality (IBBP) model.

To propose IBBP model, traits in Aaker’s model have been investigated in the light of selected Quranic verses and sayings of Prophet Muhammad (ahadith). Later on, content validation was conducted as a pilot study with experts from the relevant fields.

Findings exhibit that Quran and hadith clearly elaborate and support majority dimensions of the existing model. Importantly, three new dimensions, namely, trustworthiness, justice and Shariah compliance, were added to develop a comprehensive IBBP model. Once the dimensions of IBBP model were finalized, the underlying items were content validated from 12 experts. Most of the items were approved; some were recommended for amendments and a few items were eliminated.

This research contributes to the branding as well as bank marketing literature as it is the first Islamic banks’ brand personality framework. With the help of IBBP model, Islamic banks can create a better brand image, use advertising strategies effectively and ultimately retain existing and attract more potential customers.

This research elaborates the personality traits of Muslim consumer market. Following IBBP model, financial needs of Muslim consumer market can be catered effectively.

The IBBP model being first of its kind is significant for Islamic banking industry as it reflects dimensions that are supported by the Quran and hadith, and therefore suits Muslim customer market.

Two main purposes guide this study. The first is to assess the level of individual, group, and organizational learning at Qatar University (QU), and the level of career resilience among its faculty members. The second is to explore the relationships between these levels of learning at QU and the career resilience of its faculty members.

This study is quantitative in nature and was conducted using a survey methodology as its research design. A variety of statistical techniques were utilized in this research. A multiple regression model, the Pearson production‐moment correlation coefficient (r), means, and standard deviations were used as the main statistical techniques.

The findings of this study indicated that faculty members at QU practice three different levels of learning – i.e. individual learning, departmental learning, and university learning – separately or combined in a moderately high way. Further, the results clarified that faculty members at QU perceived themselves to have a moderately high level of career resilience. In terms of the relationship between career resilience and the three different levels of learning, the results of the Pearson production‐moment correlation coefficient (r) and the coefficient of determination, R², statistically confirmed the positive, modest, and significant relationship between career resilience and the three levels of learning combined.

A hypothesized correlation between career resilience and organizational learning is affirmed. The results of this study confirm the feasibility of connecting two emerging frameworks, i.e. organizational learning and career resilience. Therefore, studying the organizational learning of faculty members is a device that can be used to predict the possibility of faculty members adopting the characteristics and values of a learning organization in their academic life individually or organizationally, while displaying minimal dysfunctional behavior through their career resilience.