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In this study, we explored the behaviour of two Canadian multinational companies operating in the context of Arab Spring events in Egypt in 2011.

We conducted a fine-grained analysis of 171 documents of various secondary sources to understand the behaviour of the two firms in Egypt between 25 January 2011 and 30 June 2012.

We suggest that corporate diplomacy should be viewed as portfolios of interdependent actions rather than reactions to discrete events. We also underline the importance for organisations to have a proactive, holistic and inclusive corporate diplomacy strategy, with the objective to secure and balance both explicit political/legal licence and implicit social licence.

We intentionally focused our empirical analysis on two Canadian firms operating in the same host country and belonging to the same industry. It would be useful to carry similar research in different organisational and institutional contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to show how technical-economical cost modeling can help in steering research and development to target key production cost elements of new products based on emerging technologies.

The authors demonstrate the development and use of a technical-economic cost model (TCM) of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) in fuel cells to steer research to produce more economical and reliable products. A TCM is developed to depict how the production cost per unit varies depending on the different fabrication methods, production rate limitations, material selection, labor distribution, energy consumption, financial parameters and the target production volume. By using such an approach in the design, research time and resources can be saved by prioritizing R&D and production scale-up options at an early stage.

The results of this study show the importance of applying technical-economic cost model (TCM) techniques on early stage research projects to steer the development for resolving key problematic figures. As a case study, a cost analysis platform has been established to apply this technique by analyzing different manufacturing and R&D options for producing durable PEM fuel cells. The projected manufacturing cost of the PEM is found to be lower than previously estimated and the enhanced durability does not significantly impact this production cost.

Production is an important factor in informing NPD targets and R&D direction. And yet it is difficult to estimate scaled up production cost for prototype products and components in the R&D lab. Technical-economic cost models (TCM) are a tool to assist decision-making in technology portfolio management and NPD.

The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the effects of religiosity level, ethnocentrism, subjective norms, product judgment and trust in Halal food products on the consumer intention to purchase a Muslim (manufactured in a majority Muslim country) versus a foreign (manufactured in a majority non-Muslim country) product available on the Lebanese market across the two main Muslim sects, namely, Sunnism and Shiism.

The study used a quantitative survey that was administered to a proportionate stratified sample of 607 respondents from the two sects.

The results indicate that Sunni consumers indicate a greater trust in judgment of and willingness to buy foreign Halal products compared to their Shiite counterparts, while Shiite consumers display a greater trust in judgment of and willingness to buy Muslim products. Moreover, religiosity, ethnocentrism, subjective norms, brand trust and product judgment have been found to significantly influence consumer purchase intention.

The study results exhibit that religious sect plays a key role in consumer purchase intention, which encourages decision makers and marketers to pursue identity, awareness and communication strategies while targeting Muslim consumers of both sects.

Muslim consumers’ perception of Halal products is a sorely under-researched area of study with minimal empirical data supporting such studies. The results of this study offer some insight into consumer behavior differences between members of the two sects.

Multinational corporations (MNCs) are experiencing a number of major challenges in the international business arena. Can business diplomacy help them to deal with these challenges effectively? In this introductory chapter we conceptualize and identify the relationship between MNCs’ international business diplomatic activities and firm performance.

We conducted a literature review and interviews with five large MNCs that are operating in distinctive industries. Business diplomatic activities have been classified into three particular areas to support the analysis, namely: (1) MNC–Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) relations, (2) MNC–Host Government relations, and (3) MNC–Local Community relations.

The main findings suggest that international business diplomacy has a direct positive effect on firm performance with regard to so-called soft or nonfinancial indicators. These indicators include knowledge sharing, reputation, company image, and marketing possibilities. The effect can in turn lead to a better financial performance and market stance in the long run.

The results of this study are important for the future awareness and execution of business diplomacy in large MNCs.

Presented at the “Disarm! For a Climate of Peace,” meeting held on September 30 – October 3, 2016 in Berlin and organized by the International Peace Bureau.

The purpose of this paper is to develop the features as well as model of organisational culture from Islamic point of view.

The study is descriptive, in so far as its goal is to describe a method, and the nature of the paper is conceptual. The study draws on secondary materials through library research.

In this paper both the features as well as model of organisational culture are developed from Islamic perspective. The salient features are trust on Allah, missionary zeal, justice, accountability, mutual respects, mutual trust, absolute sincerity, hard working, cooperation, excellence, brotherly treatment, honesty and truthfulness, morality, consultative decision making, knowledge, good behaviour, sacrifice, neat and cleanliness.

The paper has some implications for Islamic managers and employees who have to deal with ethical dilemmas between traditional and Islamic organisational culture in Muslim countries representing one fourth of the world population. It is also hoped that the study will reinforce managers' Islamic behaviour and make them more aware of the code of conduct based on Quran and Sunna in a modern organisational set up.

The findings of this research can be used as a guide to Islamic organisational culture in Muslim countries. The study could have practical implications falling within the purview of social sciences such as political science, management and organizational studies, education, international law, and human resource management.

While many studies, partially, have focused on traditional organisational culture sparing the demand of Muslim world, in this paper, the authors open a new avenue contributing to the literature on organisational culture from Islamic perspective. The proposed model will be of genuine interest and benefits to Islamic as well as non‐Islamic managers, employees, and academicians.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of religious sect on the Lebanese consumer’s perception of controversial product advertisements.

The study used a quantitative survey that was administered to a purposive representative sample of respondents from the two main Muslim sects in the country, namely, Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

The results indicated significant differences in perceptions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims with regards to the offensiveness of the advertising of controversial products. Briefly, Sunni Muslims found the advertising of social and political as well as health and care products more offensive, whereas Shiite Muslims found the advertising of gender and sex-related products more offensive, and no significant difference in offensiveness perception between the two sects was found with regards to the advertising of addictive products.

Two main limitations faced the researchers: the fact that the respondents were not shown examples of offensive product advertisements; and that religiosity was not measured for the respondents, which could also be a factor in offensiveness perception.

The study indicates that a consumer’s religious sect can play a determining role in how he/she perceives product advertisement, thus encouraging marketers to consider the differences between these sects while advertising to ensure no potential consumers are alienated.

Although research has looked into the impact of religiosity and religion on the perception of offensive product advertisements, minimal research exists on the impact of religious sects on the perception of offensive product advertisement. The results of this study provide some insights into the consumer behavior differences between the two sects.

This paper seeks to identify the contribution Islamic political economy can make to the contemporary debate which is going on regarding deregulation and the role of the state under transition.

A perspective of Islamic political–economic doctrine is discussed and hypothetical implications of this doctrine for post‐Soviet nations are presented through analysis of existing concepts and case studies.

The paper finds that Islamic political economy itself is not synonymous and based on different schools of law as well as local practices, which makes it flexible in time and applicable in different given conditions. The main finding is about placing ethics in the core of whole policy approach.

Research is more analysis‐based and does not provide enough empirical data. Thus if it were based on the conceptual framework set by the paper surveys and other forms of field research, it would be helpful.

Research comes up with the set of policy recommendations to be implemented as well as with an overall “Three “I” Model” of public policy, which revises the contemporary utilitarian approach to public policy.

The paper proposes an alternative approach to the “state‐economy dilemma”. Review of related literature, on the one hand, and analysis/synthesis of the concepts on Islamic approach to addressing politico‐economic problems of the post‐communist transition, on the other hand, also add value.

India has shown good progress in maternal health outcome indicators. However, an area for improvement is to ensure all deliveries take place in institutions under the supervision of skilled birth attendants. This paper attempts to identify the factors that affect institutional deliveries using nationally representative National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data. Further, the authors investigate the factors contributing to the wealth-based inequality in institutional deliveries.

To address the first aspect of identifying the factors associated with undergoing an institutional delivery, the authors have used logistic and multinominal logistic models. The explanatory variables are broadly socio-economic indicators of the mother and a few other household characteristics. Further, the concentration index and regression-based decomposition were used to carry out an inequality analysis in the institutional deliveries across different wealth groups.

The authors found that women belonging to poor households, backward social groups and rural areas have significantly fewer odds of undergoing an institutional delivery. Age and education level of the mother, number of antenatal visits during pregnancy and place of residence (urban/rural) have contributed to the inequality in institutional deliveries in 2005–2006. However, the inequality due to these factors went down drastically in 2015–2016.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is a distinct attempt to use pooled data of the NFHS-3 [2005–2006] and NFHS-4 [2015–2016] in identifying factors contributing to a woman undergoing an institutional-based delivery. The study also decomposes the wealth-based inequality in the factors contributing to having an institutional delivery and analyses the contributions to inequality across the two time periods.