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The aim of this study is to explore and elucidate the influence of polygamy on the succession dynamics of family businesses in the Arab world, offering insights that may be underrepresented or overlooked in traditional, Western-focused literature.

This article adopts a perspective-based approach, focusing on delving into the amalgamation of polygamous family structures and their implications on the operation and continuation of family-run businesses.

Polygamy, while often primarily perceived as a cultural or religious tradition, wields substantial influence over various business facets. Notably, its presence can significantly shape business continuity, the methodologies behind succession planning and the overarching framework of corporate governance within Arab family businesses.

This article offers a unique Middle Eastern lens, highlighting the underexplored intersection of polygamy and business succession. It strives to bridge the knowledge gap by addressing topics potentially sidelined in mainstream Western business research.

Drawing on indigenous theory of Ibn Khaldun, the rise and fall of States, this paper explores the agency of women entrepreneurs in family business in Bahrain and the underlying enablers in supporting and facilitating the exercise of this agency. This study attempts to move beyond the Western-centric studies to reflect and bring to light the unique institutional settings of the Gulf States.

The research builds on a rich qualitative single case of a family business based in Bahrain. The single case study methodology was motivated by the potential for generating rich contextual insights. Such an approach is particularly valuable to gain a more holistic and deeper understanding of the contextualized phenomenon and its complexity.

In this study the authors show how women entrepreneurs take two different paths to enter and become involved in the family business, the barriers they are subjected to and the active role they play in dismantling the challenges to the extent that they become the main mediators between the family business and central institutions in society.

By incorporating indigenous theory with Western family business concepts, the study extends existing understanding of women entrepreneurs in family business by underscoring the agency that women entrepreneurs have in “doing context” and the role that women play in strengthening common cause and destiny within the family and the business by building and drawing on different forms of loyalty.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of social movements engendered by the Arab Spring crisis on the relationship between corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) and corporate governance attributes, particularly board composition, considering the importance of governance after the Arab Spring event.

Content analysis was used to examine the extent and nature of CSRD in annual reports of Jordanian companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange covering the period 2009–2016. A dynamic regression model using panel data is then undertaken for a sample of 114 listed companies over the period to analyse the potential impact of board composition on the level of CSRD.

The results reveal that there was a significant increase in the level of CSRD post-the Arab Spring crisis; and that governance appears to be a key driver. Specifically, board age, directors educated in business and/or accounting-related fields and foreign members are found to have a significant positive relationship with CSRD.

Looking at the Arab region pre- and after the Arab Spring helps to complete the global picture of how company governance can lead to improved CSR performance. Specifically, this region has been behind in developing rules and codes that include CSR. The results show that having a diverse board, with directors with expertise specific to the context, increases the effectiveness of stakeholder management through CSRD. The results, therefore, offer valuable insights for companies, policymakers and for the development of regulations.

This study delves into the aspirations of young individuals to assume leadership roles in their family businesses. It assesses the impact of family embeddedness and the perception of positive family business performance on succession intentions and investigates potential gender differences in this context.

Hierarchical multiple regression was determined for utilizing a sample of university students in seven countries from the Middle East–North African (MENA) region (N = 3,908).

The present study’s findings suggest that embeddedness in the family business has a much stronger role in shaping the succession intentions than previously envisioned. Females are more inclined to take over the family business when they perceive that the family business is not performing well.

This study provides important insights into the dynamic of family business succession intentions and family embeddedness. By providing a better understanding of some of the key drivers of family business succession intentions, it enables families in the MENA region to develop better family plans to engage with their successors effectively.

The China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, hereafter) has reenergized the Silk Road concept, with most literature focusing on the political and economic effects of the BRI. While certain aspects of the Digital Silk Road (DSR), digital component of BRI, have been researched, much less focus has been placed on the technological development, tech transfer and information diffusion aspects of the BRI. The aim of this study is to investigate the opportunities, issues and critiques that have arisen as a result of the Belt and Road Initiative’s implications on innovation, knowledge transfer and dissemination.

Research in its nature is descriptive. Literature reviews are a significant part of the development of a field. Therefore, secondary sources were considered.

The literature and the study have highlighted several opportunities, problems and criticism that decision-makers and the relevant agencies and institutions should take into account when deciding how to move forward with BRI and its digital component DSR.

This paper contributes to the research literature on BRI and its subset DSR’s impacts on innovation, knowledge transfer and information diffusion. In fact, the DSR’s primary aim is to strengthen international cooperation in the digital economy. Furthermore, digital platforms now play a significant role in global trade, emphasizing the necessity of DSR.

This project aims to examine how entrepreneurial orientation and succession planning among Palestinian family businesses positively affects their associated growth potential, considering the mediating role of innovation and the moderation effect of geographic location. Leveraging ethnic entrepreneurship theory, the authors compare these types of enterprises in the USA with their counterparts in Palestine.

This cross-sectional quantitative research analyzes data collected from October through December 2022. 180 Palestinian family-owned firms completed a survey; 90 companies were located in Palestine, while the other 90 were in the USA. Structural equation modeling analysis was conducted using Smart-PLS4. The interrelations of the conceptual framework were examined via path analysis and bootstrapping techniques.

The authors found a statistically significant positive effect of entrepreneurial orientation on Palestinian family business growth; the authors’ results concurrently indicated succession planning did not affect growth within the authors’ selected population. The authors also discovered innovation mediates the relationship between orientation and growth, and business location appears to moderate this relationship. The authors’ research indicates geography appears to favor Palestinian family-owned companies in the USA, where the authors found opportunity-driven immigrant entrepreneurs benefit from the structured business systems in a highly-developed country.

Given the current situation in Palestine, it is essential to understand the potential contribution that Palestinian family-owned businesses globally can make to reconstruct the country’s local economy. The next few years will be critical in figuring out how innovative thinking can boost the region’s recovery and increase Palestinian-based family companies’ ability to engage in sustainable entrepreneurship with reinvestment support from its diaspora. Therefore, it is important to have research that identifies factors that could improve these businesses’ continued performance and growth potential. This study also aids in further understanding the defining characteristics of Palestinian-owned family firms, enhancing general theories related to entrepreneurship among ethnic and diasporic groups.

This study aims to investigate the impact of entrepreneurial mindsets on the performance of family businesses in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This study focused on the following entrepreneurial mindset factors: alertness to opportunity, ambiguity tolerance, dispositional optimism and risk-taking propensity.

A partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the proposed research model. The gathered data consisted of 321 family businesses that operate in the UAE.

Findings showed that only two of the entrepreneurial mindset factors had a significant and positive impact on the firm’s performance, namely, alertness to opportunity and dispositional optimism.

This paper covers a research gap by reflecting the effect of the entrepreneurial mindset in an unstudied context, such as the UAE. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the only study that measures the effect of the dimensions of the entrepreneurial mindset on the performance of family businesses in the UAE, and as such, it represents an additional value to the literature in this field.

This conceptual, multi-voiced paper aims to collectively explore and theorize family entrepreneuring, which is a research stream dedicated to investigating the emergence and becoming of entrepreneurial phenomena in business families and family firms.

Because of the novelty of this research stream, the authors asked 20 scholars in entrepreneurship and family business to reflect on topics, methods and issues that should be addressed to move this field forward.

Authors highlight key challenges and point to new research directions for understanding family entrepreneuring in relation to issues such as agency, processualism and context.

This study offers a compilation of multiple perspectives and leverage recent developments in the fields of entrepreneurship and family business to advance research on family entrepreneuring.

Due to the high expense of obtaining and accessing scientific research, readers with diverse financial abilities are not offered equal opportunities. This study investigates the preferences for journal access types among Arab university academics and explores the implications of publishing research articles in open access vs closed access journals in low- and lower-middle income countries.

An online survey and an in-person focus group consisting of 74 scholars from Arab institutions throughout the Arab World were conducted.

Findings show that most professors at Arab universities favour open access publication without author fees. The results also show that this method of publishing research will help these nations advance by giving all citizens equal access to information and providing researchers with a good opportunity to be read and cited, which contributes to the overall progress of science.

This topic has not been investigated yet, and it is of great importance to university professors and stakeholders in higher education institutions in the Arab world.

This paper aims to examine how the diversity of educational levels within bank boards influences the efficiency and stability of banks operating in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Unlike previous studies, this analysis also investigates the role of board gender diversity in moderating the relationship between board educational level diversity and bank efficiency and financial stability in MENA.

In this study, a sample of 77 banks in the MENA region spanning the years 2011 to 2018 is used. The relationship between the presence of highly educated directors on the board, bank efficiency and stability is assessed using the ordinary least squares method. Additionally, the authors use the Generalized Method of Moments technique to correct endogeneity problem.

This study establishes a positive association between the presence of directors with advanced educational backgrounds on bank boards and bank efficiency and stability. Furthermore, the inclusion of women on the board strengthens this relationship.

These findings have important implications for policymakers and regulators in the MENA region, suggesting that promoting diversity policies that encourage the participation of highly educated directors on bank boards can contribute to enhanced efficiency and financial stability. Policymakers may also consider implementing quotas or guidelines to improve gender diversity in board appointments, thereby fostering bank performance in the region.

This study stands out for its innovation and distinctiveness, as it delves into the connection between board educational level diversity and bank efficiency in the MENA region. Notably, it surpasses previous research by investigating the moderating role of board gender diversity, thus offering valuable insights into the complex interplay between these two facets of board diversity. This contribution enriches the existing literature by providing novel perspectives on board composition dynamics and its influence on bank efficiency and stability.