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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.

English as a foreign langauge (EFL) students find it difficult to apply the theoretical knowledge they acquire on translation in the practical world. Therefore, this study explored if training in pretranslation techniques (PTTs) (syntactic parsing) as suggested by Almanna (2018) could improve the translation proficiency of Yemeni EFL students. Moreover, the study also assessed which of the PTTs the intervention helped to develop.

The study adopted a primarily experimental pre- and posttests research design, and the sample comprised of an intake class with 16 students enrolled in the fourth year, Bachelor in Education (B.Ed), Hadhramout University. Six participants were also interviewed to gather the students' perceptions on using PTTs.

Results showed that students' performance in translation developed significantly (Sig. = 0.002). All the six PTTs showed development, though subject, tense and aspect developed more significantly (Sig. = 0.034, 0.002, 0.001 respectively). Finally, the study reported students' positive perceptions on the importance of using PTTs before doing any translation tasks.

One of the recurrent errors that can be noticed in Yemeni EFL students' production is their inability to transfer the grammatical elements of sentences from L1 (Arabic) into L2 (English) or the visa versa. The researchers thought though translation is more than the syntactic transmission of one language into another, analyzing the elements of sentences using syntactic and semantic parsing can help students to produce acceptable texts in the target language. These claims would be proved or refuted after analyzing the experiment result of the present study.

The aim of the paper is to identify the key factors that affect Guinean family business (FB) succession planning. The study also evaluates the impact of these factors on the succession planning process to ensure business continuity.

This descriptive quantitative research is based on a survey of 383 family businesses FBs in Conakry, the capital city of Guinea. The structural equation model (SEM) was used to analyze and validate the model featuring factors that influence family business FB succession planning (FBSP). The Theory of Stewardess and the Theory of FB Rivalry have been employed in the study.

While the incumbent attributes, firm attributes, and estate tax were revealed to have no significant influence on succession planning, the successor attributes and the family relationship significantly affected succession planning. Besides, undesirable domestic relationships among children of different mothers from polygamous families had an indirect impact on business succession planning.

The limitations of the study include the population of the FBs being restricted only to those located in Conakry, the capital city. The study did not consider other regions and cities of Guinea. Besides, the grouping of attributes or characteristics was problematic, and studying each attribute separately as an independent variable would be much better. Finally, the limited literature and available data on Guinean FBs in general and succession planning generalize the findings to be done cautiously. Therefore, more studies are needed on FB succession in the country to further confirm these findings.

The study may help ensure social solidarity based on the findings of factors associated to polygamous families in relation to businesses.

Few studies have been done on FBs in Conakry. Besides, putting attributes or characteristics into categories has been presented. Moreover, there is inadequate relevant literature and data on Guinean FBSP. Considering these limitations, the generalization of the findings should be done with caution. Therefore, this study touched on the issue of family business succession in Guinea which substantiates the findings.

The current study aims to examine the relationship between Islamic spirituality (IS), Islamic social responsibility (ISR) and workplace deviance (WD).

Data were collected from 400 Muslim employees of 9 business groups in Pakistan from manufacturing and services industry. The structure equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses, and the proposed model was assessed through renowned model fit indices.

The findings revealed that IS and ISR help curtail WD. The study also provides empirical support to the hypotheses that employees with high levels of IS and social responsibility will tend to avoid deviant behavior at workplace.

This study proposed IS and ISR as two possible stimuli that can help reduce employee deviant behavior at workplace. The findings of the present study revealed that IS, as well as ISR, is inversely related to WD. The present results augmented the existing body of knowledge regarding workplace spirituality in the field of organization behavior and further enriched the WD theory by offering new empirical relationships from an Islamic perspective.

Despite widespread acceptance and exponential growth of Islamic banking across many countries, research indicates some critical issues that can potentially downturn this industry. Literature suggests that like other stakeholders such as customers, some employees too have ambivalent attitude towards its concept and practices. This calls for an empirical assessment. As no such comprehensive instrument was available, this study aims to develop a scale measuring employees' attitude towards Islamic banking.

This scale development process begins with literature review pertinent to employees’ perspective in Islamic banking, followed by a series of steps critical to achieve robustness and to ensure validity and reliability of the instrument. Research methods include a detailed set of qualitative interviews, content validation, pilot testing and exploratory factor analysis with subsequent confirmatory factor analysis.

The final scale embodies five orthogonal dimensions: awareness of Islamic banking, usefulness of Islamic banking, perception of Shariah compliance, patronage towards Islamic banking and attractiveness towards Islamic banking.

This instrument may be used both by research scholars and practicing managers to measure employees’ attitude towards Islamic banking system and practices. It may also serve as a diagnostic tool to identify the areas of strength and weaknesses in the Islamic banking system as perceived by the employees themselves.

An instrument to measure employees’ attitude towards Islamic banking system is much needed as no such comprehensive instrument is available to the best of authors’ knowledge. The study attempts to fulfil this need.

The study aims to analyze the differences between national and expatriate academic staff perception of organizational justice in Malaysian institutions of higher learning. It also explores the role of organizational justice in shaping teaching faculties' attitude (job satisfaction and commitment) and behavioral intention (turnover intention).

The sample consisted of teaching staff belonging to several faculties drawn from four public universities in Malaysia. Sample was divided into two groups – Malaysian nationals with tenure appointments and expatriates with contractual appointments. Data were collected using standardized tools to measure the study variables.

Except for job satisfaction, where Malaysians recorded significantly higher endorsement compared to expatriates, no significant difference was found between the two groups on perception of distributive, procedural, and interactional aspects of organizational justice, as well as organizational commitment and turnover intention. However, Malaysians demonstrated significantly higher level of job satisfaction compared to expatriates. Different facets of organizational justice predicted work outcomes in the two groups. Whereas interactional and distributive justice promoted expatriates' organizational commitment and/or intention to stay with the organization, it was mainly procedural justice that contributed to local employees' job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions. Distributive justice also predicted turnover intentions of locals.

The study should add to the literature on international human resource management. Organizations that employ expatriates and knowledge workers should benefit from the findings of this study.

Not many empirical studies have been conducted on university academic staffs' perception of organizational justice in an Asian context, as well as how employment practices might influence justice perception and resultant work outcomes of national citizens vs expatriates. This study attempts to fulfill the gap.

The aim of the study was to measure employees' perception of human resource development (HRD) practices, to explore whether ISO certification leads to any improvements in HRD system, and to examine the role of HRD practices on employees' development climate and quality orientation in the organization.

A total of 239 employees belonging to eight organizations (four of them ISO certified) responded to a questionnaire which measured the following variables: career system, work planning system, development system, self renewal system, and HRD system.

Results indicated large inter‐organizational differences in HRD practices. In general, however, employees' ratings were moderate. ISO certified companies, compared to others, obtained higher means on some HRD variables. Organizations with better learning, training and development systems, reward and recognition, and information systems promoted human resource development climate. Quality orientation was predicted by career planning, performance guidance and development, role efficacy, and reward and recognition systems.

Comparison between ISO and non‐ISO certified companies did yield some significant differences, yet it was difficult to conclude that the differences were due to ISO certification alone as organizations in the sample were not matched.

The findings can be used by HR practitioners and scholars in building management concerns and advocacy for better HRD systems and practices.

Very little empirical knowledge is available on this subject from transitional economies like Malaysia. The study makes a modest attempt in that direction.

Organizations create mission statements and emphasize core values. Inculcating those values depends on the way employees are treated and nurtured. Therefore, there seems to be a strong relationship between human resource development (HRD) practices and organizational values. The paper aims to empirically examine this relationship.

The study measured employees' rather than management perspective. A sample of 239 employees from eight organizations responded to a questionnaire which measured the effectiveness of employee development practices and cherished organizational values.

HRD practices like potential appraisal and promotion, learning/training, performance guidance and development were positively related to organizational values of collaboration, creativity, quality, delegation, and humane treatment. However, performance appraisal system, career planning, and contextual analysis variables were negatively associated with values such as trust and creativity.

The study was exploratory in nature. Further studies are needed on a larger sample to examine why some HRD practices like performance appraisal, career planning and contextual analysis contributed negatively to organizational values such as trust and creativity.

The result of the study can be useful in designing effective employee development programs that promote cherished organizational values.

Little empirical knowledge exists on HRD and organizational values linkages in the context of transitional economies like Malaysia. The paper makes a modest attempt to fill the gap.

This paper aims to provide an understanding of employee motivation from the Islamic perspective. The main objective of this paper is to understand Islamic motivation and to explore if Islamic spirituality, punishment and reward and justice motivate Muslim employees.

Qualitative research approach was used to understand and examine the views of the respondents. Semi-structured interviewing technique was adopted, and the respondents were asked to share their own thoughts and understanding for each question provided. A sample of 13 experienced academicians and practitioners from renowned private organizations and academic institutions from Malaysia and Pakistan were selected for the present study.

The study found that the conventional viewpoint of motivation varies from Islamic viewpoint in regard to motivation of employees. And significantly, Islamic spirituality, reward and punishment, and justice act more compellingly in improving employee’s motivation.

This paper clearly highlights that the Western viewpoint of employee motivation is different as compared to the Islamic perspective.

As organizations try to provide quality assurance from ISO certification, the importance of people management through better HR management assumes greater significance. This paper aims to examine this issue. It seeks to compare selected ISO certified SMEs with non‐ISO certified SMEs on several HR practices.

A sample of 292 employees drawn from ten SMEs, five of them ISO certified, responded to a questionnaire which measured the adequacy of the following HRM systems: career system (manpower planning and recruitment, potential assessment, career planning), work system (role analysis, contextual analysis, performance appraisal), development system (training and learning, performance guidance, knowledge sharing, other means of competency development), self‐renewal system (role efficacy, OD practices, action‐oriented research), and HRD system (HRD climate, organizational values, quality orientation, reward and recognition).

The results indicated a moderate rating for most of the HRM systems in all the organizations including those with ISO certifications. However, ISO certified companies were perceived to be doing better on managing career system, conducting contextual analysis for goal setting and quality orientation. In the rest of the cases the differences were not significant.

The findings suggest that organizations need to go beyond quality assurance to organization‐wide quality management through improvement in HR systems and practices.

The paper provides empirical knowledge on HR systems and practices and the relationship of these factors with organizational quest for quality in a developing economy.