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The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which the standardized IT deployment strategy is employed within the manufacturing‐exporting firms in Jordan.

A total of 500 self‐administered questionnaires are delivered to a random sample selected from a sample frame comprising the Jordanian manufacturing‐exporting firms. A research assistant is hired and trained to handle questionnaire distribution and collection as well as answer basic inquiries. The researcher deals with the more difficult inquiries.

The study concludes that there is greater reliance on standardization and less acknowledgement of users and that IT deployment decisions remain technical and functional; only system requirements and functionality are taken into consideration; other factors including users are largely discarded.

This study is explorative in nature and therefore its focus is broad; subsector differences of the manufacturing/exporting firms are not studied.

To maximize deployment outcome, firms need to place more emphasis on users, provide better training, and localize training materials. User feedback and participation should be encouraged and incorporated in all IT‐related decisions.

This study reports results of the last of a series of several studies investigating deployment in Jordan, a country in the Middle East with a steep IT deployment learning curve, virtually no previous studies, and an academic field of IT deployment that remains largely unexplored.

This study aims to investigate and compare the propensity of both Arab and Western customers to bargain in marketing exchange situations in the United Arab Emirates.

The Bargaining Propensity Scale (BPS) developed by Schneider et al. was administered, as part of a self‐administered questionnaire, to a sample of 100 Arab customers and 100 Western customers and their responses to the BPS items were analyzed.

Data analysis shows that both segments – Arab and Western customers – display an overall tendency to engage in bargaining activities, although with slightly different PBS distributions.

The sample contained only 15 Arab women as it was very awkward for the male research assistant to talk to women in public places; very few women would risk being seen in public with strangers.

This study addresses an important marketing issue – the comparative behavior of customers. It is the first to do so in the region.

The purpose of this paper is to examine attitudes towards diversity in an emerging Gulf economy whose workforce is dominated by expatriates and is under significant pressure to accommodate host country citizens. It seeks to examine employees' attitudes towards workforce diversity in the banking sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

A total of 100 employees from 11 banks are chosen randomly from banks operating in the UAE. Those employees are asked to answer a questionnaire containing various questions that cover the applauded benefits of diversity as identified in the related literature.

All banks have a diverse workforce, with nationals representing a minority in all of them. However, banks differ on the various indicators of diversity with some being more religiously diverse while others more diverse in terms of nationalities or languages. Overall, Islamic banks are the least diverse on all dimensions of diversity.

Several obstacles are faced during the course of this study including limitations on access to employees, sampling limitations preventing more in‐depth analysis of certain aspects, lack of regional studies on diversity and the timing of the survey itself which coincide with the summer exodus of expatriates.

This paper provides useful information on attitudes toward diversity in an emerging Gulf economy, dominated by expatriates.

This study aims to explore the presumed relationship between religion and purchase behavior of consumers in the context of Bangladesh.

This research is divided into two main parts. In the first one, the authors reviewed some of the most important studies relative to religion and marketing and those specifically relative to Islamic marketing. In the second part, this research shows the findings of a structured questionnaire administered to a sample of Muslim consumers currently residing in the capital city of Bangladesh – Dhaka. The questionnaire also sought to find out the respondents’ attitude towards the modern marketing tactics, in terms of the physical and visual appearance of local products, their perception of religious principles in the purchase decision and their attitude towards imported products of non-Muslim countries.

Results of this study highlight that religion often represents an essential reference point in influencing the perception and purchase behavior of consumers in the context of Bangladesh. This implies that marketing strategies based on Islamic ethics is going to be quite instrumental in order to reach out to the consumers in Muslim countries. As such, there is largely a strong positive relationship between religion and the purchase behavior of Muslim consumers.

The lack of research on Islamic marketing limits the intensity of arguments in this study. For this reason, the literature review is not completely exhaustive. A small sample size has also been used due to time and resource constraints. Future research can be done on a bigger sample size of Bangladesh or other Islamic countries across the world. Other research avenues may include the study of Islamic marketing mix and exploring the factors that can influence non-Muslim consumers to select products and services based on Islamic ethics.

It is very important for businesses to introduce healthy practices in countries like Bangladesh and this can be rightly achieved through the use of Islamic marketing. Furthermore, the use of Islamic ethics in marketing strategies can eventually influence the religious perception of consumers and make them loyal towards any brands, products, and services in the context of Bangladesh.

The chapter draws attention to Bangladesh as one of the potential markets where the concept of Islamic market mechanism can be established. It also highlights the challenges that global marketers can face with Islamic marketing in Muslim countries like Bangladesh. Besides, it is the only study to date that focuses upon the relationship of religion, marketing, and consumer behavior for consumer products of the manufacturing industry.

The purpose of this paper is to establish whether Muslim consumers qualify as a homogenous billion-consumer group and, if they do, ask if they have been researched adequately in comparison to the other established, three-billion consumer groups: China, India, and women.

A review of articles and conference papers in the field of Islamic marketing was used to indicate the homogeneity or heterogeneity of the Muslim consumer group. This was followed by counting all of the articles that have been published in marketing journals listed in Business Source Premier database which are related to the consumer groups mentioned above.

The article review revealed a near consensus on the homogeneity of the Muslim consumer group. Moreover, the article count revealed that the Muslim consumer segment is under-researched in comparison to all the other major consumer groups. Finally, it was found that only six of the high-ranking Marketing journals ranked within the top ten marketing journals published articles on one or more of the four segments identified in this study. The leading journals were clearly the Journal of International Marketing and the Journal of Industrial Marketing Management, publishing 50 and 49 articles, respectively, a number unmatched by any other high-ranking journal.

This is the first study of its kind that presents empirical evidence about the amount of research Muslim consumers received within the last eight decades.

The purpose of this paper is to encourage a critical dialogue within the realm of Journal of Islamic Marketing. It invites marketing scholars and practitioners working on various topics related to Islam and Muslim societies to adopt fresh theoretical and methodological positions that would enhance the understanding of multiple marketing and market dynamics in Muslim societies.

The author uses a critical approach.

The author suggests that the advancement of knowledge in the area of Islamic marketing requires reflexivity and self‐critique.

The paper highlights the constructive value of critical approach to the development of marketing theory and practice.

This paper reflects the author's personal viewpoint on the production of knowledge and improving practice in the realm of Islamic marketing.