Search results

The UAE is among the fastest-growing facilities management (FM) markets globally. Nevertheless, conclusive evidence on this market is scarce in the literature. Therefore, this paper aims to provide an in-depth insight into the FM market in the UAE.

Fourteen interviewees were purposively selected to provide insight into FM status through their field experiences. A SWOT analysis of their answers held place.

Interviewees revealed that the main trends of FM in the UAE include interests in sustainability, integration of technology, health and safety, outsourcing FM, switching to total facilities management (TFM), and performance management systems use. Besides, the quality of the service in the FM market is driven by the real-estate boom, services sophistication, the increasing awareness of FM and focus on the quality of services. Furthermore, the interviews found that the recruitment of poorly skilled labors can threaten the FM market to meet the allocated budget, misperception of FM, the value of money, the lack of continuous follow-up with recent advancements in technologies and the lack of performance measurement models.

This paper highlights the major trends, drivers and threats of the FM market in the UAE, and the implications of its findings can direct FM organizations and researchers in their practices.

Project complexity (PC) governs project success, but the project management literature primarily focuses on performance measures and rarely examines the complexity factors, especially for megaprojects. This paper aims to determine the most significant complexity factors for the railway megaprojects in India.

A mixed approach using the Delphi and best–worst method (BWM) helped to identify, validate and determine the most critical factors that require intervention to diminish variance from project performance.

The BWM resulted in stakeholder management, followed by organizational and technological complexity as significant complexity factors, and the varied interests of the stakeholder as the most important among the 40 subfactors.

The finding indicates the necessity for strategic, tactical and operational-level interventions to effectively manage the complexity affecting project efficiency because of the varied stakeholders. This paper will guide the project and general managers to prioritize their resources to handle complexity for effective project performance measured in terms of time, cost and quality and help them make strategic decisions. The research findings of this study are expected to help researchers and practitioners in better planning and smoother execution of projects. In addition, this study would help the researchers formulate policies and strategies for better handling of the projects.

This study adds significant value to the body of knowledge related to PC in megaprojects in developing countries. The result of the investigation underlined that nine complexity factors and seven unique subfactors, namely, the sustainable environment, timely availability of information, communication in both directions, interdepartmental dependency and coordination, design, statutory norms, site challenges, socioeconomic conditions, the tendency of staff to accept new technology and the frequent changes in the requirements of stakeholders are significant in railway megaprojects. The BWM is applied to rank the complexity factors and subfactors in the case area.

The Covid-19 pandemic appears to have engendered heterogeneous effects on individuals’ labour market prospects. This paper focuses on two possible sources of a heterogeneous exposition to labour market risks associated with the pandemic outbreak: the routine task content of the job and the teleworkability. To evaluate whether these dimensions played a crucial role in amplifying employment and wage gaps among workers, we focus on the case of Italy, the first EU country hit by Covid-19.

Investigating the actual effect of the pandemic on workers employed in jobs with a different degree of teleworkability and routinization, using real microdata, is currently unfeasible. This is because longitudinal datasets collecting annual earnings and the detailed information about occupations needed to capture a job’s routine task content and teleworkability are not presently available. To simulate changes in the wage distribution for the year 2020, we have employed a static microsimulation model. This model is built on data from the Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (IT-SILC) survey, which has been enriched with administrative data and aligned with monthly observed labour market dynamics by industries and regions.

We measure the degree of job teleworkability and routinization with the teleworkability index (TWA) built by Sostero et al. (2020) and the routine-task-intensity index (RTI) developed by Cirillo et al. (2021), respectively. We find that RTI and TWA are negatively and positively associated with wages, respectively, and they are correlated with higher (respectively lower) risks of a large labour income drop due to the pandemic. Our evidence suggests that labour market risks related to the pandemic – and the associated new types of earnings inequality that may derive – are shaped by various factors (including TWA and RTI) instead of by a single dimension. However, differences in income drop risks for workers in jobs with varying degrees of teleworkability and routinization largely reduce when income support measures are considered, thus suggesting that the redistributive effect of the emergency measures implemented by the Italian government was rather effective.

No studies have so far investigated the effect of the pandemic on workers employed in jobs with a different degree of routinization and teleworkability in Italy. We thus investigate whether income drop risks in Italy in 2020 – before and after income support measures – differed among workers whose jobs are characterized by a different degree of RTI and TWA.

This study aims to investigate the implementation of lean human resource management (HRM) practices in manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and explore how various factors interact to influence their successful adoption. By exploring the interplay among these factors, the research seeks to identify key drivers affecting the adoption of lean HRM in manufacturing SMEs. Ultimately, the research intends to provide insights that can guide organisations, practitioners and policymakers in effectively implementing lean HRM practices to enhance operational efficiency, workforce engagement and competitiveness within the manufacturing SME sector.

The study combined total interpretive structural modelling (TISM) and Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée à un Classement (MICMAC) analysis. TISM helped in understanding the hierarchical relationship among different factors influencing lean HRM implementation, whereas MICMAC analysis provided insights into the level of influence and dependence of each factor on others.

The research revealed that “top management support” emerged as the most independent factor, indicating that strong support from top management is crucial for initiating and sustaining lean HRM practices in manufacturing SMEs. On the other hand, “employee involvement and empowerment” was identified as the most dependent factor, suggesting that fostering a culture of employee engagement and empowerment greatly relies on the successful implementation of lean HRM practices.

While the study provided valuable insights, it has certain limitations. The research was conducted within the specific context of manufacturing SMEs, which might limit the generalizability of the findings to other industries. Expert opinions introduce subjectivity in data collection. Additionally, the study may not cover all critical factors, allowing room for further exploration in future research.

The findings have practical implications for manufacturing SMEs aiming to implement lean HRM practices. Recognising the pivotal role of top management support, organisations should invest in cultivating a strong leadership commitment to lean HRM initiatives. Furthermore, enhancing employee involvement and empowerment can lead to better adoption of lean HRM practices, resulting in improved operational efficiency and overall competitiveness.

This research contributes to the field by offering a comprehensive exploration of the interplay among factors influencing lean HRM implementation. The use of TISM and MICMAC analysis provides a unique perspective on the relationship dynamics between these factors, allowing for a nuanced understanding of their roles in the adoption of lean HRM practices in manufacturing SMEs. The identification of “top management support” as the most independent and “employee involvement and empowerment” as the most dependent factors adds original insights to the existing literature.

This paper aims to analyze the connectedness between Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stock market index and cryptocurrencies. It investigates the relevant impact of RavenPack COVID sentiment on the dynamic of stock market indices and conventional cryptocurrencies as well as their Islamic counterparts during the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.

The authors rely on the methodology of Diebold and Yilmaz (2012, 2014) to construct network-associated measures. Then, the wavelet coherence model was applied to explore co-movements between GCC stock markets, cryptocurrencies and RavenPack COVID sentiment. As a robustness check, the authors used the time-frequency connectedness developed by Barunik and Krehlik (2018) to verify the direction and scale connectedness among these markets.

The results illustrate the effect of COVID-19 on all cryptocurrency markets. The time variations of stock returns display stylized fact tails and volatility clustering for all return series. This stressful period increased investor pessimism and fears and generated negative emotions. The findings also highlight a high spillover of shocks between RavenPack COVID sentiment, Islamic and conventional stock return indices and cryptocurrencies. In addition, we find that RavenPack COVID sentiment is the main net transmitter of shocks for all conventional market indices and that most Islamic indices and cryptocurrencies are net receivers.

This study provides two main types of implications: On the one hand, it helps fund managers adjust the risk exposure of their portfolio by including stocks that significantly respond to COVID-19 sentiment and those that do not. On the other hand, the volatility mechanism and investor sentiment can be interesting for investors as it allows them to consider the dynamics of each market and thus optimize the asset portfolio allocation.

This finding suggests that the RavenPack COVID sentiment is a net transmitter of shocks. It is considered a prominent channel of shock spillovers during the health crisis, which confirms the behavioral contagion. This study also identifies the contribution of particular interest to fund managers and investors. In fact, it helps them design their portfolio strategy accordingly.

Understanding the multifaceted images of tourism destinations is critical for effective destination marketing and management strategies. Traditional approaches, including conceptualization of destination images or analysis of their antecedents and consequences, are commonly used. This study aims to advocate the inclusion of visitors’ latent profiles based on cognitive images to enrich the evaluation and formulation of destination marketing and management strategies.

The analysis focuses on Serbia, an emerging destination, that attracts an increasing number of first-time, repeat and prospective visitors. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to test the potential dimensions (tangible and intangible cultural destination; infrastructural and accessible destination; active, nature and family destination; sensory and hospitable destination; and welcoming, value for money (VFM) and safe destination) of the cognitive destination image factors scale while subtypes (profiles) were obtained using latent profile analysis (LPA).

The cognitive image component encompasses the perceived attributes of a destination, whether derived from direct experience or acquired through other means. The study identified the following profiles: conventional destination; sensory and hospitable destination; welcoming, VFM and safe destination; secure and active family destination and accessible cultural destination, which are presented individually with their sociodemographic assets.

The main contribution of the paper is the application of a novel method (LPA) for profiling visitor segments based on cognitive destination image. From a theoretical perspective, this research contributes to the extant body of literature pertaining to the destination image, thereby facilitating the identification of discrete latent visitor segments and elucidating noteworthy differences among them concerning a cognitive image.

This study aims to empirically examine the impact of internal corporate governance mechanisms (ICGM) related to the size of the board, board composition, CEO duality and audit committee independence as a single metric on a firm’s investment decisions.

This study attempts to develop an internal corporate governance quality index comprising 10 items under four main ICGMs – size and independence of the board, CEO duality and audit committee independence – employing panel data analysis to investigate its impact on the investment decisions in 301 nonfinancial firms listed in six emerging capital markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries for the years 2015–2020. Data were extracted from sample companies' websites, stock markets, annual reports and Refinitiv database.

This study provides convincing evidence that effective ICGMs minimize inefficient investment and ultimately boost investment efficiency. The findings remain consistent even after considering the potential endogeneity bias.

This study provides empirical evidence on investment efficiency in the GCC region and emphasizes the importance of high-quality ICGMs in reducing inefficient investment. By examining the impact of ICGMs on investment inefficiencies, this study contributes to the corporate governance literature. The GCC region's unique economic and social contexts, with its growing economies, are considered to shed light on this issue.

The paper aims to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art of the event industry in the context of digitalization to understand how digital technologies change the event industry and what research topics are the most promising for further exploration.

A bibliometric analysis of the existing body of knowledge on the topic was conducted and the results were visualized using CiteSpace 5.8.R3. A total of 1999 articles and proceeding papers from the Web of Science Core Collection published between 2007 and 2022 were selected for our analysis. Based on the articles and proceeding papers in the Web of Science Core Collection database, we selected a set of publications for our analysis. The data were obtained through specific keywords related to our research topic. The method involves a process of three main stages: data collection, data processing and the bibliometric analysis.

Co-citation analysis indicated that issues of crowd management and tracking human mobility during mass events are important for the event industry and that technologies such as the Internet of Things, special-purpose mobile applications and systems make it easier for an event organizer to handle the issues. The findings demonstrated a weak scientific collaboration between countries in the topic studied and shift of research hotspots to study of satisfaction, motivation and behavioral patterns of events attendees. Based on this analysis, three directions for future research were revealed.

The results should be interpreted in light of our sample, because the analysis was conducted within our sample which has boundaries. We collected data from all categories in the Web of Science Core Collection database, but we considered only articles and proceeding papers as opposed to all possible types of scientific publications and other databases. In the study, we focused on detecting the state-of-the-art of the event industry in the context of digitalization overall. More specific topics that could be analyzed remain, for example, the dependency of digital technologies from the event type, etc.

This study reflects the state-of-the-art of the event industry in the context of digitalization. It provides researchers with key developmental trends in the event industry, which assists them in more deeply understanding the evolution of research hotspots in the field during last 15 years and defining future research agenda. The paper presents an overview of digital technologies used in various types of events and describes the issues and results related to the implementing digital technologies. The results obtained were extremely important, as they can be used by event managers and organizers to enhance customers’ experience during the events.

This study reflects the state-of-the-art of the event industry in the context of digitalization. This is the first attempt to make an overall analysis of scientific papers published in the Web of Science Core Collection on the topic studied without excluding any categories. The search procedure is transparent, and the results can be reproduced in other search fields using the same approach. Based on this analysis, three directions for future research were revealed including technological aspects of online event-based social networks, issues of crowd management and security at mass events and issues of attendees’ acceptance of novel digital technologies.

This study aims to examine and discuss the importance and benefits of Open Innovation (OI), Transformational Leadership (TL), Innovation Strategy (IS), Creative Climate (CC), Radical Innovation (RI) and Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA) for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Dubai. This work also examines the mediating impact of future foresight drivers (FFD) on SMEs' SCA. The study provides a theoretical framework for enhancing SMEs' organizational performance and highlights the need for future empirical research.

The study uses a systematic literature review (SLR) approach and a bibliometric analysis approach to collect, examine and analyze data from previous research on OI, TL, IS, CC, RI and SCA. This work evaluated 110 publications from separate scholarly databases, Scopus and Web of Science (WoS).

The study finds a positive relationship between OI, TL, IS, CC, RI and SCA and that future empirical research is needed. While there is limited information on the impact of these concepts on SMEs in the Middle East and especially in Dubai, the study presents new concepts to be debated. The study provides a vital tool for businesses to improve their performance by adopting OI, TL and IS and analyzing their present competitive status to develop new strategies and build competitiveness.

The originality of this study lies in its contribution to understanding the relationships among OI, TL, IS, CC and RI and their impact on SMEs' SCA in Dubai. By emphasizing the importance of OI, TL and IS in improving SMEs' performance and competitiveness, this study provides valuable insights for SME managers seeking to enhance their organizations' sustainability and long-term success. The review also identifies a gap in the literature regarding the impact of these concepts on SMEs in the Middle East, emphasizing the need for further research in this area.

This paper explores the impact of interior design education and its effectiveness in the work environment for women in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as they are the primary recipients of interior design programs. The analysis focuses on the role of women in interior design in the Gulf countries and the update of an interior design program curriculum as part of the continuous development program requested by the UAE Commission of Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the national Ministry of Education (MoE).

The research adopts different methodologies: an academic annual effectiveness report (AER), requirements of relevant international and regional accreditation bodies and a double round of surveys and interviews with female students, alumni, instructors and professionals.

The article collects and compares data from different perspectives, from the academic to the professional point of view, discussing challenges and opportunities for female students in contemporary interior design in the UAE. After collecting the necessary feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the bachelor’s program, a set of informed recommendations has been developed, approved and introduced during the academic year 2022/2023. At the end of the year, a second feedback from faculty and external reviewers was gathered and analyzed, providing preliminary insights into the effectiveness of the curricular revisions and highlighting the significant benefits for the female students.

The paper discusses the comprehensive and up-to-date combination of traditional elements, innovative approaches and sustainable practices, alongside the strategic planning of the United Arab Emirates, proposed to enhance female learning experiences while reinforcing their skills and competencies for their future careers.