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This chapter investigates the presence of a difference in the systemic risk level between Islamic and conventional banks in Bangladesh. The authors compare systemic resilience of three types of banks: fully fledged Islamic banks, purely conventional banks (CB), and CB with Islamic windows. The authors use the market-based systemic risk measures of marginal expected shortfall and systemic risk to identify which type is more vulnerable to a systemic event. The authors also use ΔCoVaR to identify which type contributes more to a systemic event. Using a sample of observations on 27 publicly traded banks operating over the 2005–2014 period, the authors find that CB is the least resilient sector to a systemic event, and is the one that has the highest contribution to systemic risk during crisis times.

Islamic banking contributes significantly to the total assets of Malaysian banking sector. Yet, many argue that Islamic banking in Malaysia does not receive satisfactory support and participation from the public mainly due to poor awareness of its products and services and misconception about the Islamic banking system. It is timely to study consumers’ awareness of Islamic banking in the hopes of providing useful strategies for and assistance with marketing plans. This study is to explore consumer awareness towards Islamic banking products and services across a diverse set of demographic variables.

A quantitative approach was used in this study. A total of 1,000 questionnaires were distributed via convenience and snowballing sampling method to bank customers in a public university in Malaysia, and 817 responses from the survey were used for the analysis. Descriptive and non-parametric statistics were employed to answer objectives of this study.

The findings of this study are anticipated to provide a holistic and comprehensive marketing insight to improve and strengthen Islamic banking in Malaysia.

This study examines the role of demographics such age, gender, race/religion, education level, occupation and income level in trying to understand the issues of Islamic banks’ product awareness. It is well accepted that the consumer’s attitude or behaviour should be studied among others through understanding customers’ demographics.

Significant advances in digital technologies impact both organisations and knowledge workers alike. Organisations are now able to effectively analyse significant amounts of data, while accomplishing actionable insight and data-driven decision-making through knowledge workers that understand and manage greater complexity. For decision-makers to be in a position where sufficient information and data-driven insights enable them to make informed decisions, they need to better understand fundamental constructs that lead to the understanding of deep knowledge and wisdom. In an attempt to guide organisations in such a process of understanding, this research study focuses on the design of an organisational transformation framework for data-driven decision-making (OTxDD) based on the collaboration of human and machine for knowledge work. The OTxDD framework was designed through a design science research approach and consists of 4 major enablers (data analytics, data management, data platform, data-driven organisation ethos) and 12 sub-enablers. The OTxDD framework was evaluated in a real-world scenario, where after, based on the evaluation feedback, the OTxDD framework was improved and an organisational measurement tool developed. By considering such an OTxDD framework and measurement tool, organisations will be able to create a clear transformation path to data-driven decision-making, while applying the insight from both knowledge workers and intelligent machines.

Several countries in South Asia face the challenge of ineffective educational reforms manifest in increasing rates of school failure and poor learning outcomes after embarking along education for all. Critical voices from the South have questioned the relevance and appropriateness of ideas that have shaped these reforms. Narratives from the region tell us that importation of educational concepts and policy orientations have led to the dismantling of existing structures and processes of education, creating new forms of inequities and disadvantage. The sheer scale and diversity of populations within the region poses formidable challenges and opportunities for contextual innovation. The construction of national imaginaries in the diverse societies of South Asia has the potential to provide new discourses to educational reform; going beyond the abstract goals set by disconnected international experts and the institutional processes they represent. This chapter deliberates on the need to establish a persuasive critical perspective that can influence and shape the trajectories of policy and practice, research and theorization, within the field of comparative education in South Asia, and the global south.

The prevalent practice of construction supply chain (CSC) in developing countries with a focus on Africa was presented in this chapter. Two African countries (South Africa and Ghana) were selected due to the extensive literature on the CSC emanating from the countries. The impediment to the effective management of the CSC in the two African countries was also examined in this chapter. It was discovered that the vital inhibition to the performance of CSC in developing countries is the adoption of culture from developed countries without a proper model for ensuring its implementation in developing countries. Also, no model has incorporated the principles and technologies of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) to manage the CSC. The failure to adopt the 4IR technologies like block chain, big data and the internet of things has prevented the proper application of CSC practices in developing countries. CSC practices like collaboration, integration, lean supply chain, information sharing, financial management and communication are the primary practice in developing countries. Finally, this chapter called for the development of a model for managing the CSC in developing countries in alignment with the principles of the 4IR.

Introduction: Technology and the environment remain uncertain for organisations that impose enormous challenges and opportunities to redesign policies and practices for human resources (HR). The use of technology is ubiquitous and pervasive. Technology has altered the way individuals and organisations seek knowledge, process information, instrument, and practice the learning outcomes.

Purpose: This conceptual paper highlights the change in technological and change nature of work impact on HR practices. Technology has changed the nature of work, which affects individuals and organisations. The dynamic change in technology forces organisations to rethink policies and procedures that fuel the organisation’s competence. The difference in HR practices (recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management, and turnover) is not a trend but rather a need for organisational survival. There is not only a transformation in technological implementation in an organisation but also in employee–organisation relations. The organisations install technology and replace employees.

On the contrary, employees leave an organisation and switch towards self-employed jobs entitled Gig-economy (World Bank, 2018). The individuals are moving towards a more flexible and self-employed relationship. Unfortunately, though, working flexibly create concern for an employee–employer relationship such as pension plan, health insurance, and paid leaves. It also creates income inequality.

Methodology: This is a conceptual paper.

Findings: Technology has a dual effect on the organisation and employees. Thus, technology affects employees, employers, and organisations. The change in technology moderates the psychological contract and career selection, leading to change in the policies and practices of the HR department. A research model is proposed in this conceptual research study which will further be tested to examine and confirm the impact of change.

The purpose of this chapter is to identify African financial management practices, highlight their origin and explain how they differ from their Western counterparts. The study identified indigenous African financial practices using literature review, archival sources and library research covering the five areas of Africa comprising Northern Africa, Eastern Africa, Central Africa Western Africa and Southern Africa. The study found out that pre-colonial indigenous African financial management features prevalent use of trade finance, trade credit management, investment management and accounting. While there is also evidence of modification of Western financial management practices to suit African contexts, it is on the whole scarce. This is suggestive of the fact that they were in existence in the first instance. The clear conclusion is that many indigenous African financial management practices pre-dated and foreshadowed their Western counterparts. Yet, it is confounding that this has been largely lost sight of, and both scholars and financial management practitioners depict the former as inferior. There is clearly a need to remedy this situation. Educators need to focus on incorporating ethno-finance concepts into the entire curricula chain from basic to higher education. The anchor point for such curricula is Ubuntu philosophy. Financial management practitioners, on their part, need to shed notions that the indigenous practices are inferior and seek to journalise their day-to-day work experiences to build a body of documented practice.

Kenyan Small and Medium-sized Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs) have been highly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the tourism workforce had to face lockdowns and travel restrictions. In order to maintain business and operational continuity, the tourism workforce had to leverage on internet technologies and digitalisation as a means of enabling business continuity and providing value addition in their supply chains. This study sought to investigate on the extent to which digital skills aid in the tourism recovery process as well as improve the employees' well-being amid the COVID-19 pandemic among SMTEs in Nairobi City County.

The study took a qualitative approach based on constructivist grounded methodological approaches that emphasised specifically on the discovery of emerging trends and patterns in behaviour as well as development of new theory. The aim was to understand the tourism workforce recovery process using digital skills. The process involved data gathering from interview participants, qualitative emic and etic coding, analytical memo writing, theoretical sampling and reconstructing theory.

The findings of the study showed that due to losses attributed to the lockdowns and travel restrictions, prospective digital business models have been formulated for tourism stakeholders during the lockdown period. The changing technological landscape globally showed that digital skills will continue to be in great demand to meet the needs of the marketplace. Further, the use of social digital tools to build a mental health response to COVID-19 was instrumental to the recovery process. Technological resilience is a key factor that will play a role in reviving the sector.

A structured vision, roadmap and tourism strategy for mainstreaming digital skills and developing technological resilience within the tourism and hospitality sector is important towards coping and adaptive strategies for the SMTEs in the Kenyan context.

This study examines how digital skills are vital for tourism recovery especially for the SMTEs within the developing countries context.

This chapter presents the outcome of a study that examined the phenomena ‘Is Tourism Regulation Catalyst for Abuja Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nigeria, Hotels Business Performance Innovation?’ Previous studies on this subject area have been largely done around tourism and its impact on hotel business performance and the relationship between tourism regulation and hotel business performance from mostly western perspectives. Hence, this study aims to investigate the direct effect of tourism regulations on hotel business performance in Nigeria. Quantitative survey questionnaires were used to collect data from 176 participants comprising general managers and departmental heads in 22 key Abuja FCT Nigerian hotels. Balanced Scorecard (BSC) developed by Norton and Kaplan was adopted as the study’s theoretical framework. Data collected were analysed using the simple linear regression technique and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical analysis software tool.

The result of the analysis shows that tourism regulation has a significant and positive correlation with Abuja hotel business performances based on the BSC four dimensions of financial, customer, processes and learning and growth. The unique city characteristics of Abuja FCT were also identified as an issue for consideration in future tourism regulation innovation by the regulatory authorities. This study contributes to business performance measurement literature from the Abuja FCT hotels, Nigerian perspective, and sets an agenda for the Nigerian tourism regulators, the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) charged with diversifying the Nigerian economy revenue through tourism performance innovation. Also, a policy study into city characteristics classification as a way of innovating tourism regulations and hotels business performance is suggested.