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This paper examines the determinants of corporate dividend policy in Jordan. The study uses a firm‐level panel data set of all publicly traded firms on the Amman Stock Exchange between 1989 and 2000. The study develops eight research hypotheses, which are used to represent the main theories of corporate dividends. A general‐to‐specific modeling approach is used to choose between the competing hypotheses. The study examines the determinants of the amount of dividends using Tobit specifications. The results suggest that the proportion of stocks held by insiders and state ownership significantly affect the amount of dividends paid. Size, age, and profitability of the firm seem to be determinant factors of corporate dividend policy in Jordan. The findings provide strong support for the agency costs hypothesis and are broadly consistent with the pecking order hypothesis. The results provide no support for the signaling hypothesis.

The objective of this study is to investigate perceived security threats of Computerized Accounting Information Systems (CAIS) that face Jordanian domestic banks. An empirical survey using self‐administrated questionnaire has been carried out to achieve the above‐mentioned objective. The study results reveal that accidental entry of “bad” data by employees, accidental destruction of data by employees; intentional entry of “bad” data by employees and employees’ sharing passwords are the top four security threats that face domestic banks. The paper concludes that most security threats that face domestic banks are internally generated and unintentional.

Design-led events are known under a range of different titles such charrettes, participatory placemaking, co-design and enquiry by design. Rather than being standalone, such events form one single step in a multi-stage collaborative planning process. What comes after them has to be acknowledged as important to their effective contribution to collaborative planning. To date, no coherent body of empirical evidence on the aftermath of events has been published demonstrating critical factors that contribute to their success.

The paper’s significance resides in identifying an extended framework for the stages in the collaborative planning process and in highlighting critical issues for ensuring that the aspirations and concerns expressed by stakeholders throughout the process are acted on and delivered, namely, subsequent decision-making and delivery; follow-on support, resourcing and funding; the legal status of events and related governance issues; and appropriate monitoring and evaluation practices.

The paper provides guidance for professional and local stakeholders who are expected to carry the burden of acting on the outputs arising from such events. To be successful, collaborative planning has to be based on longitudinal stakeholder engagement – both long before but also after such events. It is here that the significance of the results reported here lie.

The originality of this paper lies in its attempt to broaden understanding of what happens in collaborative planning following design-led events, drawing on interviews with professional and lay participants in events held across Scotland over the past decade.

The purpose of this study is to examine the various factors that influence the productivity (PR) of employees who worked remotely in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study adopts a quantitative approach to analyze data collected online from 110 respondents using the snowball sampling technique during the pandemic. The analysis of the data is conducted using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique of Smart PLS (Partial least squares) to evaluate the direct and moderating variables.

The results indicate that direct variables such as workload, job satisfaction, work–life balance and social support have a significant positive impact on employee PR in the UAE. However, the analysis of the moderating variable indicates that job level is not a significant moderator of the above relationships. The findings, generally, provide support for social exchange theory.

The findings of this study will help businesses of various domains in a variety of industries in understanding the core factors that should be considered to enhance the overall PR of their employees while working from home. Businesses can achieve their organizational goals by ensuring steady growth even during uncertain times.

This paper answers the question of whether remote working affects employee PR during the pandemic in an emerging market, namely the UAE. The current study contributes to the existing literature by combining the variables investigated in previous studies into a single study and by considering job level as a moderator variable.

This paper is concerned with what should happen after design-led events have been held to promote co-decision-making, between professionals and local stakeholders, in collaborative planning of the built environment. Rather than being standalone, such events form one single step in a multi-stage collaborative planning process. What comes before and after them has to be acknowledged as important to their effective contribution to collaborative planning. This paper aims to make a case for giving more attention to the post-event stages of collaborative planning, to ensure that the involvement of the public produces real and tangible benefits.

Content analysis of both academic and grey literatures was undertaken to examine emerging advice on how to conduct decision-making, the implementation of outputs and the delivery of desired outcomes, after design-led events. A critical review of the post-event decision-making and delivery activities is offered, which aims to add to the current academic literature on the deployment of design-led events. An attempt is made to sketch out the characteristics of post-event stages, drawn from the literature and collated specific examples of collaborative planning investigated in Scotland.

Three key factors are identified as affecting the successful implementation of decisions reached at design-led events: (1) a shared follow-on plan, (2) an agreed action programme for delivering this and (3) a properly constituted and resourced delivery vehicle that can monitor and evaluate progress. A research agenda to address questions raised but left unanswered is suggested dealing with how the decision-making and delivery activities following design-led events in collaborative planning might be improved.

A research agenda to address questions raised but left unanswered is suggested dealing with how the decision-making and delivery activities following design-led events in collaborative planning might be improved.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the marketing mix, customer perceptions, and religion on the buying decision of Islamic banking products in an emerging market namely the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

This study adopts a quantitative approach to analyze the data of 435 respondents collected through an online survey during January–February 2022. Data analysis of direct and moderating relationships are done through Smart PLS (partial least squares) using structural equation modelling (SEM) technique.

The results indicate that marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion) and customer perceptions have a positive direct relation with the buying decision of Islamic banking products in the UAE. However, moderation analysis shows that religion is a non-significant moderator for the above relationships.

This study combines potential variables from the perspectives of marketing, human mindset, and individual beliefs. The findings of this study provide a wider understanding of consumer behavior toward Islamic banking products. Marketers of the Islamic banking industry can utilize these findings for effective market segmentation and well-crafted marketing strategies. This will ultimately contribute to the sustainable growth and development of the Islamic banking industry in the UAE and other regions.

Adolescence is a developmental stage of transition that is marked by multiple biopsychosocial changes that affect their well- and ill-being. This study aims to examine the multidimensional of well- and ill-being among adolescents, and to understand the relationship between well-being and depression using the PERMA model among school-age adolescents.

A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used to recruit 625 school-age adolescents (343 males and 282 females), using convenience sampling technique from the central district of Jordan. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data in relation to depression and well-being.

The analysis revealed that 32% had a well-being score below the median and 19% had severe depressive symptoms. Depression and well-being were moderately correlated, with the connectedness dimension being the most correlated to depression, whereas the engagement dimension was the least correlated. Females had higher scores on all subscales of depression and a significantly higher score on depression than males, whereas males had higher scores on all well-being dimensions and significantly higher scores on overall well-being than females.

Adolescents’ mental health is compromised and affected by their perception of well-being, and a comprehensive psychoeducation for adolescents on how to enhance well-being might combat development of depressive symptoms.

This study used all PERMA model components to provide an in-depth description of adolescents’ well-being, which is a crucial initial phase in better understanding how this age group experiences well-being and how it connects to their ill-being, as indicated by their depressive symptoms. The in-depth description of adolescents’ well-being will aid in planning early intervention and prevention programs for mental illness.

The ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in sudden changes in the macro environment and market behaviour, making most enterprises urgently reconfigure their business models to cope with changes following the COVID-19 outbreak. This paper aims to present empirical data on the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), highlighting the initial conclusions regarding their crisis management. It presents factual data on how SMEs in Jordan can use entrepreneurship to combat uncertainty and promote new opportunities.

This study involves an exploratory qualitative research design, drawing from 32 semi-structured interviews of key informants from Jordanian SMEs in different stages of the crisis. The different coping strategies of the SMEs and their effectiveness in the first six months of the pandemic are then compared.

The findings show how Jordanian SMEs have adapted to cope with the changes in the business environment because of COVID-19. These strategies include modifying their operations that is moving from an ordinary business model to more tentative digitalisation, improving internal communication and restructuring ad hoc organisational culture.

The study presents important and timely implications for managers of Jordanian SMEs and policymakers by increasing the sensitisation and awareness of SMEs’ coping mechanisms. It is the first study in management that empirically analyses the impact of COVID-19 on Jordanian SMEs.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to generate insight into the experiences of Syrian academics in exile in Turkey; and second, to explore approaches to collaboration and community building among academics in exile and with counterparts in the international academic community.

The study employs a hybrid visual-autobiographical narrative methodology, embedded within a large group process (LGP) design.

Findings are presented in two phases: the first phase presents a thematic analysis of narrative data, revealing the common and divergent experiences of 12 exiled academics. The second phase presents a reflective evaluation of undertaking the LGP and its implications for community building and sustaining Syrian academia in exile.

While this is a qualitative study with a small participant group, and therefore does not provide a basis for statistical generalisation, it offers rich insight into Syrian academics’ lived experiences of exile, and into strategies implemented to support the Syrian academic community in exile.

The study has practical implications for academic development in the contexts of conflict and exile; community building among dispersed academic communities; educational interventions by international NGOs and the international academic community; and group process design.

The study makes an original contribution to the limited literature on post-2011 Syrian higher education by giving voice to a community of exiled academics, and by critically evaluating a strategic initiative for supporting and sustaining Syrian academia. This represents significant, transferable insight for comparable contexts.

Entrepreneurship.

The learning outcomes are to explain the importance of passion in entrepreneurship, develop an understanding of the business model canvas and its elements, identify typical challenges faced by a startup (during early days and while growing), explain the role of seed fund and customer feedback for small business success and identify the appropriate hiring strategy for startups.

The case traces the journey of two Saudi under-graduate software engineering students, namely, Loai Labani and Riyadh Al-Tayib, who had a vision to establish the best information technology (IT) services company in Saudi Arabia. With no previous experience of establishing a company or working for a startup, coupled with the fact that the culture of entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia is still in its ascendancy, they knew it would be challenging. Nevertheless, at the same time, they were convinced it would be totally up to them to do the hard work needed to propel their vision into reality. The case, after introducing the founders, talks about their respective backgrounds and how it complemented their goal/vision of establishing an IT services company. The case, with references from the literature, also throws light on the entrepreneurship culture in Saudi Arabia but the focus is the various challenges faced by the team in setting up their business and the strategies they used in dealing with the challenges. Some of the challenges discussed are securing early customers, initial financing to support startup, business model development, managing daily operations and hiring and marketing strategy. The case ends with another challenge faced by the founders, for the readers to think about the possible ways of dealing with the challenge at hand.

The case will be used for under-graduate level students.

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CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.