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1 – 10 of 12The study is exploratory and aims to investigate students’ learning experience in a supply chain management (SCM) course at a university in Bahrain. The selected learning skills…
Abstract
Purpose
The study is exploratory and aims to investigate students’ learning experience in a supply chain management (SCM) course at a university in Bahrain. The selected learning skills were cognitive, affective and interactive, whereas the adopted pedagogical tools were case analysis, evaluative essay and game exercise.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire survey was distributed to undergraduate students enrolled in an SCM course at a university in Bahrain. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis techniques were used. Inferential analysis tests were principal component analysis, Kruskal–Wallis analysis of variance and Dunn’s post hoc pairwise comparison test.
Findings
Results are inconclusive but revealed significant differences in students’ perceptions of learning skills among the adopted teaching methods. Significant differences in the perceived learning skills were found between the evaluative essay and the case analysis and between the report and the game exercise. The game exercise was the most useful technique in improving students’ interactive, cognitive and affective skills, followed by case analysis and evaluative essay.
Research limitations/implications
As the sample of this study consisted of students enrolled in a particular SCM course at a University in Bahrain, the small sample size may restrict the study’s conclusive findings.
Practical implications
It is recommended to establish an experiential or problem-based learning support unit to assist faculty in the planning, design and development of pedagogical and assessment tools.
Originality/value
The research findings are expected to help design, assess and enhance students’ learning experience in SCM and other business courses that adopt a process-based experiential learning perspective.
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The study aims to design a holistic multi-stage hierarchical model that leverages the firm's knowledge-enabled distinctive core competencies (DCCs) and builds enduring and…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to design a holistic multi-stage hierarchical model that leverages the firm's knowledge-enabled distinctive core competencies (DCCs) and builds enduring and profitable customer relationships to achieve sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in dynamic and challenging environments. It developed a knowledge-enabled customer-centric competitiveness strategy (KCCS) model that integrates four pillars: business process reengineering (BPR), knowledge management (KM), customer relationship management (CRM) and competitiveness strategy. It also proposed a BPR model to enable cross-functional cooperation and coordination for firms dealing with customers, provided a blueprint for KCCS's successful implementation and compared the KCCS model with other customer-centric (CC) approaches.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted an exploratory research design based on a literature review of relevant studies. It has systematically analyzed 130 articles and books from Scopus, the Web of Science, Google Scholar and other renowned databases from 1982 to 2022. The analysis involved identifying and selecting relevant literature and conducting thematic research to develop a theoretical KCCS model that integrates BPR, KM, CRM, competitiveness strategy and the firm's SCA into a KCCS model.
Findings
This study developed an integrative KCCS theoretical model rooted in the extant literature in BPR, KM, CRM, competitiveness strategy, DCCs, SCA and other fields. The study proposed a BPR model as a significant component of KCCS that enables cross-functional cooperation and coordination, which are often troublesome for firms in their dealings with customers. The study also provided a blueprint for successfully implementing the KCCS model and compared the KCCS model with other CC approaches.
Originality/value
This study filled many research gaps in the literature in which knowledge-enabled CC frameworks are widely scattered. It offered a conceptual multi-stage hierarchical KCCS model that combines interrelated elements of BPR, KM, CRM, and competitiveness strategy. It proposed a BPR model as a significant component of the KCCS that enables cross-functional cooperation and coordination, which frequently form barriers when dealing with customers. It also provided a blueprint for successfully implementing the KCCS and compared it with other CC approaches.
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Aims at differentiating organizational climate from other relatedconcepts of job satisfaction, corporate culture and leadership style.Concludes that while these latter concepts…
Abstract
Aims at differentiating organizational climate from other related concepts of job satisfaction, corporate culture and leadership style. Concludes that while these latter concepts were related to the concept of organizational climate, they were not synonymous. Addresses several theoretical and methodological differences between organizational climate and these related terms.
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This study explores the differences in climate perceptions according to employees' demographic (age, gender, marital status, and education) and organizational (tenure, position…
Abstract
This study explores the differences in climate perceptions according to employees' demographic (age, gender, marital status, and education) and organizational (tenure, position, and pay) background patterns. In order to achieve this goal, self‐administered questionnaires were distributed to 400 subjects in Jordanian manufacturing organizations. Usable answers were obtained from 297 subjects. The results of the study showed that the background of employees (with the exception of gender) were found to account for significant differences in the perception of several dimensions of climate.
Mahmoud M. Yasin, Thomas W. Zimmerer and Marwan A. Wafa
This study examined the differences among 76 American project managers and 36 of their Arab counterparts with regard to their perceptions of factors contributing to effective…
Abstract
This study examined the differences among 76 American project managers and 36 of their Arab counterparts with regard to their perceptions of factors contributing to effective project management. After reviewing the relevant literature, a conceptual framework was derived. Seven research hypotheses were formulated and tested. The results of this study tended to underscore the significance of cultural differences among these two groups of project managers.
Minwir Al-Shammari and Rana Waleed
This study aims to explore the level of entrepreneurial intentions (EIs) among students in three private universities in Bahrain. The examined factors that are expected to shape…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the level of entrepreneurial intentions (EIs) among students in three private universities in Bahrain. The examined factors that are expected to shape EI are personal attraction toward becoming an entrepreneur, perceived behavioral control and subjective norms and social valuation of entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach
A close-ended questionnaire was used to collect data of the study. The total number of questionnaires distributed was 1,530 questionnaires, while the total number of the valid questionnaires retrieved was 550, which makes the total response rate to be 36 per cent.
Findings
Regression analysis results indicated that students’ personal attraction toward entrepreneurship and perceived behavioral control had a significant strong positive relationship with their EI. In addition, there was a significant moderate positive relationship between students’ perceived subjective norms and social valuation of entrepreneurship with their EI.
Originality/value
The findings showed that entrepreneurial education is needed to improve students’ skills and knowledge and enhance their EI and perceived behavioral control. In addition, it is important to expose students to entrepreneurial role models and their businesses and to promote entrepreneurial careers as desirable and feasible options that may bring more advantages than working in the government or private sector.
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Introduction Ask most people what the term “culture” means to them and the reply frequently displays a notion of shared characteristics (such as language, religion, heritage) and…
Abstract
Introduction Ask most people what the term “culture” means to them and the reply frequently displays a notion of shared characteristics (such as language, religion, heritage) and values that distinguish one group of people from another. In organizational settings, culture can be defined as the set of norms, values, guiding beliefs, ways of thinking, and practices shared by members of an organization (Schein, 1990).
This paper seeks to measure and evaluate the productive efficiency of health‐care organizations (hospitals) using a multicriteria Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology. DEA…
Abstract
This paper seeks to measure and evaluate the productive efficiency of health‐care organizations (hospitals) using a multicriteria Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology. DEA is a special linear programming model for deriving the comparative efficiency of multiple‐input multiple‐output Decision‐Making Units (DMUs). DEA provides management with information regarding the relatively best practice hospitals in the observation set and locates the relatively inefficient hospitals by comparison with the best practice ones. In addition, it indicates the magnitude of these inefficiencies. The paper selects a set of inputs and outputs for 15 hospitals for a three‐year period. The hospital input measures included are: number of bed days, number of physicians, and number of health personnel. The output measures included are: number of patient days, number of minor operations, and number of major operations. The DEA models are solved using an IBM PC optimization modeling system called LINDO (linear, interactive, discrete optimizer).
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Minwir Al‐Shammari and Anwar Salimi
This paper seeks to model and evaluate the comparative operating efficiency of banks using a non‐parametric methodology known as the data envelopment analysis (DEA). The paper…
Abstract
This paper seeks to model and evaluate the comparative operating efficiency of banks using a non‐parametric methodology known as the data envelopment analysis (DEA). The paper adopts a modified version of DEA in which no inputs are specified. The only variables considered are the financial ratios. The results obtained suggest that the majority of banks investigated are fairly inefficient over the period 1991‐94. In addition to calculating efficiency scores for all banks in the sample, the study results revealed the composite reference set and their shadow prices, major determinants of banks’ relative performance, and the target financial ratios.
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The main purpose of the study was to assess students' perceptions of cognitive, affective, and interactive benefits in a business process re‐engineering (BPR) course using five…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of the study was to assess students' perceptions of cognitive, affective, and interactive benefits in a business process re‐engineering (BPR) course using five adopted teaching tools: role‐playing, case studies, group assignments, electronic collaboration, and invited lecture.
Design/methodology/approach
A list of 18 closed‐ended questions and one open‐ended question was distributed to a sample of 46 undergraduate students at the University of Bahrain's College of Business Administration who participated in the study.
Findings
Descriptive statistics (mean scores) revealed that role‐playing was the most useful technique in the improvement of students' cognitive, affective, and interactive skills, followed by group assignments, case method, invited lecture, and electronic collaboration respectively (except for the improvement of cognitive skills where the invited lecture prevailed over the case method). ANOVA results revealed that there were no significant differences in perceptions of cognitive benefits between most teaching tools. The only significant variations detected were between the web‐based tool on the one side and the rest of tools on the other. Significant differences were also found in perceptions of affective and interactive benefits for almost all teaching tools.
Originality/value
The best practices resulting from the adopted teaching process are expected to form a blueprint for benchmarking design of a BPR course or a course in other business subject areas.
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