Search results

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the global financial crisis on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) bank regulation and the impact on the region and the policies adopted by the regulators to avoid financial panic and contagion.

The author examines GCC countries’ financial soundness indicators in terms of capital adequacy, non-performing loans and provisioning rates, including central bank liquidity support, deposit guarantees, capital injections and monetary easing and policies to mitigate risk assessment, and the monitoring and elimination of practices promoting excessive risk. GCC compliance regimes through multinational organizations and the exposure of the region to cross-border financial linkages to test for financial soundness are assessed.

Overall, results indicate that comprehensive regulatory oversight exists in the GCC in conformity with international standards, and Basel capital adequacy requirements, and that the GCC regulators have acted prudently to establish high coverage in all measures but that gaps exit concerning cross-border surveillance and a need for imposition of capital surcharges on banks deemed high systemic risk. The supervision of Islamic financial institutions and a lack of inter-GCC liquidity support mechanism for this segment are highlighted.

The paper shows that the GCC regulators need to address cross-border surveillance, as local banks branch internationally and foreign banks operate in the region.

The author is not aware of any similar work that compares the regulatory policies of the GCC.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency's (SAMA's) regulatory policies.

Both descriptive and comparative analyses are used, especially in highlighting SAMA's monetary policies and approach during the 2008 world financial crises.

The analyzes revealed that SAMA has more than adequately met international regulatory supervision standards, but will face challenges in regulating the domestic Islamic banking sector, meeting the self‐imposed 2010 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) gulf monetary union under a fixed parity rate regime, developing cross border regulatory and supervisory skills, and suggests possible solutions.

The paper noted the role of SAMA in managing monetary policy under a fixed parity regime, its banking supervision policies, and the evolving nature of banking regulation in the face of globalization challenges, World Trade Organization (WTO) accession in 2006 and in coping with the 2008 global financial crises which could be a template for other GCC central banks. The paper highlighted the major elements and effectiveness of Saudi banking law and restrictions on Saudi banks in terms of capital adequacy, reserve requirements and financial services, and address issues such as the impact of new regulatory reforms by SAMA, and their effectiveness on monitoring and supervising Saudi banks.

The paper concludes that the effectiveness of SAMA's regulatory policies has withstood both domestic and international financial crises and that SAMA can play a powerful influence in the proposed GCC monetary union.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in sustaining global economies. The subject of SWFs has increasingly garnered the concerns of policymakers, market players and scholars for two main reasons: First, these funds represent the largest concentration of capital that the world has ever known, with the Arabian Gulf SWFs becoming increasingly important global players, especially during the most recent financial crises. Second, there is the dominant role of national governments in the management of these colossal funds. This paper assesses the contrasting perspectives on SWFs and analyzes the role they can play in sustaining the global economy by engaging in foreign direct investment.

Both descriptive analysis and comparative analysis are used.

SWFs are large and tend to be long‐term investors and have characteristics that are compatible with foreign direct investment (FDI). There is a role for them in sustaining the global economy via FDI. This analysis suggests that only 11 percent of SWFs' investment in FDI is needed in order to counteract the forecast decline of FDI. Initiatives such as the recently established Santiago principles can help to allay the concerns of host and investor nations. This paper concludes that SWFs should be welcomed by market players and policy makers as tools of economic growth.

Current trends indicate that SWFs are playing an important role as a source of foreign investment, and are also reducing the impact of liquidity pressures in the international banking system. The main driving force of their investing in the global market is in securing higher returns. However, there has been unease among Western countries that have concerns that governments could use SWFs to seize control of strategic companies in sensitive sectors, for their own purposes.

The paper assesses the potential contribution of SWFs to FDI and highlights aspects related to fostering a code of conduct that can allay concerns around areas such as transparency, and the extent to which restrictions should be imposed by host governments.

This study refines theory of social capital by nesting it within a cultural context. More specifically, it aims at describing, explaining, and predicting the role of wasta, a social capital concept, as a moderator in the relationship between employees' ethical idealism and work engagement in Lebanon.

Based on a survey questionnaire translated from English into Arabic, 317 responses were collected from employees in Lebanon. Confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were employed to test the hypothesized relationships among the examined variables.

Ethical idealism was found to be positively related to work engagement, and wasta was found to moderate the relationship between ethical idealism and work engagement. Work engagement levels of employees who displayed high levels of ethical idealism were less influenced by the negative effect of wasta than work engagement levels of employees who displayed low levels of ethical idealism.

Human resource managers, international negotiators, and global executives in Lebanon may use the findings of this study to update corporate human resources systems, such as employee recruitment and selection, handbooks, orientation, training programs, and performance appraisal, to better address employee attitudes toward the practice of wasta.

The study adds ethical idealism as an antecedent of work engagement, demonstrating the significant impact that wasta, with its positive and negative characteristics, has on the engagement of employees from the Arab world.

This study aims to examine the Arab practice of wasta (personal networks) and its potential interface with relationship marketing to enable firms to optimize their recruitment and retention of customers in societies where personal ties drive business relationships. It explores whether relationship marketing influences customer retention when a personal contact leaves.

Empirical data were gathered from 305 customers introduced to Egyptian small and medium-sized enterprises via wasta. Multiple-item scales were adopted, drawn from previous empirical studies. Quantitative analysis was used, including confirmatory factor analysis. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships posited.

Wasta plays a significant role in attracting customers, nurturing early relationships and enhancing relationship quality, but does not influence the retention of customers. Practicing relationship marketing post wasta can enhance customer loyalty, even if the business was developed through the wasta contact who left to join a rival firm.

Potential limitations arise from cultural differences in other Middle Eastern countries. Future studies could also validate the results in different sectors/industries and explore managers and employees’ perspectives.

Several recommendations emerge for managerial practitioners, including the use of wasta to attract business, but more significantly, the need for the effective use of relationship marketing to retain business. The study suggests that if relationship marketing is practiced well, customers are likely to remain loyal to the firm, even if the business was developed through a personal wasta relationship with an employee who subsequently moved to a competitor firm.

This study is the first to develop a unified model connecting the Eastern notion of wasta (personal ties) with relationship marketing. The study enhances the knowledge of wasta and relationship marketing. It is among the first to suggest that should employees with personal connections to customers leave to join a competing firm, there is still a strong likelihood that if relationship marketing is effectively practiced, then customers will remain loyal to the firm (rather than to the former employee).

This study aims to uncover graduating students’ standpoints on Wasta through exploring their motives to use it and its potential influences on them particularly when they move to a workplace (i.e. after leveraging it to gain employment).

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 graduating students studying at a Jordanian private university.

Graduating students considered Wasta as a gateway to employment, which rationalised their motives to use it in terms of the perceived lack of equal opportunities in the market, and the absence of rules and regulations that inhibit it. However, they also perceived that being hired through Wasta could have positive and negative impacts on them.

The findings of the study enriched the understanding of various aspects of Wasta, such as why it is used, how it works and how it could have harmful effects on those who benefit from it in addition to those who do not have it, while previous literature primarily focussed on the latter. Although individuals may share similar contextual pressures that encourage them to use Wasta for employment purposes, this research shows that they would accept and justify its use for themselves, yet reject it for others. This study emphasises the need to conduct further research to explain these contradictory views. It also suggests exploring the motives of the patrons of Wasta and its influences on them when they offer it. This is to understand the psychology of offering Wasta and identify the roles of the parties who get involved in it.

This paper aims to offer a review of the concept of wasta, as a form of social capital in Arab societies. Furthermore, this paper seeks to elucidate the main implications of the use of wasta among human resource management (HRM) practices on the workplace environment and the overall performance of institutions.

The authors embraced a qualitative approach in this paper. A total of 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted with HR officials from different levels in a number of Jordanian public organizations.

The results obtained indicate that wasta has negative consequences on the overall performance of organizations, through the influence it exerts on employee motivation, morale and job satisfaction, frustration, workplace diversity, turnover, brain drain, as well as its effect on the image and reputation of the individuals and organizations alike.

In this paper, the authors attempted to illustrate the concept of wasta as a form of social capital and to analyze its links with the features of the Jordanian culture through two of Hofstede’s dimensions. Furthermore, this paper is based both on the available literature and on data obtained through the semi-structured interviews. The findings through this process not only corroborate what we already know in the literature but they also generate an understanding of the hidden mechanisms that link the different implications of wasta together, creating the actual known consequences of this practice.

The purpose of this study is to understand the development of social capital in an Arab business environment, and provide an in-depth description of the nature and role of three key Arabic business relationship characteristics (ehsan, et-moone and wasta), their impact on each other and key influencing factors.

A qualitative research design was used, in which face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with innovation teams (22 team members) at six industrial small and medium-sized enterprises in Saudi Arabia. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, then analyzed (thematic coding) through NVivo.

The findings suggest that wasta, ehsan and et-moone align closely with the three social capital dimensions (structural, cognitive and relational); thus, developing these three relationship characteristics most likely results in developing social capital. The findings also expand the description of the three business relationship characteristics. Moreover, ehsan, et-moone and wasta appear to influence each other, and are affected by other factors such as an individual’s age and position, and the duration of the relationship. Ehsan has a positive influence on the development of et-moone, while the existence of et-moone appears to be necessary for the establishment of wasta-capital. A high level of ehsan might influence the relationship between et-moone and wasta-use and limit the negative usage of wasta.

International managers can improve the level of ehsan in their organizational and business relationships through assigning incentives and playing the role of moral champion to encourage ehsan behavior. Managers aiming to increase et-moone may choose team members with a high level of ehsan, emphasizing the development of personal relationships, and providing opportunities for socialization both inside and outside the workplace. A high level of ehsan and et-moone will assist managers to develop and use wasta.

This study makes a threefold contribution to the literature. First, it provides an expanded description of the three Arabic business relationship characteristics and how they align closely with the dimensions of social capital. Wasta aligns with the structural dimension and ehsan aligns with the cognitive dimension, while et-moone aligns closely with the relational dimension. Second, it suggests and shows how the three relationship characteristics might interact with each other. Ehsan appears to influence et-moone, and also the relationship between et-moone and wasta. Et-moone appears to have a positive influence on wasta use. Third, the findings also indicate that there might be other factors (e.g. age and position) that influence the interactions between the three business relationship characteristics.

With past studies indicating a lack of skill development in engineering education, there is a need for new pedagogical tools that are application and skill-oriented. Hackathons are widely accepted in the corporate world, in the engineering domain for skill development and recruitment but have not gained acceptance in mainstream engineering education. Very few studies have discussed engineering educator views regarding hackathons and their benefits. This paper intends to study engineering educators' perception of the hackathon and its benefits after participating in it. The findings could support hackathons as a pedagogical tool to develop an industry-oriented and skill-based engineering education.

A mixed methods design was employed where initially qualitative study was conducted. Its findings were used to conduct survey of 162 engineering educators who had participated in a hackathon. A five point Likert scale was employed for data collection.

The findings reveal that engineering educators who participated in the hackathon perceived hackathons to support industry-focused learning, problem-solving and new skill development. They also acknowledged its role in their professional development. The further discussion suggests that engineering educators and institutes may collaborate with industry to design and use hackathons as a teaching tool to develop industry-ready graduates.

The study was not designed to study how different aspects of hackathon lead to different benefits derived from participating in it. There is a need to study hackathons as a tool of pedagogy and assessment, focusing on how variables linked to it facilitate, moderate and hinder the learning and assessment process in participants. More in-depth studies need to be conducted to adopt the hackathon as a pedagogy and assessment tool in higher education.

The discussion suggests that designing hackathons effectively as a tool for learning and skill development will result in skilled graduates. Engineering educators should adopt hackathons as a pedagogy for their students. Management and policymakers of engineering institutes should consider hackathons as a part of pedagogy for students besides conducting hackathons for educators for their professional development that will be investment in skills helpful at workplace.

The notable contribution of this paper is to document perceptions of engineering educators regarding hackathons and their benefits after participating in a hackathon. The paper proposes that hackathons can be introduced in the engineering curriculum as they would offer educators a novel method of teaching and assessment and support engineering graduates in recruitment and making them industry-ready.