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Article
Publication date: 1 June 1992

Mohammed H. Omar

Executive Information Systems (EIS) is a new technology emerging inresponse to the special information needs of top executives. It alreadyhas its software and hardware support and…

703

Abstract

Executive Information Systems (EIS) is a new technology emerging in response to the special information needs of top executives. It already has its software and hardware support and is growing rapidly. Discusses the nature of EIS, the need for EIS and the potential resistance to EIS implementation, desired characteristics of EIS, and available software and development tools for installing awareness of the need and existence of EIS. In addition, includes examples of successful experiences with EIS in companies like Rockwell International, Bank of Boston, Frito‐Lay Inc., and Hertz.

Details

Executive Development, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-3230

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1997

Hamid S. Atiyyah

The purpose of this article is twofold: to identify the characteristics of research on organisation and management in Arab countries and to find out whether research results…

Abstract

The purpose of this article is twofold: to identify the characteristics of research on organisation and management in Arab countries and to find out whether research results support the culture‐free hypothesis or not. A thorough search of sixteen journals, research monographs, books and theses produced only 35 empirical studies. Most of these studies were exploratory, descriptive, and used small convenient samples. Although some findings supported the culture‐bound hypothesis, major conceptual and methodological weaknesses in these studies throw doubt upon the validity of their results.

Details

Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7606

Article
Publication date: 10 December 2018

Hussain Albin Shaikh, Sharon Purchase and Gregory Brush

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…

Abstract

Purpose

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.

Design/methodology/approach

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.

Findings

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.

Practical implications

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.

Originality/value

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.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 20 August 2021

Abdelrachid El Amrouss and Omar Hammouti

The purpose of this paper is the study of existence and multiplicity of solutions for a nonlinear discrete boundary value problems involving the p-laplacian.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is the study of existence and multiplicity of solutions for a nonlinear discrete boundary value problems involving the p-laplacian.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach is based on variational methods and critical point theory.

Findings

Theorem 1.1. Theorem 1.2. Theorem 1.3. Theorem 1.4.

Originality/value

The paper is original and the authors think the results are new.

Details

Arab Journal of Mathematical Sciences, vol. 29 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1319-5166

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 February 2021

Abdulsalam Ahmed Sawmar and Mustafa Omar Mohammed

This paper aims to construct a conceptual framework which explains the relationship between governance of zakat institutions and zakat payment compliance by using the…

8244

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to construct a conceptual framework which explains the relationship between governance of zakat institutions and zakat payment compliance by using the organisational legitimacy theory.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopts content analysis and a review of multidisciplinary literature that primarily relate to zakat institutions, public governance and compliance behaviour.

Findings

The paper has developed a model, adapted from Abioye et al. (2013), concerning the influence of governance mechanisms on zakat payers’ compliance using trust as a moderator. The model comprises four governance mechanisms which influence zakat payment compliance. The four mechanisms include the board and leadership attributes, transparency and disclosure practices, stakeholder management practices and procedural justice. Trust has a moderating effect on the relationship between governance and zakat compliance.

Research limitations/implications

This model is applicable to regulated zakat systems, where the state has established zakat institutions and regulations for the collection and distribution of zakat, such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Sudan and Malaysia.

Originality/value

This paper proposes a model, based on Abioye et al. (2013), to explain the influence of governance on zakat payment compliance. The novelty of the study is the addition of one new critical variable, procedural justice, to the Abioye et al.’s (2013) framework. Secondly, the model is proposed for regulated zakat jurisdictions.

Details

ISRA International Journal of Islamic Finance, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0128-1976

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 January 2024

Abdelrahim Alqudah, Esam Qnais, Salsabeel H. Sabi, Yousra Bseiso, Omar Gammoh and Mohammed Wedyan

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential benefits of Coriandrum sativum (C. sativum) on anxiety, depression, sleep quality and memory among students.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential benefits of Coriandrum sativum (C. sativum) on anxiety, depression, sleep quality and memory among students.

Design/methodology/approach

This randomized controlled trial involved university students aged 18–25 years, who had no known allergies to C. sativum or were using psychotropic medication. After giving informed consent, participants were randomly assigned using a computer-generated random sequence to either 500 mg C. sativum seeds or a placebo. Primary outcomes measured changes in memory (prospective and retrospective memory questionnaire [PRMQ]), anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), while secondary outcomes assessed sleep quality (Pittsburgh sleep quality inventory [PSQI]).

Findings

A sample of 86 students with a mean age of 20.05 ± 1.6 years was selected for the study. Initial assessments ensured no significant differences in demographic or study variables between the control and intervention groups. Statistical analysis revealed significant improvements in memory (PRMQ: p = 0.006), anxiety (Hospital Anxiety Scale: p = 0.04) and depression (Hospital Depression Scale: p = 0.002), as well as in sleep quality (PSQI: p = 0.03) in the group receiving C. sativum compared to the control group.

Originality/value

This research offers initial insights into the potential benefits of C. sativum intake, specifically its role in enhancing memory performance and mitigating anxiety among student populations. The results present a compelling case for further research in this domain to solidify these preliminary conclusions.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science , vol. 54 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 January 2021

Kazi Md Tarique, Rafikul Islam and Mustafa Omar Mohammed

The purpose of this paper is to develop and subsequently validate a Maqasid al-Shari’ah-based performance evaluation model for Islamic banks.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop and subsequently validate a Maqasid al-Shari’ah-based performance evaluation model for Islamic banks.

Design/methodology/approach

Initially, a comprehensive review of the existing and relevant literature is carried out and a prototype evaluation model has been developed. This has been augmented and refined through in-depth interviews of Shari’ah scholars and banking experts. Afterwards, the modified model has been validated by taking inputs from academics and Islamic banking practitioners through a focus group discussion.

Findings

The major outcome of the present work is a Maqasid al-Shari’ah-based performance evaluation model for Islamic banks. At the inception of the work, the Maqasid frameworks of Imam al-Ghazali and Abu Zahrah were combined. The combined model incorporates various dimensions, elements and the corresponding measures of three components, namely, justice, education and maslahah.

Research limitations/implications

Not being able to test the model statistically or empirically can be considered as a limitation.

Practical implications

The comprehensive theoretical framework of the developed model addresses all aspects of human well-being. Thus, if implemented the model will ensure welfare for all the stakeholders. It will also encourage the regulators to introduce new reporting standards which will be more reflective of Maqasid al-Shari’ah.

Social implications

Fulfilling Maqasid will create a positive brand image for Islamic banks, which will attract more customers both Muslims and non-Muslims. Thus, this will create a wider scope for earning more revenues.

Originality/value

There has been concern that Islamic banks are converging towards conventional banking systems and the same performance measure instrument is being used to evaluate the performance of both Islamic and conventional banks. The present work has developed a Maqasid al-Shari’ah-based performance evaluation model for Islamic banks.

Details

International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8394

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2020

Bo Yang, Lulu Wang and Bayan Omar Mohammed

Social technologies can offer a strong means for organizations to manage their information flows and thus make changes on the organizational knowledge sharing, which may then be…

1073

Abstract

Purpose

Social technologies can offer a strong means for organizations to manage their information flows and thus make changes on the organizational knowledge sharing, which may then be linked to employees’ productivity and performance enhancements. The purpose of this paper is to predict the impact of using the online social network on employee motivation and employee motivation effects on organizational knowledge sharing.

Design/methodology/approach

From employees of tax affairs organization, data are collected. For evaluating the model’s elements, a questionnaire was designed. It was revised by experts with significant experiences. For statistical analysis, SMART-PLS 3.2 is used.

Findings

Findings have confirmed the validity of the proposed model. The results also have indicated that online social networks, social trust and social goals have a positive and important impact on employee motivation. Furthermore, obtained results have revealed that organizational knowledge sharing is significantly influenced by employee motivation and organizational commitment.

Research limitations/implications

The study contributes to the literature on organizational knowledge sharing and employee motivation in online social networking sites. Organizations could benefit from this knowledge by accepting that social networking sites must be considered as a critical component of the knowledge sharing, and precise targeting efforts could be directed for those users. Also, it could be exciting to study further factors affecting the development of organizational knowledge sharing in larger organizations.

Originality/value

The paper rises the understanding of what online social networking encompasses and how it can be utilized for the organization. The ideas and discussion are similarly applicable to libraries and may give them new visions into the delivery of social networking applications as part of their facilities to users.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 49 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 September 2022

Hanane Sebbaq and Nour-eddine El Faddouli

The purpose of this study is, First, to leverage the limitation of annotated data and to identify the cognitive level of learning objectives efficiently, this study adopts…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is, First, to leverage the limitation of annotated data and to identify the cognitive level of learning objectives efficiently, this study adopts transfer learning by using word2vec and a bidirectional gated recurrent units (GRU) that can fully take into account the context and improves the classification of the model. This study adds a layer based on attention mechanism (AM), which captures the context vector and gives keywords higher weight for text classification. Second, this study explains the authors’ model’s results with local interpretable model-agnostic explanations (LIME).

Design/methodology/approach

Bloom's taxonomy levels of cognition are commonly used as a reference standard for identifying e-learning contents. Many action verbs in Bloom's taxonomy, however, overlap at different levels of the hierarchy, causing uncertainty regarding the cognitive level expected. Some studies have looked into the cognitive classification of e-learning content but none has looked into learning objectives. On the other hand, most of these research papers just adopt classical machine learning algorithms. The main constraint of this study is the availability of annotated learning objectives data sets. This study managed to build a data set of 2,400 learning objectives, but this size remains limited.

Findings

This study’s experiments show that the proposed model achieves highest scores of accuracy: 90.62%, F1-score and loss. The proposed model succeeds in classifying learning objectives, which contain ambiguous verb from the Bloom’s taxonomy action verbs, while the same model without the attention layer fails. This study’s LIME explainer aids in visualizing the most essential features of the text, which contributes to justifying the final classification.

Originality/value

In this study, the main objective is to propose a model that outperforms the baseline models for learning objectives classification based on the six cognitive levels of Bloom's taxonomy. In this sense, this study builds the bidirectional GRU (BiGRU)-attention model based on the combination of the BiGRU algorithm with the AM. This study feeds the architecture with word2vec embeddings. To prove the effectiveness of the proposed model, this study compares it with four classical machine learning algorithms that are widely used for the cognitive classification of text: Bayes naive, logistic regression, support vector machine and K-nearest neighbors and with GRU. The main constraint related to this study is the absence of annotated data; there is no annotated learning objective data set based on Bloom’s taxonomy's cognitive levels. To overcome this problem, this study seemed to have no choice but to build the data set.

Article
Publication date: 16 November 2020

Mostafa Adel Elsebaei, Omar Elnawawy, Ayman Ahmed Ezzat Othman and Mohammed Badawy

The construction industry is considered one of the most dangerous industries especially in developing countries such as Egypt. Although safety in Egypt is regulated by mainly four…

Abstract

Purpose

The construction industry is considered one of the most dangerous industries especially in developing countries such as Egypt. Although safety in Egypt is regulated by mainly four pivotal legislations, namely, Law No. 12 (2003) and Ministerial Decrees No. 211, 126 and 134, construction accident records in Egypt are high. Accordingly, this paper aims to develop a framework to activate the health and safety regulations in the Egyptian construction industry.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve this aim, a research methodology consisting of a literature review and a survey questionnaire was developed to accomplish three objectives. First, a literature review was used to identify the causes of site accidents and strategies adopted in different countries to improve and enforce safety, safety roles of stakeholders. Second, a survey questionnaire was conducted with a representative sample of large- and medium-sized construction firms in Egypt to examine their perception of the causes of site accidents. Finally, a framework was developed to activate the health and safety regulations in the Egyptian construction industry.

Findings

The research identified 16 causes of construction site accidents. These causes were classified into three categories based on the party responsible for the occurrence of site accidents, namely, workers, organization management and government. Results of data analysis showed that “lack of housekeeping” and “lack of governmental inspection for safety” were ranked the highest causes of site accidents in the Egyptian construction industry, whereas “inefficiency of old safety equipment or no safety equipment at all” and “reluctance to input resources for safety” were ranked the least causes.

Originality/value

This research provides valuable information about the nature of the construction industry with a particular focus on site accidents, causes and impacts of construction site accidents. The study highlighted the safety roles of the Egyptian Governmental bodies in Egypt to improve and enforce safety. The research tackled a topic that received scant attention in construction literature especially in the Egypt context. The framework presented in this paper represents a synthesis that is important and adds value to the knowledge in a manner that has not previously occurred in the Egyptian construction industry.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. 19 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

1 – 10 of 395