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Neural networks and expert systems are two major branches of artificial intelligence (AI). Their emergence has created the potential for a new generation of computer‐based applications in the area of financial decision making. Both systems are used by financial institutions and corporations for a variety of new applications from credit scoring to bond rating to detection of credit card fraud. While both systems belong to the applied field of artificial intelligence, there are many differences between them which differentiate their potential capabilities in the field of business. Presents an analysis of both neural networks and expert systems applications in terms of their capabilities and weaknesses. Uses examples of financial applications of expert systems and neural networks to provide a unified context for the comparison.

An appropriate approach to determine and measure the characteristics of “good” borrowers has always been the subject of inquiry by various lenders both in domestic and international financial markets. Cost of bad debts incurring from non‐payers and slow payers is a major source of loss which would affect profits and consequently the value of the lending firm. A carefully designed and economically feasible method to select the right borrowers is consistent with the goal of a modern lending institution which is to minimize the risk of bad debts and increase the wealth of its shareholders. The issue of selecting good borrowers is more serious in the case of potential credit card holders where the number of applicants is far greater than the number of commercial, real estate, and other institutional borrowers. Lending institutions cannot afford spending more than a certain limited amount of time to scrutinize the application of each applicant. Competition and increasing cost of information are other reasons that a lender should approve or reject submitted applications in a reasonably short period of time with minimum decision errors.

To provide a framework for risk assessment of offshore IT outsourcing.

Based on review of recent literature, this paper has identified major risk categories of offshore IT outsourcing, discussed various risk factors within each category, and provided a general framework for the study of risk factors in this area.

Provides a general framework and a check‐list of the major risk factors related to offshore IT outsourcing.

Suggests further research studies in three specific directions: case‐based studies; country and region risk analysis; and strategic alliance.

Provides a very helpful guideline for practitioners in assessing various risks involved in offshore IT outsourcing.

The paper provides a synthesis and analysis of the viewpoints as reflected in the literature on various dimensions of the risks associated with offshore IT outsourcing.

The purpose of this paper is to identify ERP system sourcing strategies available to SMEs and to provide insights from a case study of the practices applied and decisions made by an SME in using a hybrid of sourcing resources to implement the successful conversion of their legacy ERP system to a new information technology (IT) environment.

This research is a case study utilizing various data sources including face‐to‐face interviews, informal conversations, and e‐mails with members of the case company. Company software applications and documents were examined and employees were observed in action. The analysis compares characteristics of the client‐vendor relationship of the case company with findings from relevant outsourcing literature.

This case study identified, among others, the following practices that were critical to the case company in their outsourcing endeavors: attending networking events for SMEs, obtaining formal contract for ownership of intellectual property, utilizing local vendor contact point for communication with offshore contact point, and utilizing vendor's skill‐set for specialized resources.

This case study relates practice with theory, providing a reference for both academia and practitioners.

The decision making and practices described in this paper provide insights that may be useful to organizations considering IT software implementations. ERP systems are increasingly more affordable for SMEs and offshore outsourcing is becoming more accessible; therefore, SMEs considering these options may benefit from Kanebridge's experience.

The main aim of this research is to rank and prioritize the solutions to address the challenges for the successful implementation of talent management (TM) in government banks in Iran.

This paper has identified the challenges of TM implementation in government banks and proposed the solutions to address these challenges through a review of the extant literature. The identified challenges and solutions were ranked using two multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods called PROMETHEE and VIKOR based on the insights from 20 senior managers of government banks in Iran.

The challenges and solutions were categorized into cultural, managerial, human resources and environmental-related factors. “Building culture of TM in organizations”, “making TM as an ongoing process in organizations”, “commitment of senior managers to TM process”, “managing TM pipeline” and “focusing on meritocracy in recruitment and selections” were ranked as the top solutions to address cultural, managerial, human resources and environmental challenges, respectively.

The findings can provide a comprehensive view of different types of challenges and solutions in the TM process for government organizations and institutions. It also provides helpful insights for top managers to define their organizations' strategies effectively and to implement the TM process by ranking and prioritizing the solutions to address their challenges.

The main contribution of this study is to develop a comprehensive framework in which, identification of different types of challenges in the implementation of TM processes can be addressed and the approaches to remove or mitigate the effects of these challenges are ranked by using two well-established MCDM techniques.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate generated themes associated with talent development in the Australian higher education sector. This is because there are pragmatic advantages for universities that are focused on developing talents. For example, talent is a primary source of competitive advantage for educational institutions.

This study depends on the individual interview method as the main tool for data collection. The sample consisted of six participants who are talented. High-level individual interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed using NVivo 11.

Individual interviews have identified four key themes of talent development: performance management, coaching talent, leadership development and talent acquisition.

This study only targeted one country (Australia), and one sector (higher education). Hence, the generalisability of these results is limited to the Australian university sector in Queensland.

This study collects rich and original qualitative data regarding talent development in the higher education domain. Therefore, for instance, the research findings validate what was already found but are significant because practical data rather than theoretical were gathered through a discussion with experts in talent management. This study has a high quality because of strengthening the effect of an in-depth case study.

The study offers a value added to talent management theory through investigating themes of talent development for the higher education sector. This would assist researchers in this field to provide a deeper understanding and develop a theoretical foundation for their further studies. This implication is unique to the advancement of talent management theory.

This study aims to develop the maqasid index (MI) for Islamic corporate social responsibility (CSR), namely, Dana Abadi Umat (DAU) (Ummah’s Endowment Fund) or MI-DAU in Indonesia.

Modeling and weighting are based on Delphi and analytic network process (ANP) methods, called Delphi–ANP additive weighting. The Delphi method was applied to design and validate the factors of the MI-DAU model, and the ANP method was applied to generate and validate weights for these factors. Finally, the MI-DAU is calculated, based on the planned budget and actual allocation of DAU returns, called the maslahah fund, using additive weighting.

Delphi and ANP show significant and robust results. The priority order and weights of maqasid Shariah are safeguard the faith (0.32), safeguard the intellect (0.219), safeguard the life (0.204), safeguard the wealth (0.171) and safeguard the lineage (0.104). Meanwhile, the priority order and weights of the main activities are education (0.190), Ummah’s economy (0.167), Hajj service (0.155), Da’wah (0.124), health care (0.118), social-religious (0.097), worship facilities (0.085) and disaster emergency response (0.065). Finally, the results of MI-DAU show a high index in 2019 and 2020 of 71.89 and 69.51, respectively, generated from allocation ratio of 90.63% and 85.98%, respectively.

Maqasid Shariah used in this study follows Al-Ghazali, where it could also follow maqasid Shariah of Abu Zahrah or Al-Najjar. Moreover, the MI-DAU score uses additive calculations, where it can also use Pentagon calculation.

The improved framework and method used to design MI-DAU in this study could be applied to design more scientific MI for other Islamic financial institutions.

The novelty of this study is in the improved method used to design the MI model, including its factors, using Delphi, and to assign weights of all factors using ANP, where both provide validation for more robust MI model.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to examine the influence of two dimensions of entrepreneurial competencies, namely, strategic competency and ethical competency on the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs); and second, to explore the role of network competence as a mediator among these understudied variables.

The data for this study were collected from wholesale and retail-based SMEs in Malaysia through a standard structured questionnaire. PLS–SEM approach was utilised to analyse the data.

Although the findings did not reveal a direct effect of strategic and ethical competencies of entrepreneurs on SMEs’ growth, these competences, however, were found to be influential in driving their growth when network competence was used as a mediator.

The existence of a mediation effect between strategic and ethical competencies and SMEs’ growth via network competence has provided insights which add new knowledge to the extant entrepreneurship and SMEs’ performance literature.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the best processes that are currently used in managing talent in Australian higher education (HE) and to examine the policies in terms of talent management processes (TMPs) that are derived from objective one. Pragmatic benefits for academic institutions focused on enhancing talent.

This study selects the mixed method as its research design. In the qualitative study, there were three methods: brainstorming, focus group and individual interviews, followed by the quantitative questionnaire study. The sample consisted of 6 participants for brainstorming, 11 in focus group, 6 individual interviews and 286 participants for the quantitative questionnaire, all conducted in nine Australian universities.

Three key themes: talent retention, talent development and talent attraction were explored by the qualitative study. The quantitative study tests the level of an importance regarding the three TMPs explored.

This empirical research is one of the first few studies that extended the previous investigation of TMPs in various industries to the HE sector. This research provides more debates for adding more new ideas in the Australian education strategic plans for HE.

This study offers a value-add to talent management literature through designing a quantitative measurement of TMPs for the educational sector. Consequently, there is a deficiency of pragmatic evidence in terms of TMPs in the aforementioned sector. Furthermore, this study provides a clear and comprehensive outline of the extant scholarly research of TMPs from the period 2006–2018.

Past research provides mixed evidence of the various elements of talent management. This review consolidates that research evidence to present a comprehensive evidence-based multilevel framework to inform practice and outline future research directions.

A systematic review of 120 empirical studies, focusing on determinants, practices and/or outcomes of talent management practices, was undertaken.

Our multilevel framework suggests that talent management perspectives determine talent management practices which, in turn, impact organizational, group and employee outcomes. Most studies focused on identifying talent management perspectives or practices within organizations, while few studies investigated how these perspectives influence practices. The inclusive vs exclusive perspective has been the main focus of the research. However, findings indicate that a combination of perspectives generates a hybrid approach which leads to a range of talent management practices. The most studied practices involve talent development and the least studied involve talent engagement. In total, 67 studies focusing on outcomes of talent management identified organizational performance as the most conspicuous outcome of talent management.

This review contributes to the existing knowledge of talent management by consolidating the empirical evidence on determinants and outcomes of talent management practices and provides a comprehensive, integrated and multilevel framework to guide practice and future research.