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The paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

The paper finds that Muhammad Asad Sadi and Joan Henderson, in their article “In search of greener pastures: Al‐Marai and dairy food business in Saudi Arabia”, have provided a glimpse into a middle‐eastern commercial success story. The authors have gathered as much information as possible concerning the Saudi dairy company, Al‐Marai, their market position, their competition, and their operations, in order to provide a basis for discussion and analysis for future expansion and distribution policies.

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of interest in franchising among small medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to identify attitudes towards the mode of operation's success held by practitioners.

A literature review is presented to explain franchising and the reasons for its adoption by SMEs. Secondary information obtained from published sources forms the basis for a summary of conditions in Saudi Arabia. In addition, a survey questionnaire was administered to a sample of managers in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia to determine their views.

Franchising is deemed to be a suitable business format for SMEs and franchising support systems contribute to its success, although some problems are acknowledged. There are good prospects for further growth, but also obstacles to overcome.

Resource constraints limited the scale and scope of the survey and there is a need for further studies of more executives in other locations.

Policy makers in Saudi Arabia are now emphasizing the importance of both franchising and SMEs. This study affords insights into how practitioners see franchising and may help to inform decision and strategy making in the public and private sectors.

Most franchising studies have been conducted within American and European environments and there have been few attempts to examine the issue within the context of Saudi Arabia. This study therefore advances knowledge and understanding about a neglected area of commercial activity in an industrialising economy such as that of Saudi Arabia.

The purpose of this paper is to concentrate on management responses in terms of marketing and is intended as a basis for discussion of the effectiveness of actual policies, possible alternatives and future prospects.

There is much research that investigates the functioning of dairy food business, however, little attention is given to the responses of executives of the industry. This research aims to narrow this gap in the literature by focussing on the largest dairy food company in Saudi Arabia and its subsequent responses related to marketing. A case research of Saudi Arabian dairy food company, one of the market leaders in the entire Middle East, is advanced and discussed in detail. In addition, the paper highlights future challenges of its future expansion goals which would have implications for its operational, marketing and distribution strategies. Other important factors to consider are market differences, cultural conflicts, fluctuating exchange rates, cross‐border invoicing and financial transactions, tariffs and taxes and host country government regulations.

A number of dairy food companies in Saudi Arabia have been using varied competitive strategies over the last few years, but this study reveals how Al‐Marai uses strategy of market penetration to beat the competition. Promotion emphasises brand strengths across segments and an intensive distribution network is maintained locally, with new channels sought in Middle Eastern as well as South East Asian markets.

This paper provides a unique perspective of a dairy food company, which uses market penetration to beat the nationwide competition, thus stand high in offering quality merchandise across Middle East.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the significance of some barriers in Saudi organizations from the perspectives of marketing executives.

A range of contemporary literature is presented to help define the term “organizational creativity,” and describe “barriers to creativity” from the marketing executives' perspective within the organizational culture of Saudi Arabia.

Self‐confidence and task achievement are the most significant barriers to the creativity of marketing executives in Saudi Arabia.

This paper is primarily based on a survey questionnaire, the contents of which were derived from previous studies on this subject or related themes. The barriers to creativity surveyed in this study were identified by Osborn. They were grouped into six constructs: self‐confidence; need for conformity and risk taking; use of the abstract; use of systematic analysis; task achievement and physic1al environment.

Throughout this paper the concept of “barriers to creativity” was explored. The results indicated that self‐confidence is considered a slightly higher barrier to creativity among Saudi executives compared to non‐Saudis who rate task achievement higher. To improve self‐confidence among executives, both Saudi and non‐Saudi organizations must improve positive behavioral elements such as optimism, passion, and self‐image and minimize negative behavior elements such as sarcasms, destructive criticism, status consciousness and fear of evaluation.

The celebrated Osborn model is used to identify the creativity barriers among organizations from the perspective of marketing executives. This paper concludes that creativity is an important issue for any organization to survive and excel, and knowing the barriers that diminish creativity is an essential step towards the objective of creating a culture of creativity within an organization in the Saudi Arabian context.

This paper examines Malaysia's perception of China following the Asian Financial Crisis. The Asian Financial Crisis, which occurred in 1997, resulted in a contraction in Malaysia's GDP, which resulted in increased unemployment in Malaysia. China is a rising economy. Several bilateral visits and trade missions meet both states to achieve an advantageous economic position. Malaysia's decision to rely on China despite historical events that had sparked tensions between the two countries. Despite Malaysia's economic downturn, the country is taking swift action to address the issue. During the crisis, Malaysia viewed Western countries as irresponsible and allowed the situation to deteriorate, which later became the reason for Malaysia's relationship with China. The crisis, however, has influenced Malaysian Chinese businesses to improve their foreign policy and bilateral relations. This paper contends that Malaysia recognizes the importance of its bilateral relationship with China in stabilizing its economic development and social activity following the crisis.

‘Stans’ is an ancient Persian word meaning land, country or nation. This chapter begins with a review of the historical basis of zakat management in Islamic practice and provides a brief historical account and status of zakat practices in select countries in Central Asia. The section thereafter focuses on benchmark international zakat management models before providing recommendations for the development of an effective zakat management model within Central Asia. The economic shocks resulting from the pandemic have forced many in the region into situational poverty. If left unchecked, this may easily regress into chronic poverty, undoing the significant growth that these countries have experienced over the last decade. Existing social programmes have limited the impact of economic loss. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, they have an opportunity to revive this history and once again empower their nations with Islamic social finance instruments. Effective zakat management models in Indonesia and Kuwait, for example, provide different dimensions to social impact. The Indonesian model of BAZNAS provides the most comprehensive methodology for governance, risk management and replication. BAZNAS′ strategy for digitalization and collaboration suggests a strong model for development within Central Asia. Through an effective zakat model, it is expected that Central Asian nations will be better protected against economic disruptions and provide a safety net for vulnerable communities in the region. These conclusions and recommendations in this chapter are limited to the information available in the literature. Further study is required through primary research to understand better what the challenges are in zakat modelling. Locals may also be surveyed to determine their levels of zakat knowledge and their concerns for institutional zakat collection and disbursement.