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The purpose of this study is to replicate Kohli and Jaworski, and Kohli's pioneering market orientation model within a highly growth‐oriented and competitive banking industry in an emerging Middle‐Eastern economy, Jordan.

A survey was conducted among top management personnel of 475 bank branches in Jordan. A total of 11 hypotheses related to market orientation; its antecedents and consequences were examined by estimating multiple regression models.

The study confirms that market orientation‐performance relationship is robust across diverse contexts. Also, top management traits are consistent predictors of market orientation. However, organizational factors as direct and linear determinants of market orientation are not completely stable. Further, the nature of the correlations between environmental factors and market orientation may be more complex than has been believed. In addition, within‐country variations along Hofstede's cultural dimensions may be possible. Finally, most scales including that of market orientation suffer from weaknesses.

This paper provides further validation for a market orientation model and unveils some of its weaknesses and strengths.

Interpersonal and informal ties and networks, known as wasta in the Arab Middle East region, remain a major force in Middle Eastern societies, determining most economic, social and political outcomes. Yet the literature on informal ties and networks is largely characterized by a lack of contributions from the Arab world, despite the adverse effect that lack of understanding of the wasta phenomenon is having on the effectiveness of expatriate managers and subsequently on business performance. This chapter therefore aims to shed light on the meaning, characteristics, structure, and role of wasta in establishing and maintaining successful business relationships. It ends with recommendations for foreign investors and international managers who wish to establish and maintain successful business relationships in the Middle East on how to capitalize on interpersonal networks within this process.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the development of a collaborative Heritage Building Information Modelling (HBIM) of a 19th-century multi-building industrial site in the UK. The buildings were Grade II listed by Historic England for architectural and structural features. The buildings were also a key element of the industrial heritage and folklore of the surrounding area. As the site was due to undergo major renovation work, this project was initiated to develop a HBIM of the site that encapsulated both tangible and intangible heritage data.

The design of the research in this study combined multiple research methods. Building on an analysis of secondary data surrounding HBIM, a community of practice was established to shape the development of an HBIM execution plan (HBEP) and underpin the collaborative BIM development. The tangible HBIM geometry was predominantly developed using a scan to BIM methodology, whereas intangible heritage data were undertaken using unstructured interviews and a focus group used to inform the presentation approach of the HBIM data.

The project produced a collaboratively generated multi-building HBIM. The study identified the need for a dedicated HBEP that varies from prevailing BIM execution plans on construction projects. Tangible geometry of the buildings was modelled to LOD3 of the Historic England guidelines. Notably, the work identified the fluid nature of intangible data and the need to include this in an HBIM to fully support design, construction and operation of the building after renovation. A methodology was implemented to categorise intangible heritage data within a BIM context and an approach to interrogate these data from within existing BIM software tools.

The paper has presented an approach to the development of HBIM for large sites containing multiple buildings/assets. The framework implemented for an HBEP can be reproduced by future researchers and practitioners wishing to undertake similar projects. The method for identifying and categorising intangible heritage information through the developed level of intangible cultural heritage was presented as new knowledge. The development of HBIM to bring together tangible and intangible data has the potential to provide a model for future work in the field and augment existing BIM data sets used during the asset lifecycle.