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This study examines the transition in an Arabian Peninsula university context from traditional, in-class pen-and-paper quizzes to online quizzes. While research shows that quizzes can play an important role in student learning, the outcomes from online quizzes are not clear. Our research shows that the learning contribution of online quizzes depends on the form of online quizzing employed; yet the decision to use online quizzes is often influenced by other administrative objectives such as cost efficiencies, convenience, and public relations benefits. Given these findings, the paper highlights the importance of matching administrative priorities with one’s approach to learning and teaching when moving toward greater use of computer technology in coursework.

The purpose of this study is to assess the determining factors of entrepreneurial business startup in Saudi Arabia from an eclectic perspective.

Based on Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data of 2000 Saudi Arabian respondents, the study analyzes a multitude of individual factors which are classified into four groups: financial resources; social legitimacy; entrepreneurial personality; and entrepreneurial competencies. Gender and education are moderating variables influencing the relationship, whereas age is a control variable using binary logistic regression technique.

Out of ten hypotheses, only four hypotheses, namely, income, fear of failure, perception of high status and knowledge of other entrepreneurs, have a significant relationship with the possibility of a business startup.

Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to examine differences in team‐related behaviours, skills, attitudes and values on the part of female Arab students with different educational experiences.

A survey instrument was administered to two female Arab student groupings: one from a single‐gender, single‐nationality university (n=77), the second from a co‐educational, mixed nationality university (n=41). Based on a literature review, respondents were asked to recall their most recent team experience and respond to a number of items relating to team member demographics, team performance and individual team‐related behaviours and attitudes.

The findings show significant differences between the two groups in relation to individual behaviours and attitudes to teamwork, and in reports of team performance. Those students working in homogenous teams reported healthier levels of team performance, and a more positive attitude to working in teams. However, they were also found to be significantly more likely to engage in behaviours detrimental to effective team functioning, such as hiding true voice and changing views to accommodate the team, and expressed lower preference for working in heterogeneous teams.

Given the multi‐cultural and mixed gender nature of (much of) the workplace within the Gulf region, and government policy aimed at increasing the number of females active in the workforce, the observed differences in team behaviours and attitudes have implications for both education policy and the development of teamworking skills, and workplace management, in terms of employee recruitment, selection and placement, socialisation and training.

Females are playing an increasing role in the workforce of many Arab nations. However, to date little research has been carried out into the work‐related values and attitudes of Arab females. This is especially so in the area of working in multi‐cultural and mixed gender teams. The present paper helps address this gap.

The purpose of this paper is to make a cross‐cultural comparison of team harmony and participation of a collectivistic Middle Eastern sample of women and an individualistic Anglo sample of women.

Two independent female samples are compared – Anglos and Arabs. Respondents completed a self‐report survey regarding their perceptions of recent team experiences as well as their own participation within those teams.

The findings revealed greater sensitivity to inter‐member conflict on the part of the Arabic sample, coupled with increased incidence of behaviors to promote team harmony through the suppression of individual opinions and ideas.

Further research should be conducted to differentiate the interaction between role and gender. From a practical standpoint, quasi‐experimental research on interventions to reduce the participation problem would be important.

Team performance and retention of Emirati employees within the United Arab Emirates context can be enhanced to the extent that managers understand the perceptions and participation of local employees. The findings of the current study aid managers in understanding the key role of team harmony sensitivity among Emiratis and its subsequent impact on their participation in team processes.

The paper addresses a significant issue, team member participation, in an understudied but increasingly relevant setting, Middle Eastern teams.

Aims to create a better understanding those factors that influence group cohesion in culturally heterogeneous teams.

The hypotheses presented were tested on a sample of 250 students from a small Hawaiian university, comprising 140 Anglo, 28 Japanese and 82 Pacific Islander representatives.

The processes and actions that influence cohesion very significantly. Broadly, the research indicates that individuals from different cultures experience the same behaviours in multicultural teams differently.

There needs to be a willingness to examine the group experience from the point of view of the cultural other and then to explore that experience in an open way.

This study helps to fill one gap in the understanding of culturally heterogeneous teams but is also the starting‐point for additional investigation into the complex dynamics of such teams.

This paper asks the question, “What is the appropriate management value system for commerce in the increasingly complex global marketplace?” We argue that the current management orthodoxy is deficient in dealing with the challenges brought about by the growing number and increased cultural diversity of economic transactions in this new environment. As the justification for the current system is so frequently based on Adam Smith’s writing in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, we compare the current ideology of organizational life with that proposed in his The Theory of Moral Sentiments. In so doing, we argue that a form of international commerce based on Smith’s concept of “sympathy”, the innate need for each individual to care for others, is better suited to building the conditions necessary for human flourishing than is the existing value base. We propose an important initial step toward achieving a more sympathetic capitalism, the “No‐Harm Proviso”, and briefly speculate on its implementation.

This paper suggests that motives for engaging in affiliative‐promotive “helping” extra‐role behavior is related to cross‐cultural differences. The cultural dimensions of in‐group collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, performance orientation, and humane orientation, and their differential effect on helping extra‐role behavior in a diverse workforce are examined. Theoretical implications provide guidance for future empirical research in this area, and provide managers with more realistic expectations of employee performance in the workplace.

It is complained of modern youth that they show no respect for people, places or things, but from a dismal disaster of recent weeks it is demonstrated all too clearly that food‐borne disease organisms—Salmonellæ, Shigellæ, Escheriæ, the entro‐viruses and all the rest—have no respect for anyone either. You would at least expect them to leave alone, or only attack in a playful sort of way, one who having reached the afternoon of life has devoted many years to studying and publicising food and nutrition, food‐borne and dietary disease, but, not a bit of it! One of these ungrateful varmints, in all probability one of the Shigellas, sneaked into the editorial alimentary canal, kicked up no end of a commotion there, thoroughly insulted the liver, which thereupon withdrew into sulky silence and refused to function, smote us everywhere with barbs of pain and at first, something quite unpardonable, refused to be quelled by orthodox doses of the appropriate sulpha‐drugs. While the war was on, we, like so many others would do, asked “why should this happen to us?” The answer is, of course, they have no respect for persons.

The introduction to this special issue aims to describe the papers published in this volume as well as the setting of labour markets in the Arabian Gulf as the basis for the understanding the relationship between expatriates and the indigenous workforce.

First, the context is explained, followed by a description of the peculiarities of the research setting. Then, the articles in this special issue are described, followed by an outlook on the future of the expatriate‐citizen relationship and suggestions for future research in this area.

Thanks to the efforts of authors, reviewers, and the editors of this journal, every single one of the articles in this volume provides valuable insights from new perspectives on the theme of this special issue.

This special issue expands the understanding of a truly underrepresented topic.