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The purpose of this paper is to apply Lean in the workers’ compensation industry. It focuses on identifying patterns of repetitive non-value-added transnational activities for physical-therapy patients and healthcare providers. It addresses the research gap in this field.

In this study, we designed and deployed multiple case studies to better understand the journey of an injured worker within the worker compensation system in the United States of America. We partnered with Concentra Inc., a leading national healthcare provider in the field of workers’ compensation having 520 medical centers in 44 states. Both case studies included conducting direct observations, Gemba walk, in five clinics in two states: Florida and Pennsylvania. We analyzed the data of 263 injured workers with 8 or more physical therapy visits who got admitted to Concentra clinics in both states over the period of 31 days.

The results revealed that the time intervals at which activities associated with physical therapy treatment pre-authorization accounted for 91.59% of the total non-value-added activities and are thus the key administrative factor leading to process inefficiency in the state of Florida. The Process Cycle Efficiency of Pennsylvania was 75.36% compared to 53.16% of Florida. The injured workers in Florida needed 39.58 days on average to complete eight physical therapy visits compared to 27.92 days in Pennsylvania (a median of 34.09 vs 22.15 days).

This study is limited as it only focuses on processes on the healthcare provider side. An expanded value stream map that includes the treatment pre-authorization process on the insurance side would be beneficial for generating more potential solutions to streamline the process.

This study shows that Lean could play a critical role in identifying and quantifying continuous improvement opportunities that could accelerate patient’s treatment, reduce administrative burden on healthcare providers and improve the overall claim cost of insurance companies. It provides data-driven argument for insurance companies to consider eliminating physical therapy pre-authorization.

This is the first study to apply Lean methodology in the workers’ compensation field.

The current explanations in the cyber incivility and knowledge hoarding literature suffer from two problems. The first is a lack of cogent explanation of cyber incivility and knowledge hoarding from social exchange theory (SET) perspective. The second is the unexplained attenuating propensity of justice on the connection between cyber incivility and knowledge hoarding, more specifically, interactional justice.

This paper uses a simple random sampling method to obtain cross-sectional data from 223 employees working in IT and telecommunication service companies in Jordan. The obtained data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique also known as variance-based structural equation modeling.

By applying SET theoretical lens and PLS-SEM, the authors show that cyber incivility exerts strong impact on knowledge hoarding, and interactional justice may not always function as a buffer. That is, the association between cyber incivility and knowledge hoarding is not impacted by interactional justice levels.

The contribution of this paper builds on the lack of practical comprehension on the association between cyber incivility and knowledge hoarding and the role played by interactional justice. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

This study aims to examine the association between forensic accounting services (FAS) and the risk of litigation within the context of industrial firms that are publicly traded on the Amman Stock Exchange by using the resource-based theory.

This study uses a data set consisting of 250 firm-year observations from 2017 to 2021, obtained from the annual reports of 50 selected firms. Logistic regression techniques are used to examine the specifics of the investigated relationship.

The findings strongly suggest that companies that use FAS are more likely to face increased litigation risks. This observation suggests that these firms are subject to a more thorough level of evaluation or scrutiny, which inherently increases their vulnerability to potential risks. The study incorporated several control variables such as firm age, size, profitability and working capital. However, it is noteworthy that the connection between FAS and litigation risk emerged as particularly prominent.

Findings highlight the need for practitioners to tread cautiously with FAS. Although they provide in-depth evaluations, they can also unveil vulnerabilities, leading to increased legal action. Companies should balance the depth of FAS scrutiny against potential legal repercussions, ensuring they harness its benefits without inadvertently raising legal risks.

While most studies have emphasized the impact of forensic accounting on fraud, this paper covers a gap in the literature regarding the impact of FAS on litigation risks. The paper also facilitates the understanding of the correlation between firm characteristics and the likelihood of litigation.

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families especially their mothers face numerous and pervasive challenges. Difficulties to access quality care, financial burden, issues of adulthood and their child’s behaviors may produce significant stressors to mothers. This study aims to assess perceived stress among mothers of children with ASD in Egypt.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Mansoura University Hospital, Egypt on 94 mothers of children with ASD using a structured questionnaire of the socio-demographic and clinical features of the studied mothers and their children and the perceived stress scale (PSS).

The mean total PSS score of mothers was 31.97 ± 12.39 and the level of autism had a statistically significant relation with stress perceived by the studied mothers.

The findings in this study were based on caregivers’ self-reporting. As such, inaccurate reporting might have biased the findings. The main limitations of this study include non-participation and dropout. During data collection, some mothers declined to participate in the study. Also, the current study was conducted in one hospital. This represents a loss of valuable information and may weaken the generalizability of the current study findings. Another limitation is the use of a convenience sample in the study. With the use of convenience sampling, there is an increased risk of bias, as study participants may not accurately reflect the characteristics of the total population.

Caregivers’ education programs through media and press should be developed for mothers of children with ASD to help those who experience levels of stress by presenting knowledge about ASD and treatment and training on adaptive coping methods and teaching communication and problem-solving. Recognizing levels of stress and parent counseling may be a useful strategy. Regular periodic meetings should be conducted between mothers and hospital personnel to promote proper communication. One key policy implication, this paper can derive from this study is the need for cooperation between the Ministry of Health, social welfare and other relevant governmental and non-governmental organizations to provide support for families of individuals with ASD such as financial aids. It is also recommended that future study would benefit a larger sample to enhance external validity. As well, future qualitative research is recommended to more fully understand the lived experience of mothers of children with ASD.

This study provides evidence that mothers of children with ASD experienced high perceived stress. Caregivers’ education programs through media and press should be developed in Egypt for mothers of children with ASD.

This paper aims to develop an instrument that helps in managing liquidity. Liquidity is one of the most critical issues to be considered by the financial management of the business firms to meet its financial obligations. It is more vital for banks because of the liquid nature of its assets and liabilities, along with the fact that the confidence in the bank and degree of risk depends heavily on liquidity as an indicator of its wellbeing. Islamic banks (IBs) look at the liquidity issue from the same side as the traditional banks. IBs – the most apparent Islamic financial institution – suffered from the problem of not benefiting from the lender of last resort that Central Banks (CBs) offer to traditional banks because IBs cannot borrow from the CBs at interest. The experience of Institution(s) offering Islamic Financial Services[1] (IIFS) regarding the establishment of Islamic money markets did not show a tangible success instead of the early studies done by some scholars. In spite of the rich experience of some countries in creating new money market instruments or configuration of the interest-based ones according to Islamic - Sharī’ah[2], the designs of these instruments have many limitations in terms of their tradability and flexibility, restricting their use for open-market operations by CBs.

The purpose of calculating the time weighted debt units (TWDUs) is to find the equivalent amount of money that the supplier can borrow to the lender in the future for a maturity that differs from the first credit contract. It is a swap between an amount of credit for a particular period of time and another amount for another period. The scheme are called traditionally as reciprocal (mutual) loans, reciprocal (mutual) deposits, swapped conditional loans and “I lend you, provided you lend me” (Hammad, 2010). It is also well known in Pakistan as time multiple counter loan (TMCL), and known within some Arabic IBs as specks (Nomar = numbers) system. This contract will be called the reciprocal loans in the current paper.

The current paper represents a blue print of suggested money market instrument (scheme) that is based on the idea of Al Qardh El Hasan (interest-free loan) – called TWDUs. This instrument does not promise any revenue for the supplier and no charge for the lender.

The suggested model is known in traditional and contemporary writings of Islamic economists and - Sharī’ah scholars. It is accepted by many - Sharī’ah Boards in IBs (Merah, 2011) and was accepted by the Council of Islamic Ideology in Pakistan in 1980 through the TMCL. Despite that, it is still not discussed in depth by international - Sharī’ah boards as the International Islamic Fiqh Academy – in addition to the wide spread of opponent viewpoint that considers this contract as a kind of riba.

TWDUs is presumed to help IBs and other IIFS to add more flexibility in liquidity management in the side of risk management[3] (represented by the potential loss to IIFS arising from their inability either to meet their obligations or to fund increases in assets as they fall due without incurring unacceptable costs or losses) in addition to avoiding the case of hoarding surplus funds in the short term. Also, the suggested instrument will not be exclusive to IBs or IIFS; it can be developed to be used at a later stage by them as a mean of overdraft between IBs and their clients. Moreover, beside its viability to help in liquidity management for other firms in business sector (non-financial) or government agencies in liquidity management, TWDUs look for Islamic financial theory as an alternative to the traditional financial theory that is based on interest. Moreover, TWDUs is expected to play an important role in monetary policy in a totally Islamic financial system or even in a mixed one (Islamic and capitalistic).

This study aims to explore the corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) practices of the Islamic banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries during the period 2010-2014 and examines the determinants of CSRD and its effects on firm value.

Based on the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions Governance Standard No. 7 guidelines and using content analysis, the paper develops a comprehensive CSRD index for GCC Islamic banks. The study applies ordinary least squares regression analysis for hypothesis testing and for finding determinants of respective dependent variables.

The results show a very low level of CSRD among the sample Islamic banks in GCC countries. When using corporate governance characteristics to examine the determinants of CSRD, this study provides evidence of a significant positive association between board size and CSRD practice in Islamic banks and a significant negative relationship of chief executive officer (CEO) duality with CSRD, as per expectation. For the economic consequences of CSRD, the study documents an inverse performance effect of CSRD while board size, board composition and CEO duality indicate significant positive effects on firm value.

The relatively small sample size of GCC Islamic banks may limit the application of the findings to other Islamic financial institutions such as Takaful and the Islamic unit trust company.

The findings of this study initiate the global debate on the need for corporate governance reform in Islamic banks by providing insights on the role played by corporate governance mechanisms in encouraging and enhancing CSRD practices among Islamic banks. The findings also have important implications for investors, managers, regulatory bodies, policymakers and Islamic banks in the GCC countries.

The results of the study do not support the idea that Islamic banks operating on Islamic principles can meet their social responsibilities through promoting corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and by differentiating themselves from non-Islamic banks.

This is the first study to examine the determinants of CSRD in GCC Islamic banks using comprehensive CSRD and corporate governance variables and, therefore, adds value to the existing CSR literature in banking.

This paper aims to optimize the halal product distribution by minimizing the transportation cost while ensuring halal integrity of the product. The problem is considered as a capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP), based on the assumption that two different types of vehicles are used for distribution: vehicles dedicated for halal product distribution and vehicles dedicated for nonhalal products distribution. The problem is modeled as an integer linear program (ILP), termed CVRP-halal and nonhalal products distribution (CVRP-HNPD). It is solved using tabu-search (TS)-based algorithm and is suitable for application to real-life sized halal product distribution.

Two approaches are used in solving the problem: exact approach (integer-linear program) and approximate approach (TS). First, the problem is modeled as ILP and solved using CPLEX Solver. To solve life-sized problems, a TS-based algorithm is developed and run using MATLAB.

The experiments on numerical data and life-sized instances validate the proposed model and algorithm and show that cost-minimizing routes for HNPD are developed while ensuring the halal integrity of the products.

The proposed model and algorithm are suitable as decision support tools for managers responsible for distribution of halal products as they facilitate the development of minimum cost distribution routes for halal and nonhalal products while maintaining the integrity of halal products. The model and algorithm provide a low transportation cost strategy at the operational level of halal products distribution while fulfilling the halal logistics requirement.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that specifically deals with the CVRP of halal products distribution by proposing CVRP-HNPD model and TS-CVRP-HNPD algorithm. The proposed model and algorithm ensure the integrity of halal products along the distribution chain, from the warehouse (distribution center) to the retailer, while achieving lowest transportation cost.

This study examined the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of Jordanian dairy employees about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) characteristics and the effect of precautionary measures on food safety risk during the pandemic.

A cross-sectional study was conducted between Dec 17, 2020 and Feb 22, 2021, involving a total of 428 participants across 34 random chosen dairy facilities in Jordan. KAP related to COVID-19 were measured by 46 items, while 13 items were used to examine perceived notions regarding COVID-19 precautionary measures on food safety.

The results indicated that 32.2% of the respondents had sufficient knowledge, 60.3% had a good attitude, and 27.1% followed correct practices concerning COVID-19. Moreover, female respondents had higher total KAP scores of COVID-19 characteristics than males. Furthermore, older and more experienced respondents had higher total KAP scores than younger respondents. This study also observed that the total KAP scores were not affected by education, marital status, and job position. Characteristics and measures taken by the dairy industry were at large significantly associated with (p < 0.05) knowledge and practice of employees about COVID-19 attributes. Results of this study suggested that Jordanian dairy workers were not adequately aware about COVID-19.

No such study on dairy workers has been conducted previously to the best of the authors’ knowledge. Moreover, studies which analyse the association of industry response and characteristics on the KAP of employees are very limited.