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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of non-economic factors on the financing decisions of family firms in the Middle East. To contextualize the study, the authors steer away from the traditional capital structure debate toward the choice of financing paradigm: conventional vs Islamic.

This study uses Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior due to its ability to delineate the influence of non-economic motivational factors on the financing decisions of family firms. This study also examines the influence of “familial stewardship (FS),” another non-economic factor which is highly relevant in a collectivistic context. The authors initially use SEM with Amos to analyze 115 surveys of family firm owner-managers. For deeper probing, the authors undertook an additional post hoc qualitative analysis of six case studies using semi-structured interviews.

The findings of this study suggest that owner-managers’ attitude toward Islamic finance plays a primary motivational role in influencing their intentions to use it. More importantly, the findings depict a significant influence of “FS” and subjective norm on the attitudes of owner-managers. This implies that financing decisions which involve religious beliefs are directly influenced by the decision maker’s personal attitude, which, in turn, is significantly influenced by familial and social pressures.

This study fills a gap in the family-firm financing literature by suggesting that when choosing religion-related financial products, attitude plays a far more significant role than other motivational factors. This study also contributes to the “familiness” area of research by empirically demonstrating that FS has a significant influence on owner-managers’ attitude toward financing choices.

What makes family influence so influential in the family firm? Time and again, research studies point to family influence as a factor that significantly impacts decision-making in the family business, thus highlighting the need to investigate the variables which cause family influence to be so powerful. The purpose of this study is to explore the construct of family influence in the family firm, under an integrative lens that combines insights from Institutional Theory and the Resource-Based View.

The quantitative approach was used using a 35-item survey measuring 6 constructs, where data collection yielded a total of 206 completed surveys included in the data analysis. Data were analyzed using SmartPLS (3.0) and results were appropriately reported.

The findings of this study propose that the two theoretical perspectives can be useful in explaining how various factors are able to intensify family influence on strategic family firm decisions like internationalization. Specifically, the lack of resources, government support, managerial knowledge and capability in foreign markets represent serious barriers that render the family firm more reliant on and subjected to family influence. Similarly, informal institutions like the fear of failure in foreign markets and uncertainty avoidance often make the family firm more dependent on, and accepting of, family influence.

The path analysis undertaken in this study has empirically depicted how resource-related and institution-based forces can together augment the effects of “family influence,” making it a more powerful and prohibitive factor in the internationalization decision, thus offering an insightful interpretation of these results and valuable practical and theoretical implications.

Research has shown that organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has a positive and significant impact on organizational performance at a time when traditional monitoring and supervision practices are showing a declining influence. This has triggered numerous research undertakings exploring the antecedents of OCB, and how it can best be enhanced. Though many variables have been identified as predictors of OCB, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the influence of diversity management on OCB and two of its important antecedents: organizational commitment and work engagement.

The study used a survey instrument of pre-validated scales to measure banking sector employees’ perceptions of their affective and normative commitment (NC), OCB, and diversity management practices at their organizations. Structural equation modeling was used with AMOS (20) to empirically assess the relationships among constructs.

This study empirically confirmed the positive impact of diversity management on employees’ feelings of affective commitment to the organization and engagement at work, which in turn positively impact employees’ OCB. However, the findings negate any direct influence of diversity management on NC or on OCB.

This study fills a gap in the literature by questioning the validity of applying the social exchange theory to the concept of OCB.

One of the main challenges of human resource management (HRM) functions is how to leverage an organization's corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices for the improvement of employees' job performance. The rationale is that employees identify with and learn from CSR best practices and try to replicate them in their own capacities on the job, thus elevating levels of performance. This study aims at investigating the impact of organizational CSR practices on employee job performance, in the presence of important job attitudes, namely, affective commitment and work engagement.

The study employed structural equation modeling to analyze data that were collected through a survey of previously validated scales. The survey was distributed using the convenience sampling technique among respondents in the Lebanese banking sector, and 302 useable surveys were collected.

The structural model confirmed the significant influence of CSR best practices on job performance, in the presence of significant mediation effects of affective commitment and work engagement.

The effects of organizational CSR could be underscored through a variety of HR initiatives that aim at promoting employees' identification with the organization and its CSR goals, thereby enhancing affective organizational commitment and work engagement. Levels of affective commitment and work engagement could be periodically assessed and enhanced through HR-led programs to facilitate and augment their mediatory effects on job performance.

This study fills a gap in the literature by shedding light on the impact of CSR practices on employees' affective commitment and work engagement within the framework of the social cognitive theory. It highlights the importance of employees' identification with their organization's CSR values and practices, leading to improved job performance, a dynamic that has not been studied in previous research. This study also serves as a point of reference to future studies that will be conducted after the Lebanese banking sector undergoes restructuring, following accusations of corruption and mismanagement.

Extra-role behaviours have drawn much attention lately due to their instrumental role in improving organizational performance. Numerous studies have tried to investigate the antecedents of extra-role behaviours, suggesting several organizational practices, such as organizational support and justice, which are perceived positively by employees, and are observed to increase their extra-role behaviours. The purpose of this study is to investigate these relationships deeper, using the social exchange theory (SET) as a theoretical framework.

The authors used the quantitative approach in this study, using a survey to collect data from 169 front-line respondents in banking and tourism. The data were analyzed using structural equation management with SmartPLS (3).

This study investigates these relationships deeper, using the social exchange theoretical framework to explain how extra-role behaviours are undertaken by employees as a means of pay-back to the organization, taking into account the potential mediating effects of employee attitudes (work engagement and affective commitment), thereby explaining the dynamics of this process, and suggesting a resulting expanded pay-forward reciprocation cycle involving the organization, the employees and the customer.

The main extension to theory is captured through the depiction of a “pay forward” as opposed to “pay back” behaviour, demonstrating employees’ willingness to reciprocate by shifting their orientation towards the organization’s customers. This suggests that SET is operationalized not only through the reciprocal behaviour of employees but also through employees’ orientation toward the organization’s customers.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a model for entrepreneurial universities (EPUs) that operate in developing countries, as most of the existing research has either focused on the western context or neglected context altogether. The model is intended to identify the EPU’s key success factors while taking into consideration its contextual constraints.

A 60-item survey instrument was designed and distributed across the top 10 QS-ranked universities in Lebanon, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with SmartPLS.

The results of data analysis confirmed the influence of resources and capabilities and knowledge transfer as the two most powerful “university-specific” success factors. Importantly, the relationship between the university-specific factors and innovation was mediated by the presence of a strong entrepreneurial culture, while an entrepreneurship environment was found to be conducive to entrepreneurship outcomes of the EPU.

This paper fills a gap in the literature by suggesting a model for the EPU in developing nations, taking into consideration the various constraints of those nations.

The succession process represents one of the most critical events in the family business lifecycle. The purpose of this paper is to explore this process while focussing first on the drivers behind the choice of successor and, second, on the impact of this choice on the entrepreneurial behavior of the siblings.

The qualitative approach was used in which multiple case analyses were performed. A total of 12 cases were purposively selected from the Lebanese private sector, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with the successors and the founders when available. The interview data were transcribed and a coding scheme was created to generate relevant categories. Those categories were named and later re-assessed by an external researcher to ensure inter-rater reliability.

The three dimensions of social capital were found to have a profound influence on the succession decision with much focus on familial stewardship as an emerging cognitive driving force. When “familial stewardship” is shared by incumbent and sibling, it strengthens the latter’s chances of being chosen as successor. Further, a succession pathways model was introduced that depicts the siblings’ behavior following the succession decision which seems to often trigger further entrepreneurship.

This study is distinct as it introduces a new cognitive construct that helps rationalize the successor-selection decision in a Middle Eastern context. It also goes beyond the succession event to depict potential entrepreneurial behavior triggered by succession.

This purpose of this paper is to investigate the status of Islamic banking in Lebanon, through addressing the perceptions of existing and potential clients. The study has two objectives: one is to identify and measure the factors that clients perceive as important in deciding to patronize an Islamic bank, and the other is to draw a client profile for Islamic banks operating in Lebanon.

The literature review provided the theoretical framework this study builds on. A survey instrument was developed and the data were analyzed using SPSS (19.0). To draw the client profile, the researcher conducted cluster analysis followed by discriminant analysis. To identify and measure the Islamic bank selection criteria, the researcher used factor analysis followed by regression analysis.

Findings show that clients consider five variables in deciding whether or not to patronize Islamic banks. These variables are trust in Islamic banks and their true compliance with Sharia, customers’ familiarity with Islamic modes of finance, cost of financing and other transactions, accessibility of Islamic banks, and the quality of service offered by those banks. The study was also able to delineate the significant attributes of IB clients, raising the issue of changing the target market segment.

This study employed a usable sample size of 199 questionnaires collected from one MENA region nation, Lebanon. It may be useful to probe the research questions of this study using a larger sample size collected from several MENA region nations, in order to reach a more validated conclusion. In addition, it may be equally useful to assess other demographic and psychographic variables as distinguishing factors among client clusters, for the purpose of reaching a deeper understanding of Islamic bank clientele in this region.

It is suggested that Islamic banks consider the five factors identified in this study, while preparing their marketing strategy, for the purpose of increasing their market share in the non-GCC MENA region. It is also suggested that Islamic banks approach the so far neglected market segments, rather than sticking to their traditional clients.

This paper is the first to investigate the status of Islamic banks in Lebanon. The findings of this study will help refocus the marketing strategies of Islamic banks in Lebanon. They may also apply to other developing non-GCC countries in the MENA region.

This paper aims to reveal whether there is a difference in perception of banking clients toward participation banks (PBs) and conventional banks (CBs) operated by the same bank.

The data were gathered with an online questionnaire from 254 participants. Questionnaire consisted of the Chaouch (2017) bank perception scale and the Koenig and Büssing (2010) religiosity scale. The data of the study were analyzed using the paired samples t-test and regression analysis.

The findings exhibit that Turkish bank clients, as a secular society, differently perceive financial activities of PBs and CBs that operate under the same roof in terms of compliance with Islamic laws. The findings also reveal that perceptions of the Turkish bank clients toward PBs' activities to compliance with the Islamic rules differs by the religiosity level. On the other hand, findings show that there is no difference in the perceptions of the CB's activities regarding compliance with Islamic rules by the clients’ religiosity level.

This study uses quantitative data. These type of data both can miss sometimes certain knowledge and restricts of participants thoughts on the study phenomena.

Based on the results of the study’s findings, beneficial suggestions are made for researchers and banking sector managers.

While many studies have been on Islamic banking, this study extends the role theory to compare perceptions of bank clients between PBs and CBs and provides an empirical evidence for bank clients' perceptions to dual banking in a developing and a secular country like Turkey.