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The purpose of this study is to propose a conceptual model investigating the impacts of three social factors (i.e. interpersonal influence, external influence and instructor influence) on students’ intention to use e-learning in two different countries: Egypt as an example of a developing country and the UK as an example of a developed country.

The subjects of this study were hospitality and tourism students enrolled in “technology-enhanced” courses that were augmented using an online course management tool within face-to-face settings. A total of 700 e-mails were sent to invite students to participate in the survey. Accordingly, 468 usable responses were obtained, representing a response rate of 66.9 per cent. The structural equation modeling approach was used to estimate the conceptual model.

The research results show that interpersonal influence, external influence and instructor quality had significant effects on the Egyptian students’ behavioral intention to use e-learning platforms through the mediating variables of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. However, instructor quality was the only predictor which had significant impact on the UK students’ behavioral intention.

There are three limitations in this study related to the selected sample, the investigated factors and the used research method.

The findings of the current study offer practical implications for scholars and practitioners in both countries to place a high priority on enhancing e-learning environments.

The current study contributes to the limited literature about the rule of social factors in technology adoption and use, especially in the context of developing countries such as Egypt.

This study seeks to offer a contextual, multilevel perspective on the impact of patriarchal culture and Islamic faith on issues facing women holding leadership positions in a Middle Eastern context.

Data were collected through 25 in-depth qualitative interviews along with open-ended questions in a paper-based survey. In view of the authors' research objectives, the authors purposively recruited participants who were identified as Muslim scholars (academics) and clerics (practitioners).

While the study challenges the prevailing stereotype that Islam holds women leaders back by referring to Islamic teachings that support gender equality, it also highlights the adverse impact of gender discriminatory misinterpretations of Islam for women leaders. The study identifies three interconnected, multilevel factors that lead to misinterpretations of Islamic teachings, i.e. (1) cultural factors (macro level – i.e. patriarchal and tribal culture), (2) organizational factors (meso level – i.e. organizational policies) and (3) individual factors (micro level – i.e. interpretations and practices of religion).

This study contributes to the existing theory development of religion and women in leadership by presenting a novel model highlighting the interplay between religion, patriarchy and women in leadership.

The study recommends the application of a gender egalitarian system that enables full utilization of women's skills and capabilities by (1) reducing the discriminatory function of tribal culture and (2) identifying steps to reform inegalitarian gender practices in the Arab region.

The research is unique as it is the first time that a study has incorporated Muslim academic scholars' and clerics' views into gender and organization research. The study is thus contextually relevant and offers fresh multilevel insights on the interplay among religion, culture and gender.

Enhancing green innovation for corporate sustainability is one of the recent issues globally. Knowledge management has been determined as a core factor that hamstrings green innovation. The existing literature was limited to expose the importance of the knowledge management process for corporate sustainable performance. Thus, this paper aims to examine the role of the knowledge management process for corporate sustainable performance with the integration of green innovation and organizational agility following the resource-based view theory.

Cross-sectional design was used in this study. Data were gathered through convenience sampling from 475 respondents of multinational manufacturing corporations of Pakistan, analyzed by using structural equation modeling.

This study revealed that the knowledge management process and its all constructs (acquisition, dissemination and application) lead toward green innovation; further, green innovation influences corporate sustainable performance and its all constructs (environment, economic and social). Green innovation partially mediates the association between the knowledge management process and corporate sustainable performance. Besides, organizational agility has a positive effect on green innovation and corporate sustainable performance but was not found moderating these relations. The study educates that organizations investing in innovative technologies and adopting greener strategies are not only adequate for achieving sustainable performance, soft issues such as knowledge management and organizational agility but also important factors in the current knowledge base economy.

This study is an attempt to examine the previously undiscovered multi-dimensional relationships among the knowledge management process, green innovation, organizational agility and corporate sustainable performance. The presence of a positive correlation among these constructs was observed, proving the conceptual framework for this study.

This paper aims to address socio-spatial challenges facing the sustainable regeneration of the 19th-century historic covered Attaba market. One of the few remaining historic market buildings in Cairo. Understanding these challenges is crucial as there is a pressing need for these buildings to be included in the national heritage regeneration policies that would foster their role as sustainable socio-economic urban nuclei within the city center.

The paper detects the socio-spatial transformation of the Attaba market through the comparison of archival material. This is supported by observations on the current socio-spatial aspects of the market including forms of interactions, conflicts and interventions of various user groups. A number of 30 semi-structured interviews with traders of the Attaba market were conducted inside the market, along with in-depth observations carried out between 2016 and 2018. Finally, information about local policies toward the market is obtained through interviews with local officials currently managing the market, namely, the Egyptian Endowment Authority and Cairo Governorate.

The findings reveal a lack of clear regeneration policy and a complete absence of public participation in decision-making. These factors erode the crucial role these markets play in revitalizing the city’s socio-economic strength and threaten their tangible and intangible values.

The paper focuses on one of the understudied building types that, however, represent key opportunities for the sustainable development of their contexts. The paper proposes a framework that can be applied to regenerate the Attaba market and its surroundings. When tested, the framework can be also adjusted and applied to the other historic covered markets in Cairo.

This paper examined the relationships between national culture and strategic behavior in the banking industry in Jordan and U.S. The study first developed a strategic posture and secondly a cultural profile for the top management of the research domain. The strategic posture suggested the readiness for strategic response from managers. The degree of readiness was correlated with the constructed cultural profile of the managers and financial performance of the banks. The study found significant relationships between certain national cultural strategic characteristics, (risk propensity, time orientation, and openness to change, uncertainty avoidance and managerial perception of control over the environment) strategic behavior and financial performance.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of knowledge management dimensions (i.e. knowledge acquisition, knowledge dissemination and knowledge responsiveness) on green innovation. The study also seeks to determine whether these relationships are mediated by the environmental awareness in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the UAE.

Data were obtained from a sample of 194 SMEs (two informants from each firm that consist of 388 top managers) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. In this cross-sectional study, convenience random sampling was used. The positivism approach was adopted using a hypothetical statistical induction method. Validated measurement scales were used to measure the study constructs adopted from previous studies. Data were analysed using a quantitative approach with Smart partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) 3.0.

The results of the study indicated a positive and significant association between knowledge acquisition, knowledge dissemination and knowledge responsiveness with green innovation. Moreover, the data analysis confirmed that environmental awareness mediates the relationship between knowledge dissemination and green innovation. However, no mediation role of environmental awareness in the relationship between knowledge acquisition and knowledge responsiveness with green innovation was found.

Knowing how to manage knowledge effectively is considered to be one of the most important aspects of green innovations. Nonetheless, there was a dearth of literature highlighting the relevance of knowledge management for long-term organisational success. The results of this study present practical implications for SME professionals. Green innovation with the support of environmental awareness may help a firm understand and implement the importance of knowledge management into their administrative operations. They can subsequently become eco-innovative ecologically, economically and socially.

This is one of the very few studies that examine the effect of knowledge management dimensions (knowledge acquisition, knowledge dissemination and knowledge responsiveness) on green innovation in UAE SMEs.

Management writings in the Middle East region are scarce and scattered. This is due to the lack of doctorate programmes offered by educational institutions, the weak links between academia and the business world, limited formal and informal networks, the lack of status given to the field of management by national bodies and the lack of a publication culture. A bibliography of management‐related writings in the Middle East is presented, which includes other functional areas such as marketing, finance and accounting. It aims to draw the students' attention to a variety of sources. In compiling the bibliography a review of the literature in Arabic, English and Turkish was undertaken, followed by a survey of the top officials of academic institutions offering management/commerce, business administration degree programmes in the region.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a prescriptive portfolio selection (PPS) model based on a compromise between the idea of “fast” and “slow” thinking proposed by Kahneman.

“Fast” thinking is effortless and comfortable for investors, while “slow” thinking may result in better performance. These two systems are related to the first two types of analysis in the decision theory: descriptive, normative and prescriptive analysis. However, to compromise between “fast” and “slow” thinking, “overconfidence” is used as a weighting parameter. A case study including a sample of 161 active investors in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) is provided. Moreover, the feasibility and optimality of the model are discussed.

Results show that the PPS recommendations are efficient with a shift from the mean-variance efficient frontier; investors prefer PPS portfolios over the advisor recommendations; and investors have no significant preference between PPS and their own expectations.

Two assumptions of this study include: first, investors follow their “fast” system of thinking by themselves. Second, the investors’ “slow” system of thinking is represented by advisor recommendations which are simple expected value of risk and return. Therefore, considering these two assumptions for any application is the main limitation of this study. Moreover, the authors did not have access to more investors in TSE or other financial markets.

This is the first study that includes overconfidence in modeling portfolio selection for the purpose of achieving a portfolio that has a reasonable performance and one that investors are comfortable with.