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1 – 10 of 47Abdul Hakim Hassan Mustafa Mohamed, Fadi Abdel Muniem Abdel Fattah, Mohamed Izzeldin AbdelRahman Bashir, Maia Alhajri, Akbar Khanan and Zaheer Abbas
In the COVID-19 pandemic, students were subjected to high pressure when they were forced to move to distance learning in a lockdown environment. Such a drastic move for…
Abstract
Purpose
In the COVID-19 pandemic, students were subjected to high pressure when they were forced to move to distance learning in a lockdown environment. Such a drastic move for communities living in groups with solid relationship ties comes at a price. This study aims to investigate the acceptance of distance learning amongst Omani higher education institutions (HEI) students during COVID-19 lockdown.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a quantitative research based on an online survey designed to study participants’ acceptance of distance learning during COVID-19 lockdown.
Findings
A sample of 757 Omani students was selected, of which 81.2% were female. About 60% of the students’ Age lies 15–20 years. The highest percentage (38.8%) of students belongs to the College of Arts and Humanities. A total of 80% of the students reported a moderate level of information technology skills, and also more than 80% of the students had never attended eLearning calls. Most of the students affirm the eLearning acceptance (students’ willingness to use eLearning tools for the tasks they are designed for), eLearning usefulness (using eLearning would enhance students’ performance), eLearning ease of use (the degree to which a student believes that using eLearning tools are free from effort), learning from home during COVID-19 and eLearning effectiveness (student’s satisfaction and the benefits student will gain from learning via online platforms). Multiple regression analysis confirms that more than 81% of the variation in the eLearning acceptance was explained by eLearning usefulness, eLearning ease of use, learning from home during COVID-19 and eLearning effectiveness independent variables. Moreover, these independent predictors have a positive association with eLearning acceptance.
Originality/value
This research intends to fill the gap in Omani HEI students’ acceptance of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Zaheer Abbas, Sabeeh Khaliq, Sana Usman and Muhammad Yousuf Rafiq
The coating process is broadly employed in the manufacturing of wallpapers, adhesive tapes, wrapping, protection of fabrics and metals, X-ray and photographic films…
Abstract
Purpose
The coating process is broadly employed in the manufacturing of wallpapers, adhesive tapes, wrapping, protection of fabrics and metals, X-ray and photographic films, beautification, books and magazines, film foils, magnetic records, coated paper, etc.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, an incompressible flow of non-Newtonian fluid is modeled to inspect the rheological behavior of finite coating thickness in the reverse roll coating process. With the assistance of lubrication approximation theory (LAT), the dimensionless form of governing expressions is simplified. Exact solutions for distributions for velocity, flow rate, temperature and pressure gradient attained utilizing perturbation technique and their variation is presented as well as discussed in graphs. Meanwhile, some important factors from an engineering perspective including coating thickness and transition point were calculated mathematically and are displayed in a tabular manner. Also, streamlines are drawn to observe the flow pattern.
Findings
Prandtl fluid parameters provide a controlling factor to regulate the flow rate, velocity, coating thickness, and pressure gradient leading to an efficient coating process. Moreover, the Brinkman number and Prandtl fluid parameters significantly improve the temperature distribution.
Originality/value
In the literature, this study fills a gap in the theoretical prediction of coating thickness rheologically influenced by Prandtl fluid in reverse roll coating process.
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Jafar Hasnain, Zaheer Abbas, Mariam Sheikh and Shaban Aly
This study aims to present an analysis on heat transfer attributes of fluid-particle interaction over a permeable elastic sheet. The fluid streaming on the sheet is Casson fluid…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to present an analysis on heat transfer attributes of fluid-particle interaction over a permeable elastic sheet. The fluid streaming on the sheet is Casson fluid (CF) with uniform distribution of dust particles.
Design/methodology/approach
The basic steady equations of the CF and dust phases are in the form of partial differential equations (PDEs) which are remodeled into ordinary ones with the aid of similarity transformations. In addition to analytical solution, numerical solution is obtained for the reduced coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) to validate the results.
Findings
The solution seems to be influenced by significant physical parameters such as CF parameter, magnetic parameter, suction parameter, fluid particle interaction parameter, Prandtl number, Eckert number and number density. The impact of these parameters on flow field and temperature for both fluid and dust phases is presented in the form of graphs and discussed in detail. The effect on skin friction coefficient and heat transfer rate is also presented in tabular form. It has been observed that an increase in the CF parameter curtails the fluid velocity as well as the particle velocity however enhances the heat transfer rate at the wall. Furthermore, comparison of the numerical and analytical solution is also made and found to be in excellent agreement.
Originality/value
Although the analysis of dusty fluid flow has been widely examined, however, the present study obtained both analytical and numerical results of power law temperature distribution in dusty Casson fluid under the influence of magnetic field which are new and original for such type of flow.
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Muhammad Mujtaba Asad, Razali Bin Hassan, Fahad Sherwani, Zaheer Abbas, Muhammad Saeed Shahbaz and Qadir Mehmood Soomro
Every year, hundreds of people have died and thousands have been injured because of insufficient management of well control at oil and gas drilling and production sites. Major…
Abstract
Purpose
Every year, hundreds of people have died and thousands have been injured because of insufficient management of well control at oil and gas drilling and production sites. Major causes which have been reported in previous studies included uncontrollable blowouts and failure of blowout preventers because of insufficient safety practices. These onshore and offshore blowout disasters not only harm the work force but also critically affect the environment and marine life. In this research paper, a detailed quantitative survey and qualitative risk assessments (RA) have been carried out for assessing the potentially hazardous activities associated with well control along with their appropriate controls and risk reduction factors and mitigating measures in Middle East and south East Asian countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The sequential explanatory research design has been adopted in this study. Whereas, descriptive statistical approach has been used for the quantitative data analysis of this study. While, in-depth interview approach has been used for qualitative data collection. Similarly, what-if analysis method has been adopted in this study for the identification of effective safety and health risk mitigating factors because it provides in-depth information from health and safety environment experts.
Findings
The cumulative quantitative results based on the response from Saudi Arabian drilling industry have indicated that the well control operation is highly hazardous then Malaysian and Pakistani oil and gas industries. Likewise, findings from what-if analysis approach demonstrate that the drilling crewmembers have repetitively faced life threatening hazards which occur (safety and chemical) during well control onshore and offshore operation because of oil base mud, confined space at site, pinch points and falling during working on blow out preventers. According to the overall result, respondents have highly recommended engineering and administrative hazard controlling factors as most suitable for the elimination of safety and chemical hazards during well control activities.
Practical implications
Besides, the developed methodological framework for the identification of suitable hazard controls can also be effectively used for potential hazards reorganization and identification of suitable hazard controls for other drilling and production industries and regions for accident prevention and safety and health management.
Originality/value
This is a first comparative research study which has been carried out in Malaysian, Saudi Arabian and Pakistani onshore and offshore oil and gas industries for well control health and safety management and reorganization of most effective hazards mitigating factors at drilling sites.
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Mahmoud Sodangi and Zaheer Abbas Kazmi
The paper is aimed at identifying, analysing and prioritizing the critical constraints affecting efficient management of historic buildings in remote areas of Saudi Arabia.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper is aimed at identifying, analysing and prioritizing the critical constraints affecting efficient management of historic buildings in remote areas of Saudi Arabia.
Design/methodology/approach
Thematic content analysis and expert-based evaluation approaches were used to identify and evaluate the constraints. The DEMATEL technique was deployed to define the interrelationship complexities between the constraints and evaluate the impact of these interrelationships to ascertain the influential constraints.
Findings
The results identify “lack of clearly defined roles for the multiple government agencies” as the most influential constraint for managing historic sites and buildings in remote areas of Saudi Arabia.
Research limitations/implications
The contextual interrelationship between the constraints is due to the experts' perceptions, which may be biased due to their proficiencies and professional backgrounds. Since the evidence on which the findings of this paper are established is predominantly from experiences related to historic sites and buildings in remote areas of Saudi Arabia, the results of this paper may not be entirely applicable elsewhere.
Practical implications
The paper provides invaluable methodology that can support practitioners and policymakers to establish sustainable strategies that can enhance the management and protection of historic buildings in remote areas of Saudi Arabia.
Originality/value
This study noticeably contributes to knowledge by providing comprehensive understanding of the major impediments to the successful management of historic buildings in remote areas of Saudi Arabia, which can assist in mitigating the potential impacts of these constraints and to advocate for the achievement of efficient management and protection of the historic sites and buildings.
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Muhammad Aftab, Zaheer Abbas and Farrukh Nawaz Kayani
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of exchange rate volatility at sectoral level on the exports trade of Pakistan. All the sectors involved in the export trade…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of exchange rate volatility at sectoral level on the exports trade of Pakistan. All the sectors involved in the export trade (proposed by the State Bank of Pakistan, by commodity), were used to study this relationship at a more minute level.
Design/methodology/approach
Quarterly data regarding research were collected over the period 2003 to 2010 from databases of State Bank of Pakistan and International Monetary Fund financial statistics. The bound testing approach proposed by Pesaran et al., was used to study the relationship between sectoral export and exchange rate volatility, while augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) and Phillips Perron tests were used to test the unit root of series and GARCH,proposed by Bollerslev, was used to study exchange rate volatility.
Findings
The results show that exports are negatively influenced by exchange rate volatility and relative prices while positively affected by foreign income. This relationship holds for all sectors where bound testing revealed the existence of long‐ run relationship, although some equations results were not statistically significant.
Practical implications
The paper's findings can be used to form such policies which result in a stabilized and competitive exchange rate, so that Pakistan's exports can be increased.
Originality/value
Previous studies have been conducted on aggregated data set for exports in the Pakistani context, which hinders pertinent information; however this information is possible by studying disaggregated data. The paper fills a research gap by taking sectoral level data, to divulge the behavior of individual sectors against exchange rate volatility.
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That computers are big business in the Arab banking world is not in doubt, the question is for how much longer, and in which countries, as different phases of development get into…
Abstract
That computers are big business in the Arab banking world is not in doubt, the question is for how much longer, and in which countries, as different phases of development get into gear in different places.
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This study aims to explore how Islamic venture capital (IVC) structure can be established by introducing modifications in traditional venture capital (VC) structure. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how Islamic venture capital (IVC) structure can be established by introducing modifications in traditional venture capital (VC) structure. The motivation stems from the criticism on the existing Islamic finance products, that are said to be Shariah-compliant in form but do not fulfil objectives of Shariah whereas IVC is portrayed by existing literature as an ideal risk sharing based product.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a questionnaire method to understand IVC philosophy, structure and operational approach and asked the respondents to identify how IVC differs in respect of these traits from conventional VC. The authors collected 50 questionnaires from IVC practitioners, regulators, academicians and Islamic finance (IF) consultants in three countries, namely, Malaysia, Pakistan and Turkey.
Findings
IVC can be incorporated by introducing some modifications in traditional VC structure. They need to appoint a full-time Shariah scholar, to ensure compliance to Shariah principles. IVCs should refrain from dealing in impermissible business activities. They can choose any prevailing method for valuation and investment mode, provided it follows principles of Shariah. IVCs are exposed to unique risks such as Shariah non-compliance risk and equity investment risk and they need additional measures to safeguard against these risks. They can adopt any exit strategy, provided funds are procured from halal sources. Finally, IVC is found to hold the potential to achieve the desired objectives of IF.
Originality/value
This study fills the gap in the existing literature related to IVC investments as no study, to the best of the author’s knowledge, has evaluated the dynamics of IVC by using responses from industry, academia and regulators.
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Keywords
Muhammad Ahad, Saqib Farid and Zaheer Anwer
In the presence of informal sector in the country, designing an energy policy and the pursuit of higher economic growth become challenging for emerging economies. These economies…
Abstract
Purpose
In the presence of informal sector in the country, designing an energy policy and the pursuit of higher economic growth become challenging for emerging economies. These economies are usually resource starved, and the presence of underground economy leads to faulty estimates of energy demand. The authors explore the energy–growth nexus in the presence of underground economy for Pakistan, an emerging economy host to large informal sector and facing recurring energy crises.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors evaluate the impact of underground economy on energy demand in the presence of explanatory variables, including official gross domestic product (GDP), foreign direct investment and financial development. The authors first assess the influence of official economy on the consumption of energy. The authors investigate how energy consumption is influenced solely by underground economy. Finally, the authors evaluate the impact of true GDP on the energy consumption. The authors employ combined cointegration method of Bayer and Hanck (2013) and then apply vector error correction model.
Findings
The results reveal that official GDP, underground economy and true GDP positively and significantly affect energy consumption in both short and long run. Similarly, financial development as well as foreign direct investment enhance energy consumption. The authors find unidirectional causality between energy consumption and official GDP variables (OGDP → EC), underground economy (UE → EC) and true GDP variables (TGDP → EC) in the long run. The authors observe bidirectional causality in the short run between energy consumption and official GDP (OGDP ↔ EC) and true GDP (TGDP ↔ EC).
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, no study examines the causal relationship of energy consumption and underground economy. Overall, the findings assist policymakers to consider and implement different energy-related policies considering the significant role of underground economy for energy consumption in Pakistan.
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Abdul Rashid, Saba Yousaf and Muhammad Khaleequzzaman
This paper aims to empirically assess the contribution of Islamic banks toward the financial stability of Pakistan. For this, the authors investigate the relative financial…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to empirically assess the contribution of Islamic banks toward the financial stability of Pakistan. For this, the authors investigate the relative financial strength of Islamic banks and their contribution toward the financial stability. They also examine the relationship between the competitive conduct of banks and banking system stability.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use quarterly data of ten conventional banks, four full-fledged Islamic banks and six standalone Islamic branches of conventional banks of Pakistan for the period 2006-2012. The z-score has been computed and used as the measure of stability of banks and the random effects estimator applied to quantify the impact of bank-specific variables and macroeconomic indicators on the financial stability. The empirical framework used in the paper enables the authors us to examine the differential effect of each underlying variable on the financial stability across Islamic and conventional banks. To check the robustness of the results, the authors have estimated several models with different specifications.
Findings
The regression results indicate that income diversity, profitability ratio, loan to asset ratio, asset size and the market concentration ratio of banks have significant effects on the stability of banks. Comparing Islamic and conventional banks, notable differential effects of the empirical determinants of financial stability for Islamic and conventional banks have been observed. The results suggest that Islamic banks have performed better as compared to conventional banks and contributed more effectively in the stability of financial sector. Overall, the results depict that the contribution of Islamic banks toward the financial stability has been reasonable and prospective.
Practical implications
The empirical results of the paper are very useful not only for banks’ managements but also for the investors, bank customers and policymakers. Specifically, the findings help in enhancing our understanding as to how the bank-specific variables and macroeconomic indicators are related to the financial stability of the banking system. The results also help understand the role of both Islamic and conventional banks in the financial stability. Further, the results suggest that the financial soundness can be enhanced by creating healthy competition in the banking industry. The results about macroeconomic indicators imply that protective measures are required to intensify (mitigate) the positive (negative) effect of gross domestic product (inflation) on banks’ financial stability.
Originality/value
This paper provides an overall comparative analysis of financial stability of both Islamic and conventional banks of Pakistan. First, the paper computes the z-score for each bank included in the sample, and then, it performs the regression analysis to study how bank-specific variables and macroeconomic factors are related to the financial stability of banks. Unlike the previous studies, our empirical framework enables the authors to examine the differential effect of each underlying variable on the financial stability across Islamic and conventional banks.
Details