Saad G. Yaseen, Ihab Ali El Qirem and Dima Dajani
The research identifies the predictors of Islamic mobile banking (IMB) smart services adoption and usage in Jordan.
Abstract
Purpose
The research identifies the predictors of Islamic mobile banking (IMB) smart services adoption and usage in Jordan.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the Unified Theory of the Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and the Unified Theory of the Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2), an extended and modified model that encompasses perceived trust was developed. The sample comprised 358 customers from Islamic banks (IBs) in Jordan, and structural equation modelling was applied to examine data drawn from the sample.
Findings
The research framework presented 0.728% of the behavioural intention variance and 0.455% of the use behaviour. Results discovered that performance expectancy, perceived trust and hedonic motivation have significant relations with behavioural intention. The finding that effort expectancy has an insignificant effect and that social influence has a significant negative influence on behavioural intention was unexpected.
Research limitations/implications
The research has successfully verified the effect of performance expectancy, perceived trust and hedonic motivation on the customer's intention to use IMB smart services. However, the research data findings are based on the cross-sectional design.
Practical implications
The outcomes hold implications for marketing strategy makers who are responsible for promoting IMB smart services in IBs.
Originality/value
This research presents a deeper insight into IMB adoption and use. The research employed UTAUT and UTAUT2 as the baseline model and incorporates perceived trust to estimate behavioural intention. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this could be the first inquiry that examines IMB smart services adoption and use in Jordan.
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Dima Dajani, Saad Yaseen and Dina Abu Baker
The present research builds upon the social identity theory and Balaji et al.’s (2016) research model to investigate student–university identification. The purpose of this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
The present research builds upon the social identity theory and Balaji et al.’s (2016) research model to investigate student–university identification. The purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents of university identification, namely, university brand knowledge, university brand personality and university identity. Furthermore, consequences of university identification, such as advocacy intentions, suggestion for improvements, university affiliation and strength of attachment, are examined.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research design was used, collecting data from students in private and government universities in Jordan. Structural equation modeling using SmartPLS 2.0 is employed to test the proposed research hypotheses.
Findings
The results revealed that all the antecedents and consequences suggested in the research model have positive significant relationships with university identification in the Jordanian higher education sector.
Originality/value
University identification has been less precisely conceptualized and empirically tested in the higher education context in developing countries. The results improve our understanding of the antecedents and consequences of university identification for students in higher education. In addition, the constructs of university identification and strength of attachment are incorporated in the research conceptual model and have not been tested before.
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This paper aims to propose a multi-level integrative research framework anchored in an institutional theory that can successfully capture the multitude of factors affecting the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose a multi-level integrative research framework anchored in an institutional theory that can successfully capture the multitude of factors affecting the expression of female entrepreneurship in context. Although female entrepreneurship is known to contribute to economic growth and vitality, and to enhance the diversity of employment in any economic system, there is very little research pertaining to female entrepreneurship in the Middle East. The authors use this framework to provide insights into multi-level factors enabling and constraining the experience of female entrepreneurship in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and advance knowledge of female entrepreneurship in a particular Middle Eastern context as well as cross-nationally.
Design/methodology/approach
Analytical framework and qualitative research methodology consisting of focus group meetings and interviews with 15 female entrepreneurs and five male partners in the UAE.
Findings
Our findings aptly highlight the salience of a complex set of entangled factors lying at multiple levels of analysis in shaping female entrepreneurship in the UAE. Our findings also accentuate the importance of the institutional and social contexts in shaping the situational opportunities and constraints that affect female entrepreneurship and its complex expressions in a particular society. Although our findings document a positive tide of change in favor of female entrepreneurship, they also reveal the persistence of various traces of stereotypes and patriarchy that continue to constrain the free expressions of female entrepreneurship in the UAE.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes empirically by conveying the lived experiences of a sample of women entrepreneurs in the UAE, but the results cannot be generalized given the limited size of the sample investigated. Conceptually, the analytical framework proposed in this paper represents a simplified heuristic tool rather than an explanatory model of the complex dynamics and interplays between different levels of analysis and institutional pressures when examining female entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
The value added of this research is to present original insights into female entrepreneurship from a vibrant Middle Eastern context, namely, the UAE, a country that has attracted and witnessed increasing attention in recent years in the context of globalization. In view of the Western-centric nature of academic publication on the topic, there is a real need for fresh theoretical and empirical insights stemming from an Arab-Middle Eastern context to advance knowledge and scholarship in this area.
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Nikolaos Apostolopoulos, Konstantinos Chalvatzis and Panagiotis Liargovas
Recent developments that have focused on the institutions, support mechanisms and entrepreneurship in the European Union (EU) are mostly fragmented either focusing on statistical…
Abstract
Recent developments that have focused on the institutions, support mechanisms and entrepreneurship in the European Union (EU) are mostly fragmented either focusing on statistical presentation of the current situation or analysis of the impact of the regulations on business creation. In addition, recent studies do not capture thoroughly the differentiating factors of the local, regional, national and supranational governance. Moreover, the recent trends tackling social and environmental challenges through entrepreneurship have not been explored and researched in an extensive way. Indeed, in the last decades a variety of tools, regulations, and funding and support schemes have been developed in the EU to promote and enhance entrepreneurial activities. Within this context, this collective volume aims to provide the go-to source of current thinking in this area as its scope will extend to all major, relevant and interrelated aspects of institutions, support mechanisms and entrepreneurship in the EU.
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Dima Jamali, Hanin Abdallah and Soha Hmaidan
The purpose of this paper is to examine the understanding and practice of diversity management in a Middle Eastern context, based on interviews with two sets of stakeholders…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the understanding and practice of diversity management in a Middle Eastern context, based on interviews with two sets of stakeholders (Lebanese women managers and HR managers) directly concerned and involved with diversity management efforts in the Lebanese context.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts an integrative multi‐level research design and an interpretive research methodology, capitalizing on in‐depth interviews with eight HR managers and 18 women managers to explore their perceptions and interpretations of diversity management in the Lebanese context.
Findings
The findings presented in this paper clearly illustrate the relevance of micro, meso, and macro level factors in diversity management research and the need to accord attention to cultural differences and peculiarities of national contexts.
Originality/value
The paper offers a critical perspective on diversity management in an unusual context. It makes unequivocally clear that the goals for alleviating specific sources of discrimination need to be locally articulated/defined. Furthermore, the paper questions the laissez faire management approach to diversity and warns against a tendency to ignore serious gender related issues at work as more women enter the workforce in the Middle East.