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This study focuses on knowledge management in relation to its organizational context. It argues that knowledge management is not just computer and information systems; it embodies organizational processes that seek to augment the creative, innovative capacity of human beings. Specifically, the study regards the compatibility between the organizational structure and corporate culture essential for activating a knowledge base culture in modern organizations. The study sets a proposed framework on how to transform Arab bureaucracies into knowledge creating cultures by means of designing the right structure in which information sharing, learning, and knowledge formation should be parts of the organizational norm.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of work values on leadership styles and to introduce new findings when Hofstede's work value orientations are applied to other different cultural domains (i.e. Jordan).

A survey of 235 Jordanian managers was undertaken using two instruments of measurement: the “Cultural Attitude Inventory” and the “T‐P Leadership Questionnaire: An Assessment of Style.”

Results confirmed the anticipated relation between “task” leadership style and Jordanian managers' values of power distance and uncertainty avoidance, but they did not confirm the anticipated relation between “people” leadership style and collectivist values of Jordanian managers.

The results have important implications for the management of international and transnational organizations who may need to consider whether promoting a consistent world‐wide leadership style would be more or less beneficial than adopting a style that matches the needs of different cultures. Main recommendations of the research were that theories of culture should be re‐evaluated and updated periodically and that increased awareness into the various characteristics of culture and leadership style may assist in understanding human resources behavior, identifying necessary organizational changes and developing a more efficient organization.

This chapter explores how state–business relations (SBR) in the Arab world influence public policy on industrial clusters and the resulting economic benefits from these clusters on innovation and productivity. The main SBR actors are identified as the state, big capitalists (or tycoons), and small and medium business managers and owners (entrepreneurs). The framework used here focuses on interactors' power relations. Such power relations are reflected in the ability/inability of the state to enforce its will with less consultation with and/or favorite treatment to nonstate actors. It is also reflected in the ability/inability of nonstate actors to act individually or organize in order to defend their interests and influence government policy formulation and implementation. Such power relations are reflected in the ability of nonstate actors to organize – especially entrepreneurs – and the level of favoritism provided by state officials to tycoons. The power dynamics in SBR lead to different SBR modes and different economic outcomes, one of which is the development of industrial clusters and how efficient they are in fostering innovation and productivity in Arab countries. This chapter suggests that the development of industrial clusters in the Arab world necessitates institutional reform, addressing the power relations governing SBR in the region. A more open political system allowing the independence and growth of broad-based business associations and curbing favoritism is necessary for realizing the benefits from implementing recommended policies, leading to cluster development and reaping the economic benefits from such development. Using statistical and regression analysis, empirical evidence supporting these arguments is provided.

The research reported in this paper aims to examine the newer leadership styles and their implication for implementing knowledge management in Jordanian organizations. The research seeks to investigate Jordanian managers' leadership styles and then compare them with managers in other organizations with different cultures, such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

A survey of 120 managers from Jordan and IATA was undertaken using an established measurement instrument.

Results revealed that meanwhile IATA managers preferred transformational rather than transactional leadership style, in Jordan, there was no clear preference for transactional or transformational style as both were being used. But when compared with IATA managers Jordanian managers showed more inclination towards transactional than transformational behaviors.

Like other comparative research this study shares the limitation of likely sampling bias. Moreover, it did not take into account the political realities of conducting social science research in countries with long authoritarian histories, such as Jordan, which present the likelihood of further response bias.

The paper investigates the leadership styles of Jordanian managers. This has important implications for local as well as international corporations.

Ageing is associated with multi-morbidity, polypharmacy and medication-related harm (MRH). There is limited published literature on MRH in older Egyptian adults. This study aims to determine the incidence and risk factors associated with MRH in an Egyptian cohort of older patients in the 8-weeks period after hospital discharge.

This study recruited 400 Egyptian patients, aged = ≥ 60 years from 3 hospitals in Cairo and followed them up 8 weeks after discharge using a semi-structured telephone interview to verify MRH events (type, probability, severity and preventability) and related factors.

The participants’ ages ranged from 60 to 95 years with 53% females. In the final cohort of 325 patients analyzed, MRH occurred in 99 patients (incidence of 30.5%), of which 26 MRH cases (26.2%) were probable, serious and preventable. MRH included adverse drug reactions (ADRs), non-adherence and medication errors. Multivariate regression analysis showed that non-adherence and inappropriate prescription had highly significant association with MRH (P < 0.001), history of previous ADR, living alone and presence of paid caregiver had significant association (P 0.008, 0.012, 0.02 respectively), while age, medications number, length of stay (LOS) and cognitive impairment were not significantly associated with MRH.

These findings demonstrate the magnitude of MRH in Egypt affecting almost a third of older adults after leaving the hospital. These original data could guide decision-makers to enhance older patients’ medication safety through education, quality improvement and policy.

MRH in Egyptian older adults post-hospital discharge has not been adequately reported in scientific literature.

The research investigates perceptions of teachers in the Arab education system in Israel concerning the effect of their principal’s leadership and gender on their motivation. Relying on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as an analytic tool to understand the Arab school, the purpose of this paper is to answer the following research questions: first, how do the teachers perceive the leadership style and gender of their principal and what influence do these perceptions have on their motivation? Second, what are the influences of the different dimensions of culture described by Hofstede on the teachers’ motivation?

To answer these questions, 18 teachers from different schools in the Arab education system (10 female and 8 male) were interviewed.

The research revealed three themes which describe the teachers’ perceptions of their principals’ leadership styles with consideration of the principals’ gender: the principals’ involvement and sharing of school operations and decision making with the teachers; the extent of autonomy given to teachers; and establishment of principal–teacher relationships.

The paper concludes with implications of these leadership styles for teachers’ motivation for work, and suggestions are given to improve Arab principals’ practices and thus to enhance teachers’ motivation.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how cronyism is employed by some married female faculty to secure workplace rights and privileges.

A qualitative research design is employed and interviews were conducted with 32 female academics working at four different universities.

The narrative demonstrates the gendered use of cronyism at work – pre-COVID-19, during which female academics had to work full-time and be present on school campuses, and after COVID-19 pandemic, when academic working conditions changed due to the lockdown of university campuses and the reliance on remote online protocols to fulfil academic duties. The paper shows an increased use of cronyism as a mechanism to reduce heavy workloads. This type of cronyism is known as the expectation of mutual favour cronyism, which means that benefits are exchanged between a female academic and the chair of her department and/or the school rector, but the interests of the university they work in are not taken into consideration.

Virtually, no research exists on the sociocultural determinants of nepotism that undermine the professional performance of female academics at work. The authors draw on social exchange theory and the norm of negative reciprocity to identify the conditions under which social capital is undermined. The results have important implications for theory, practice and future research.