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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the experiences of some Arab American entrepreneurs and their motivation to enter self‐employment, in spite of the obvious obstacles and adversity immigrants can face in pursuing their dreams in this new society. The self‐recounted life histories of this group of entrepreneurs add to the existing literature and contribute to the body of knowledge of immigrants and entrepreneurs.

Qualitative research, which concentrates on natural settings with their intriguing complexity of social interactions rather than laboratories was selected. Qualitative research covers several forms of inquiry that help one understand and explain the meaning of social phenomena with as little destruction to the natural setting as possible.

The questions regarding motivation for self‐employment were open ended, giving the participants the chance to list as many issues as deemed necessary and relevant in their decision to start their business. All of the participants were in total agreement that mentioned push factors are the reasons that they entered self‐employment. These factors included difficulties in finding a job, thus feeling at a disadvantage in the US job market. Difficulty in previous job also was mentioned as a push factor; the lack of English skills was not, however, mentioned as a motivator for self‐employment.

There were geographical and logistical constraints affecting the research and given time and resources the author would like to have conducted research that included a number of geographical areas in the Southwest USA and Northern Mexico.

This research will have practical implications on two areas: first, immigration and its historical context, especially Arab immigration to the new world, why are these immigrants left their countries in the first place, and the problem they faced in terms of their degree of assimilation and its effect on their success in their new homes. Second, entrepreneurs, why immigrants find it easier to get into the sphere of entrepreneurship rather than holding regular careers and trying to assimilate in their new societies.

This paper will contribute to the body of literature on Arab American entrepreneurs in particular and immigrant entrepreneurs in general, and is important to education and educators as well. The paper investigates the motivations for entry into the field of entrepreneurship and becoming an entrepreneur, offering data that could be useful for developing ideas and suggestions as well as an understanding of some of the important steps necessary for the success of new immigrant entrepreneurs.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to generate insight into the experiences of Syrian academics in exile in Turkey; and second, to explore approaches to collaboration and community building among academics in exile and with counterparts in the international academic community.

The study employs a hybrid visual-autobiographical narrative methodology, embedded within a large group process (LGP) design.

Findings are presented in two phases: the first phase presents a thematic analysis of narrative data, revealing the common and divergent experiences of 12 exiled academics. The second phase presents a reflective evaluation of undertaking the LGP and its implications for community building and sustaining Syrian academia in exile.

While this is a qualitative study with a small participant group, and therefore does not provide a basis for statistical generalisation, it offers rich insight into Syrian academics’ lived experiences of exile, and into strategies implemented to support the Syrian academic community in exile.

The study has practical implications for academic development in the contexts of conflict and exile; community building among dispersed academic communities; educational interventions by international NGOs and the international academic community; and group process design.

The study makes an original contribution to the limited literature on post-2011 Syrian higher education by giving voice to a community of exiled academics, and by critically evaluating a strategic initiative for supporting and sustaining Syrian academia. This represents significant, transferable insight for comparable contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology for assessing, in quantifiable terms, the reduction in environmental impacts achieved by applying different credits of sustainability rating systems in building construction projects.

Sustainability rating systems are developed in various regions to evaluate construction projects with respect to their environmental performance. Although implementation of rating systems had a recognized effect on reducing environmental impact of construction projects, there is no objective and quantifiable evidence that the approaches recommended by these rating systems to achieve the required certification lead to optimum environmental results. This paper presents a methodology that utilizes life cycle analysis (LCA) as a powerful and objective tool to validate the way rating systems evaluate project performance. The Qatar Sustainability Assessment System (QSAS), recently developed in the State of Qatar by Gulf Organization for Research and Development (GORD), is chosen as a case study to illustrate application of the developed methodology. Environmental impacts due to implementation of QSAS credits are calculated for one project in Qatar, which is currently under construction.

Results reveal possible use of LCA as a tool for evaluating the effectiveness of rating systems. For the QSAS case study, findings reveal indications of over and, in some instances, under estimation of the weights assigned to some credits and the difficulty in the quantification of the impacts of other credits, which indicates the need for reconsideration of these weights to improve effectiveness of the implementation of these credits.

The proposed methodology stands as a step toward the enhancement and rationalization of the currently used building sustainability ratings system.

This paper is motivated by the absence of rules that govern the practice of corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the corporate governance factors that impact the quality of CSRD. This study further examines the moderating role of family ownership and educational qualifications of female directors on the relation between board gender diversity and CSRD quality.

This study adopts a sample of 94 non-financial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange to collect data on CSRD based on a checklist of 41 items for seven years from 2010–2016. The quality of CSRD is measured using a four-dimensional method that encompasses relative quantity, disclosure intensity, degree of accuracy and management outlook.

This study finds that CSRD quality is far from satisfactory in Jordan. The results also suggest that board size, auditor type, company size and profitability are positively associated with CSRD quality. On the other hand, factors such as chief executive officer duality, board diversity, ownership concentration and financial leverage are negatively associated with CSRD quality. In addition, the results of the empirical analysis suggest that the negative relationship between the quality of CSRD and the presence of female board members is stronger for family-owned companies. By contrast, the negative relationship between the quality of CSRD and the presence of female board members is weakened when the company has more educated, skilled and qualified female directors.

The originality of this study is manifested in the development of a quantitative measurement of CSRD quality.

This study aims to investigate citizens' adoption intention towards meta-government (metaverse-based government) by proposing a dual-perspective technology acceptance model.

The validity of the proposed model was established by gathering and analysing 533 responses using structural equation modelling (SEM).

The study findings underscore the importance of perceptions of ease of use and usefulness in fostering the intention to adopt meta-government. However, perceived cyber risk and switching costs negatively impact these perceptions. On the contrary, herd behaviour and perceived immersion positively influence perceptions of ease of use and usefulness.

This study significantly contributes to the existing literature by offering valuable insights into the factors that influence citizens' adoption of meta-government. It introduces a novel perspective on the primary factors (both enablers and barriers) shaping citizens' adoption intention of meta-government. These insights serve as a foundation for scholars, governments and policymakers to develop effective strategies for promoting meta-government adoption.

The construction industry is a major economic driver in Malaysia, playing a pivotal role in the developing nations economic growth. Malaysia's reliance on labor-driven construction practices often sees local industry lagging in adopting technological advancements common to the construction sector on a global scale. This study investigates the challenges faced by project players in using new construction industrial revolution (IR) 4.0 technologies and the difficulties in implementing these technologies in construction projects.

A quantitative survey was distributed to 183 practitioners in the Malaysian construction industry. The collected data (N = 121) has been analyzed using statistical software to calculate relative importance index values for the identified factors. A triangulation approach to validate the factors obtained from the survey was conducted with an expert group to ensure there were no additional considerations identified in the study.

The study results show that the main factors in adopting construction IR 4.0 technologies are 1) high implementation costs, 2) hesitation to adopt technologies, 3) lack of standards, 4) legal and contractual uncertainty and 5) complexity. By investigating these factors, cost and regulation issues can gradually be resolved, with construction firms implementing new technologies, educating workers and ensuring government involvement in training for skill development to support IR 4.0.

The outcome of these efforts to resolve construction productivity would be beneficial in their industry impact on practice and digital transformation. Additionally, the results add to the body of knowledge for construction practitioners and technology developers to work together efficiently on the implementation of construction 4.0 technologies.

This paper aims to investigate whether and how better corporate governance practices can lead to philanthropic behavior among companies in the UK. In particular, this study attempts to determine whether corporate governance quality in general, as well as its specific mechanisms, affects corporate giving.

The analysis is based on a sample of Financial Times Stock Exchange All-Share nonfinancial companies. Data on firm donations, including donations amount and donations intensity, were manually collected from companies’ annual reports for the period 2018–2020. This paper uses panel data models to examine the research hypotheses.

The results of this study indicate that both donations amount and donations intensity are positively associated with the practice of better corporate governance. Board independence is positively associated with donations amount, but not with the intensity of donations. Furthermore, board size, board gender diversity and the establishment of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) committee are likely to have a positive impact on the amount and the intensity of firms’ donations. However, neither the chief executive officer board membership nor the audit committee’s independence is related to the firm’s donations.

This study sheds light on specific governance factors that affect firm donations in the context of UK companies. This allows regulators and legislators to evaluate the donations activities in the country and issue more directives to reinforce corporate governance practices that support corporate donations. In addition, the findings of this study are considered crucial to investors who prefer investing in companies with significant CSR-related activities to improve the value relevance of their investments.

This study provides a shred of unique evidence on the impact of corporate governance practices on firms’ donations.

This paper aims to examine the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on forward-looking corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure (FCSRD).

The authors use the manual content analysis to measure FCSRD for a sample of 94 companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2016. Data on companies' FCSRD are manually collected from annual reports. The authors also use regression analyses to test the research hypotheses.

The authors find that board size positively affects FCSRD, while CEO duality and family ownership negatively impact FCSRD.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first evidence of how governance mechanisms affect FCSR information in corporate annual reports in a developing country.