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The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of human resource (HR) management practices on achieving competitive advantage through studying the mediating role of employee satisfaction in the context of five-star hotels in Northern Cyprus.

To produce numeric data as well as to test the hypothesis, the researchers employed structural equation modeling and AMOS. The testing included (n=439) questionnaires. The model suggested by the authors examined the tourism sector, and in particular, five-star hotels located in Northern Cyprus.

The main research findings revealed that HR practices had a significant effect on competitive advantage. By comparison, the research findings revealed that the mediator variable had no effect on achieving competitive advantage for five-star hotels in Northern Cyprus.

This study demonstrates originality by responding to the recommendations of prior studies conducted on HR in Northern Cyprus Island. This makes a theoretical contribution to the field, since only Turkey recognizes Northern Cyprus, which makes conducting research on this country a challenge for researchers worldwide. Based on this study’s outcomes, this paper discusses its theoretical and practical implications, as well as recommendations for future research.

This paper aims to review the critical challenges and factors influencing the successful adoption of electronic learning (e-learning) systems in higher educational institutions before and during the current propagation of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

This study undertook a literature review concerning the in-depth revision of previous studies published in 2020 and 2021. A total of 100 out of 170 selected research papers were adopted to identify and recognise the factors restricting the application of e-learning systems.

The findings determine and illuminate the most challenging factors that impact the successful application of online learning, particularly during the wide propagation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The review of the literature provides evidence that technological, organisational and behavioural issues constitute significant drivers that frontier the facilitation of the e-learning process in higher educational institutions.

The current paper suggests a guide for managers and scholars in educational institutions and acts as a roadmap for practitioners and academics in the educational field and policymakers as this research spotlights the significant factors challenging the e-learning process before and during the pandemic crisis.

The provided in-depth literature review in this research will support the researchers and system designers with a comprehensive review and recent studies conducted before and during the COVID-19 pandemic considering the factors limiting the e-learning process. This paper formulates a valuable contribution to the body of knowledge that will assist the stakeholders in the higher educational institutions' context.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-02-2022-0085.

The purpose of the paper is to showcase the significant achievements of Egypt's scientists in the 20th century across various fields of study such as medicine, physics, chemistry, biology, math, geology, astronomy and engineering. The paper highlights the struggles and successes of these scientists, as well as the cultural, social and political factors that influenced their lives and work. The aim is to inspire young people to pursue careers in science and make their own contributions to society by presenting these scientists as role models for hard work and dedication. Ultimately, the paper seeks to promote the importance of science and its impact on society.

The purpose of this review is to present the scientific biographies of Egypt's most distinguished scientists, primarily in the field of Natural Sciences, in a balanced and comprehensive manner. The work is objective, honest and abstract, avoiding any bias or exaggeration. The author provides a clear and concise methodology, including a brief introduction to the scientist and their field of study, an explanation of their major contributions, the impact of their work on society, any challenges or obstacles faced during their career and their lasting legacy. The aim is to showcase the important achievements of these scientists, their impact on their respective fields and to inspire future generations to pursue scientific careers.

The group of outstanding scientists in 20th century Egypt were shaped by various factors, including familial upbringing, education, society, political and cultural atmosphere and state support for scientific research. These scientists made significant contributions to various academic disciplines, including medicine, physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and engineering. Their impact on their communities and cultures has received international acclaim, making them role models for future generations of scientists and researchers. The history of these scientists highlights the importance of educational investments and supporting scientific research to foster innovation and social progress. The encyclopedia serves as a useful tool for students, instructors and education professionals, preserving Egypt's scientific heritage and honouring the scientists' outstanding accomplishments.

The encyclopedia preserves Egypt's scientific heritage, which has been overlooked for political or other reasons. It is a useful tool for a variety of readers, including students, instructors and education professionals, and it offers insights into universally relevant scientific success factors as well as scientific research methodologies. The encyclopedia honours the outstanding scientific accomplishments of Egyptian researchers and their contributions to the world's scientific community.

The practical implications of this paper are several. First, it highlights the importance of education, family upbringing and societal support for scientific research in fostering innovation and social progress. Second, it underscores the need for continued funding and support for scientific research to maintain and build upon the accomplishments of past generations of scientists. Third, it encourages young people to pursue scientific careers and make their own contributions to society. Fourth, it preserves the scientific heritage of Egypt and honors the contributions of its outstanding scientists. Finally, it serves as a useful tool for students, instructors and education professionals seeking to understand the factors underlying scientific success and research methodologies.

The social implications of the paper include promoting national pride and cultural identity, raising awareness of the importance of education and scientific research in driving social progress, inspiring future generations of scientists and researchers, reducing socioeconomic disparities and emphasizing the role of society, politics and culture in shaping scientific researchers' personalities and interests.

The paper's originality/value lies in its comprehensive documentation of the scientific biographies of Egypt's most prominent scientists in the 20th century, providing unique insights into the factors that contributed to their development and their impact across various academic disciplines. It preserves Egypt's scientific heritage and inspires future generations of scientists and researchers through the promotion of educational investments and scientific research. The encyclopedia serves as a useful tool for education professionals seeking to understand scientific success factors and research methodologies, emphasizing the importance of supportive and inclusive environments for scientific development.

This study aims to investigate whether quality of governance (QoG), trustworthiness and confidence impacted bank credit growth in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). In addition, it examined whether credit growth differed between Islamic and conventional banks in GCC countries.

Using data from 104 (56 conventional banks and 48 Islamic banks) banks located in GCC countries from 2012 to 2019, the two-step system generalized method of moments estimator was used to analyse the data.

Evidence was found of the influence of trust in institutions in boosting credit growth. The QoG generally expanded credit growth which instilled confidence in the economy and the banking sector. Credit growth was more pronounced for Islamic banks. This paper has contributed to the literature evaluating the determinants of credit growth in GCC.

This paper has been one of the few studies exploring the effect of trustworthiness and confidence (informal institutions) and macro governance (formal institutions) in GCC. GCC is different from other regions, as it is oil-dependent and shares similar legal, social and cultural aspects. This suggested that these might yield different results than expected.

The global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected businesses worldwide. Arguably, one of the most affected industries is the hospitality sector, where the world has seen a substantial drop in personal and professional travel owing to severe lockdowns, which has particularly harmed the hotel and tourism industries by lowering occupancy and profits. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the emotional and mental well-being of hospitality workers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

A quantitative cross-sectional technique was used, with 517 respondents drawn from Dubai's major hotels.

Fear of the COVID-19 pandemic was found to be positively connected to employees' emotional weariness, which is then positively related to their intention to leave their organizations.

The paper gives suggestions to managers on how to best deal with their employees, especially the more competent ones, as they are more likely to leave during a pandemic.

Contrary to suggestions in the literature and our predictions, this paper found that self-efficacy positively moderated the relationship between fear of COVID and emotional exhaustion such that workers with high self-efficacy were more prone to emotional exhaustion as a result of their fear of COVID. Furthermore, the results of the research suggest that it is the more competent workers who are more likely to be affected, during a pandemic, and thus their loss is expected to cause greater loss to their organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to draw a map of the general features of epistemological and critical concerns in contemporary Islamic philosophy. This study will not be confined to the domain of academic philosophy or to those who are professionals in the field of philosophy.

The paper adopted the critical rational approach in dealing with contemporary Islamic philosophy in the Arab world. The scope will include scholars from different fields of epistemology who tried to present a “vision” of the attitude that should be adopted in facing the challenges of the age and the problems of the nation on the epistemological level or the political, economic and social levels.

There is a need for a philosophy of action and progress rather than a philosophy that is based on abstract ideas and theories and of words/rhetoric. The ethics required to accomplish this ought to identify the attributes of the citizen who can reach self-actualization through legitimate means based on a progress agenda with theoretical and philosophical foundations.

Because a critical rational approach can be dealt with from different perspectives, this paper will adopt the classification of the principal intellectual trends: the reformist, secular and liberal.

This paper covers a long time span to determine whether the philosophical projects have been effective.

This paper, which criticizes the philosophic projects that are theoretically unsound and that do not address real social problems (like poverty), argues the need for a philosophy of progress and action. This will lead to devising an agenda that addresses the challenges the society is facing and to finding alternative and creative solutions resulting in development.

This study aims to identify the most significant barriers and the stationary barrier to modular construction (MC) implementation and promote MC widespread use. By doing so, the construction industry can leverage the benefits of MC, such as faster construction times, improved quality control, reduced waste and increased sustainability.

This study uses a Gini’s mean analysis approach to identify the stationary barriers hindering the MC adoption in residential projects. The research focuses on the Egyptian context and uses a questionnaire survey to gather data from professionals in the construction industry.

According to the survey findings, the top five significant MC barriers are inability to modify the design; contractors asking for high bidding prices (higher initial cost); scepticism, conservation and resistance of clients to innovation and change; transportation restrictions; and lack of a one-size-fits-all tool for the design. In addition, Gini’s mean of dispersion demonstrated that the stationary barrier that faces MC adoption is the apprehension that architectural creativity will suffer because of MC.

The identified obstacles could be useful for decision makers in countries that have not yet adopted MC and may aid in the planning process to manage the risks associated with MC projects. The paper stresses the significance of devising techniques to overcome these barriers and proposes several methods to tackle these challenges.

This study fills the knowledge gap by identifying the stationary barrier and emphasising the potential risks associated with MC barriers. Furthermore, it suggests several strategies for overcoming and reducing these barriers in developing countries residential projects.

Several countries have been using internet of things (IoT) devices in the healthcare sector to combat COVID-19. Therefore, this study aims to examine the doctors’ intentions to use IoT healthcare devices in Iraq during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study proposed a model based on the integration of the innovation diffusion theory (IDT). This included compatibility, trialability and image and a set of exogenous factors such as computer self-efficacy, privacy and cost into the technology acceptance model comprising perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude and behavioral intention to use.

The findings revealed that compatibility and image of the IDT factors, have a significant impact on the perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and behavioral intention, but trialability has a significant impact on perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and insignificant impact on behavioral intention. Additionally, external factors such as privacy and cost significantly impacted doctors’ behavioral intention to use. Moreover, doctors’ computer self-efficacy significantly influenced the perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and behavioral intention to use. Furthermore, perceived ease of use has a significant impact on perceived usefulness and attitude, perceived usefulness has a significant impact on attitude, which, in turn, significantly impacting doctors' behavior toward an intention to use.

The limitations of the present study are the retractions of the number of participants and the lack of qualitative methods.

The finding of this study could benefit researchers, doctors and policymakers in the adaption of IoT technologies in the health sectors, especially in developing counties.

To shed light on the political economy aspect of post‐conflict reconstruction in Iraq and illustrate how bad governance and economic mismanagement has devastated a country once endowed with abundant natural and human resources.

The wealth of heritage, culture, and economy that Iraq enjoyed is highlighted. The paper presents a brief overview of economic mismanagement, corruption, and political blunders of Saddam Hussein's regime, which led to sapping the country of its wealth and degraded its human resources. In view of that, the political impediments to the reconstruction process are outlined. Hence, the significance of democratic and participatory approaches to sustainable development.

The paper reveals that the years of oppressive, myopic, and self‐serving policies of Saddam Hussein's regime have incapacitated Iraq and its people. Income per capita in 2003 was less than 15 percent of its value in 1980 and Iraq's debt amounted to about 600 percent of national output. The paper also indicates that international, regional, and local politics has been the primary hindrance to Iraq's reconstruction and development.

If history is any guide, the peoples of all non‐democratic and corrupt regimes throughout the world ought to heed the lessons imparted by the Saddam's model of governance, that is, sustainable economic development and improving the standards of living can best be attained through democratic and participatory governance.

Following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, the international community took vigorous, unprecedented steps to curb Saddam Hussein's military ambitions. The central component of these actions was a set of comprehensive arms, aviation, maritime, and economic sanctions, each imposed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). When the multinational coalition forces ousted Iraq from Kuwait the following year, the UNSC made these sanctions and embargoes a component of the armistice agreement. Over time, these sanctions were subsequently used as leverage to press for Iraqi compliance with relevant UNSC resolutions calling for Iraqi disarmament.¹