Hussein N. Ismail, Silva Karkoulian and Sevag K. Kertechian
As one of the first studies in this field, the purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of personal values on job performance and job satisfaction across different jobs…
Abstract
Purpose
As one of the first studies in this field, the purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of personal values on job performance and job satisfaction across different jobs. Further, it aims to identify personal value types that are positively, or negatively, related to behavioural and attitudinal outcomes in different job categories.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a sample of 270 participants across several job categories including finance, accounting, marketing, sales, HR (human resources), operations and information technology (IT), this research explores the relationship between personal values, job performance and job satisfaction across the listed job categories. Ordinary least square (OLS) stepwise-regression and partial least square (PLS) regression were used in analysing the results.
Findings
Findings showed that for some of the jobs examined, different types of personal values were associated with different worker outcomes.
Originality/value
This research study identifies sets of personal values that are suited to some jobs more than others in terms of job performance and job satisfaction outcomes. Moreover, this research demonstrates the importance of controlling for job categories in future research models that investigate the links between values, performance and satisfaction.
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Kevin Sevag Kertechian, Silva Karkoulian, Hussein N. Ismail and Samar Samir Aad Makhoul
This study aims to examine the effect of experience abroad, academic success and university reputation on students' employability in the Lebanese labor market.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the effect of experience abroad, academic success and university reputation on students' employability in the Lebanese labor market.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a between-subject design to identify whether academic success, university reputation and experience abroad have an impact on how potential recruiters (i.e. employers) are perceiving student employability. The study uses 16 fictitious applications of business graduates, which differed in grade-point average, university reputation and experience abroad, rated by 784 Lebanese professionals.
Findings
The results suggest that high-performing students with experience abroad and high-performing students from a reputable university are perceived to be more employable. For low-performing students, having completed an experience abroad results in a lower reward in terms of employability.
Research limitations/implications
The present study offers an analysis of students' employability through employers' lens; it offers insights for students on how to be perceived as more employable in a context where competition among future workers is fierce.
Practical implications
The results of this research provide a roadmap for graduates for enhancing their employability in Lebanese markets and offer actionable insights to employers.
Originality/value
The most original contribution of this study is the analysis of university reputation impact on the likelihood of receiving positive feedback during the evaluation process. The impact of two Lebanese universities, one ranked in the QS ranking and one not, was investigated.
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Having a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can cause significant professional strain for parents. Compared to parents of typically developing children or children with…
Abstract
Having a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can cause significant professional strain for parents. Compared to parents of typically developing children or children with other types of special needs, parents of children with ASD report being underemployed, having more difficulty accomplishing important work tasks or taking on new work assignments, and being viewed less favorably by supervisors. They also may be more likely to perceive themselves as stigmatized by coworkers, negatively impacting their abilities to develop or maintain meaningful relationships with others at work. All of these factors lead to parents of children with ASD earning less annual income than other types of parents and being more likely to experience loss of workplace motivation or lower overall job satisfaction. The negative career experiences of parents of children with ASD may also impact employers. Employees experiencing lower levels of motivation are less productive and more likely to quit their jobs, resulting in increased turnover expense. Because the number of working parents of children with ASD continues to grow as ASD rates increase, organizations would benefit from supporting parents of children with ASD through adopting flexible work–life balance policies, encouraging leaders to promote values of diversity and inclusiveness, and implementing workplace programs designed to support parents and educate coworkers.
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Hussein Nabil Ismail, Adnan Iqbal and Lina Nasr
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between employee engagement and job performance in the country of Lebanon, and to test whether creativity mediates the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between employee engagement and job performance in the country of Lebanon, and to test whether creativity mediates the relationship between engagement and performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The research sample consisted of 186 respondents working in Lebanese firms. The questionnaire included established measures relating to employee engagement, job performance and creativity – in addition to various demographic questions. Stepwise multiple regression and bootstrapping methods were employed in the analysis of the data.
Findings
The findings showed a significant positive effect of employee engagement on job performance. However, mediation analysis using bootstrapping methods has shown that creativity has fully mediated the relationship between engagement and performance.
Originality/value
The study extends previous research and increases the external validity of the findings by investigating the relationship between engagement and performance in new non-western contexts. Moreover, this is one of the first research studies that explores the role of creativity in the relationship between the two variables; this helps in improving our understanding of the model and aids in enhancing the effect of engagement on performance.
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Sevag K. Kertechian, Silva Karkoulian, Hussein Ismail and Patricia Nassif
Good managerial work habits are essential for creating a favorable work environment that can stimulate everyone’s performance. This papers aims to explore the psychometric…
Abstract
Purpose
Good managerial work habits are essential for creating a favorable work environment that can stimulate everyone’s performance. This papers aims to explore the psychometric properties of the good management work habits (GMWH) scale for a group of 464 Lebanese working adults.
Design/methodology/approach
A two-step approach was used. A first split-half of the sample affirmed that the GMWH scale had a factorial structure, and a factorial analysis used in the second split-half confirmed this. Jointly, the two split-half tests demonstrated the predictive and discriminant validity of the scale.
Findings
After validating the GMWH scale, this study substantiated the psychometric legitimacy of the GMWH test and confirmed its effectiveness in assessing organizational attributes.
Research limitations/implications
This study focused on Lebanese managers only and future studies should be extended to assess the GMWH scale’s validity in other countries. Moreover, the variables of organizational culture and gender were not taken into account in this study.
Practical implications
The GMWH scale can be applied to determine the negative effects of stress on performance to improve an organization’s productivity. Evaluating managers' self-perceptions of their work habits may improve relations with their subordinates and the organization as a whole.
Originality/value
The work habits of a company’s managers play a key role in organizational outcomes and have a ripple effect on all parties in the organization, from subordinates to other managers. This study proposes a validated tool for a company’s leaders to evaluate managers’ perceptions of their work habits and contributes beneficial knowledge to future research on practical ways to measure the work skills of managers.
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Ali Hauashdh, Junaidah Jailani, Ismail Abdul Rahman and Najib AL-fadhali
In recent years, there have been many concerns about issues surrounding building maintenance, which are continually increasing. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, there have been many concerns about issues surrounding building maintenance, which are continually increasing. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies on building maintenance issues, their effects and the way forward. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to carry out a comprehensive review of building maintenance issues, their effects and the way forward. It also aims to develop a conceptual model that can support future research.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review of the literature published from 2009 to 2019 was carried out. Five relevant databases were searched, based on this study's search terms, and a narrative synthesis of the results from the included studies was carried out. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they fulfilled the inclusion criteria of this systematic review.
Findings
This study has identified and classified building maintenance issues, their effects and the way forward, and also developed a conceptual model that demonstrates the association between issues, their effects and the way forward. The way forward of the conceptual model focuses on effective management, technical capability, development of human resources and cost optimisation.
Originality/value
This paper addresses an important topic: the aspect in which it differs from existing studies is that, in the latter, the researchers studied a single sub-issue, whereas this systematic review includes a comprehensive study of building maintenance issues. Furthermore, this review has demonstrated how the way forward can moderate issues and their effects.
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Mahfoudh Hussein Mgammal, Barjoyai Bardai and Ku Nor Izah Ku Ismail
This paper aims to examine the impact of corporate governance internal mechanisms on tax disclosure in non-financial firms in Malaysia. Managerial ownership and incentive…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the impact of corporate governance internal mechanisms on tax disclosure in non-financial firms in Malaysia. Managerial ownership and incentive compensation are used as proxies to reflect corporate governance conduct.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses panel data set to analyse 286 non-financial listed companies on Bursa Malaysia for the years 2010-2012. Tax disclosure was gathered from the financial statements, particularly in the consolidated of tax expenses. Tax disclosure was measured using modified effective tax rate reconciling items. Multivariate statistical analyses were run on the sample data.
Findings
This study finds that managerial ownership and incentive compensation do not significantly influence tax disclosure. On the other hand, it is found that there are significant positive associations between each of firm size and industry dummy, and tax disclosure. This means that company-specific characteristics are important factors affecting corporate tax disclosure.
Research limitations/implications
This study extends the work of previous studies by suggesting that the signalling theory and the agency theory are the main theories concerned with tax disclosure and corporate governance. The authors add an additional appreciation of the contribution of corporate governance from the interested parties’ tax disclosure evaluation in the Malaysian environment.
Practical implications
The evidence found by this study has important policy and practical knowledge implications for the authorities, researchers, decisionmakers and firm managers. The findings provide them with some relevant insights on the importance of corporate governance practices from the companies’ perspectives and contribute to the discussion of who verifies and deduces from tax disclosure directed by companies.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first attempt to examine the influence of the corporate governance internal mechanisms on tax disclosure in a developing nation like Malaysia. Although this paper focuses on a single country, it contributes significantly to the debate about tax disclosure in relation to “comply or explain”, as suggested in the Code of Corporate Governance. This study shows that companies are trying to avoid as far as possible disclosing tax-related information.
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Nazhatulzalkis Jamaludin, Siti Zubaidah Binti Hashim, Intan Bayani Bin Zakaria, Nadira Binti Ahzahar and Mior Alhadi Mior Ahmad Ridzuan
Sustainability issues have become crucial to mitigate urban heat islands (UHIs) and reduce the global warming effect. The climate change news is frequently heard lately due to the…
Abstract
Sustainability issues have become crucial to mitigate urban heat islands (UHIs) and reduce the global warming effect. The climate change news is frequently heard lately due to the extreme weather to the extent that the increasing earth’s temperature often causes disaster and loss of property and life. New adaptation needs to new climate context and limits the on-going effects. One of the ways is adopting green roofs on buildings. Implementing sustainable practices such as green roofs will help mitigate this adverse effect in urban areas. Green roofs provide many benefits such as enhancing the aesthetical quality of the built environment, reduce UHIs, reduce energy consumption, improve storm-water attenuation, roof longevity, and reduce noise pollution. However, only a few buildings in Malaysia have considering green roofs as a main green feature element. There is barely number of buildings that have green roof design even though it offers benefits to the community and environment. This chapter has emphasised the types of green roof systems that are potentially suitable in Malaysia climate and obstacles associated with the green roof system. The study found the barriers to implementing green roofs in Malaysia, especially during the stage of building operation in maintaining the green roof system. The survey has been done, which revealed nine factors that hinder the green roof application. This study also highlights the challenges to overcome the barriers of implementing green roofs in Malaysia.
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Fazal ur Rehman, Rosman Bin Md Yusoff, Shafie Bin Mohamed Zabri and Fadillah Binti Ismail
This study aims to investigate the influence of personal factors on the buying behavior of consumers with the intentions of sales promotion in the fashion industry. Precisely, it…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the influence of personal factors on the buying behavior of consumers with the intentions of sales promotion in the fashion industry. Precisely, it focuses on the marketing techniques and practices in sales promotion activities to influence the buying intentions of consumers in personal ways.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a comprehensive literature review of personal factors, sales promotion and buying behavior, this study has applied a positivist approach to collect data in quantitative way through questionnaires-based survey. The study has analyzed the collected data using structural equation modeling through smart partial least square.
Findings
Personal factors and its sub-dimensions such as market maven, stability and open minded have demonstrated a positive relationship in the conceptual construct. In the same manner, sales promotion and its sub-dimensions like social factors and physical layout have also positive effects.
Research limitations/implications
This study is only limited to the fashion industry of Pakistan and future research may be conducted in other services and manufacturing industries. Future research may assess the role of moderating variables like gender.
Practical implications
This study clarifies the influence of personal characteristics on consumers buying behavior in sales promotion activities in the fashion industry to achieve business objectives.
Originality/value
By integrating personal factors and sales promotion literature, the main contribution of this paper is the analysis of personal characteristics and promotional practices in the fashion industry of Pakistan, during Eid-ul-Fitter holidays to enhance the consumers buying behavior. Precisely, this study has assessed the effect some unique characteristics of consumers like market maven, stable, open minded and agreeable on their buying behavior in sales promotion activities. This study has apprised marketing professionals to apply the conception of personal characteristics in sales promotion activities to boost up the buying behavior of consumers in enthusiastic way.
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Lama Blaique, Hussein Nabil Ismail and Hazem Aldabbas
This paper aims to explore the relationship between organizational learning (OL) and work engagement (WE) in the Middle East region amid the COVID-19 pandemic and to test the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the relationship between organizational learning (OL) and work engagement (WE) in the Middle East region amid the COVID-19 pandemic and to test the mediating role of employee resilience (ER) and psychological empowerment (PE) on this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample size was 208 respondents working in the Middle East area during COVID-19. Hypotheses were tested using regression analysis with bootstrapping.
Findings
The findings indicate a significant positive impact of OL on WE. Moreover, both constructs – ER and WE – were identified as mediators for this relationship.
Practical implications
Practical implications within this study call for organizations to focus on promoting a learning culture in order to adapt and respond effectively to unprecedented external challenges.
Originality/value
The current study extends previous research and strengthens the antecedents of WE, namely, OL, ER and PE in the Middle East region while controlling for COVID-19 perceptions.