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The purpose of this paper is to highlight the status (information services, infrastructure, budget, collection and staffing) of public girls’ high school libraries of the Lahore city. Lahore is the second largest and hub of educational institutions in Pakistan. Resource-based learning is the basic right of all citizens. School libraries support teaching and learning with best available information resources. In Pakistan, fewer studies have reported the status of school libraries, and keeping in view the significance of early education, the present study highlights the situation through a qualitative lens.

For an in-depth analysis of the situation, qualitative research approach was used. The data were collected through interviews and observation technique. Additionally, focus groups were conducted with the students of grade IX and X to find their school libraries’ perceptions.

The findings revealed that the overall status of school libraries was unsatisfactory. Libraries were facing many problems such as lack of staff, budget, place and poor infrastructure issues. It was also found that economic geographical location of schools was not the factor affecting the status of libraries; rather, the schools’ head was mainly responsible for the better condition of the libraries.

The study has implications for educationists, librarians, library schools and library professional organizations to make effective policies. However, the findings cannot be generalized and can be applicable in a similar context.

The study is based on MPhil thesis and is significant to be added in global school librarianship literature.

This paper aims to analyze the scientific trend of research on Islamic banking sustainability (IBS) through a bibliometric study. In particular, the paper extensively investigates all the articles issued through the Scopus database regarding the IBS.

The authors discovered 76 papers that met the function, subject and set requirements by using the phrase IBS. The authors used VOSviewer as an analytical tool and the Scopus website.

IBS publications were found in the period 2005–2022, and the publication trend of IBS research demonstrates that it is growing exponentially after 2018. Malaysia is the leading country in terms of productive authors, universities, number of documents, citations and collaboration research on IBS. The current research trends are summarized into five cluster maps for future research directions: sustainability measurement, sustainability practices, risk and governance, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and IBS theory. The Maqashid al Shariah approach conceptually influences the framework for constructing the dimensions and indicators used to measure the IBS.

The authors retrieved data for their research from the Scopus database; using other databases might result in totally different research patterns with this IBS bibliometric research.

The research encompasses valuable implications for Islamic banking as it offers valuable insights on how to assess the performance of IBS. Particularly, it contributes to identifying the dimensions and indicators needed to measure IBS performance. Furthermore, this research provides strategic initiatives to promote sustainable practices in Islamic banking in terms of green financing taxonomy, services, operations, risk management and governance.

This research is valuable for other scholars as it offers a foundation for the future growth of IBS research, focusing on important sustainability clusters obtained from selected reputable journals. This research is beneficial for regulators in enhancing the roadmap for establishing and enhancing long-term IBS with impacts on socio-economic, environmental and governance.

The study presents a concise review of the bibliometric study in IBS and provides recommendations for future research directions in cluster mapping of themes and subthemes. There is still insufficient research that examines the IBS, in particular, complete insights into the IBS literature review.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic literature review on Shariah governance and Islamic banks.

The literature was searched from Scopus and Web of Science using various queries related to Shariah governance and Islamic banks. Through a screening process, 93 articles were considered fit for the systematic literature review.

The paper provides a systematic review based on different themes, including measurement of Shariah governance in Islamic banks, disclosure of Shariah governance and its determinants, the impact of Shariah governance on performance, risk management and other outcomes of Islamic banks. Finally, issues and challenges of Shariah governance in Islamic banks are discussed, followed by conclusions and recommendations related to future research.

This study is the first of its kind, to the authors’ knowledge, to provide a comprehensive systematic literature on Shariah governance and Islamic banks by exploring different themes and highlighting multiple future avenues of research.

This study aims to investigate the pragmatic issues on the radical call for the establishment of an external Shariah auditor (ESA) in the governance framework of Islamic banks (IBs).

From 11 well-established Malaysian IBs, 16 internal auditors were interviewed to provide an in-depth understanding on how ESA can provide greater assurance to stakeholders in Malaysian IBs.

This study reported mixed acceptance from internal auditors on the proposed additional governance layer to be undertaken by the ESA. Generally, internal auditors reluctantly agreed that Shariah auditing by the ESA would enhance the quality of Shariah assurance but maintain several practical concerns regarding lack of guidelines on Shariah auditing, the additional cost to be borne by IBs and the possible tensions between the ESA and Shariah board (SB) amid the diverse Shariah interpretations available for experts in the field.

The critical point on the manifestation of an ESA in the contemporary IB practice brought by this study highlights the need for regulation and policy promulgation that embrace a comprehensive approach to Shariah audit process within the religio-ethical dogma of Islamic banking and the pragmatic approach to banking.

This study provides evidence on the expected role and competency of an ESA and explores the implications produced by its implementation in Malaysian IBs. This study also clarifies how IBs should delineate the role of Shariah assurance from SB to ESA.

This study aims to provide an exhaustive review and analysis of accounting research conducted on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

The study combines bibliometric and content analysis techniques to analyze 811 Scopus peer-reviewed research articles from 1998 to 2023, written by 1,195 authors. It quantifies the annual scientific production, examines the main publication venues, visualizes collaboration and various bibliometric networks, identifies thematic research categories and provides a roadmap for future research directions.

The findings reveal phenomenal progress in accounting research on the GCC countries, evidenced by an increased number of peer-reviewed articles, scholars and countries involved. Likewise, a “homophily impact” exists among the productive authors, meaning they share a disciplinary or thematic similarity in their research interests. Besides, there is an apparent weakness in the research collaboration between GCC countries and their global counterparts. Furthermore, four main broad thematic categories of accounting research on the GCC countries were identified: (1) corporate governance, (2) Islamic banks, (3) corporate social responsibility and (4) intellectual capital. Building on the findings, we formulated a comprehensive agenda for guiding future research directions.

This study is the first to thoroughly evaluate accounting research within the GCC countries, utilizing a large sample of 811 peer-reviewed research papers indexed in Scopus from 1998 to 2023. The results are helpful, offer valuable insights and pave the way for future research avenues.

Material selection, driven by wide and often conflicting objectives, is an important, sometimes difficult problem in material engineering. In this context, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methodologies are effective. An approach of MCDM is needed to cater to criteria of material assortment simultaneously. More firms are now concerned about increasing their productivity using mathematical tools. To occupy a gap in the previous literature this research recommends an integrated MCDM and mathematical Bi-objective model for the selection of material. In addition, by using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), the inherent ambiguities of decision-makers in paired evaluations are considered in this research. It goes on to construct a mathematical bi-objective model for determining the best item to purchase.

The entropy perspective is implemented in this paper to evaluate the weight parameters, while the TOPSIS technique is used to determine the best and worst intermediate pipe materials for automotive exhaust system. The intermediate pipes are used to join the components of the exhaust systems. The materials usually used to manufacture intermediate pipe are SUS 436LM, SUS 430, SUS 304, SUS 436L, SUH 409 L, SUS 441 L and SUS 439L. These seven materials are evaluated based on tensile strength (TS), hardness (H), elongation (E), yield strength (YS) and cost (C). A hybrid methodology combining entropy-based criteria weighting, with the TOPSIS for alternative ranking, is pursued to identify the optimal design material for an engineered application in this paper. This study aims to help while filling the information gap in selecting the most suitable material for use in the exhaust intermediate pipes. After that, the authors searched for and considered eight materials and evaluated them on the following five criteria: (1) TS, (2) YS, (3) H, (4) E and (5) C. The first two criteria have been chosen because they can have a lot of influence on the behavior of the exhaust intermediate pipes, on their performance and on the cost. In this structure, the weights of the criteria are calculated objectively through the entropy method in order to have an unbiased assessment. This essentially measures the quantity of information each criterion contribution, indicating the relative importance of these criteria better. Subsequently, the materials were ranked using the TOPSIS method in terms of their relative performance by measuring each material from an ideal solution to determine the best alternative. The results show that SUS 309, SUS 432L and SUS 436 LM are the first three materials that the exhaust intermediate pipe optimal design should consider.

The material matrix of the decision presented in Table 3 was normalized through Equation 5, as shown in Table 5, and the matrix was multiplied with weighting criteria ß_j. The obtained weighted normalized matrix V_ij is presented in Table 6. However, the ideal, worst and best value was ascertained by employing Equation 7. This study is based on the selection of material for the development of intermediate pipe using MCDM, and it involves four basic stages, i.e. method of translation criteria, screening process, method of ranking and search for methods. The selection was done through the TOPSIS method, and the criteria weight was obtained by the entropy method. The result showed that the top three materials are SUS 309, SUS 432L and SUS 436 LM, respectively. For the future work, it is suggested to select more alternatives and criteria. The comparison can also be done by using different MCDM techniques like and Choice Expressing Reality (ELECTRE), Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE).

The results provide important conclusions for material selection in this targeted application, verifying the employment of mutual entropy-TOPSIS methodology for a series of difficult engineering decisions in material engineering concepts that combine superior capacity with better performance as well as cost-efficiency in various engineering design.

This study aims to investigate the extent to which the characteristics of Sharia supervisory boards (SSB) in banking institutions impact the disclosure of information pertaining to green banking practices.

A comprehensive dynamic panel data analysis approach was applied to a data set comprising Islamic banks from 15 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, covering the period from 2012 to 2022. In addition, a series of robustness and endogeneity analyses were conducted to ensure the consistency of the main findings.

This study shows that the characteristics of the SSB significantly impact the green banking disclosure practices of Islamic banks. Specifically, the proportion of board members who hold multiple SSB positions and the presence of foreign board members exhibit a negative and significant effect on green banking disclosure. Conversely, the size of the SSB is positively and significantly associated with green banking disclosure. Thus, the extent of green banking disclosure in Islamic banks is likely to increase with the size of the SSB. However, an increase in board members’ external commitments and a higher proportion of foreign board members are associated with a decline in green banking disclosure. Further analysis supports these findings, confirming their consistency across different contexts.

The findings of this study highlight the critical role that the composition and characteristics of the SSB play in shaping the green banking practices of Islamic banks in MENA countries. These insights provide valuable guidance for policymakers and Islamic financial institutions aiming to strengthen sustainability practices while adhering to Shariah principles. As green banking becomes increasingly crucial in the global financial landscape, optimizing the SSB’s composition could be a key driver in advancing the environmental goals of Islamic banking in the MENA region.

Islamic banks in the MENA region should focus on optimizing their SSB composition to enhance green banking disclosure. Increasing the size of the SSB can positively influence disclosure practices. However, banks should manage board members’ external engagements to ensure they have sufficient focus on green initiatives. Strategic recruitment of foreign members with a commitment to sustainability, coupled with targeted training programs, can further improve disclosure.

Specific SSB characteristics such as size and foreign board members influence disclosure of green banking, which previous studies did not conduct research on.

This study aims to investigate the performance differences of Islamic and conventional banks in Pakistan by using financial ratios.

This study analyzed 5 Islamic and 19 conventional banks for the periods of 2007-2014. Two types of analyses were performed – sample t-test and logistic regression. Analysis was also performed on sub-sample considering crisis effects.

It was found that Islamic banks are relatively better in profitability, efficiency, risk and liquidity management, while conventional banks are superior in asset quality. Higher efficiency of Islamic banks contradicts with previous studies conducted in Pakistan. Probable reasons for this include phenomenal expansion of Islamic banking industry and its broad appeal to customers in Pakistan. Risk management practices of Islamic banks are superior to conventional banks, as Shariah rules restrict pure speculation in monetary terms. Better asset quality of conventional banks is attributed to their recognition and product diversity. During the crisis, Islamic banks were found less profitable than their counterparts.

This study suggests that high operational efficiency of Islamic banks should be converted into technical efficiency by improving human resource, introducing innovative market-oriented products and prudent resource allocations. As operational efficiency does not promise returns in long term, to sustain ongoing phenomenal growth of Islamic banking, management needs to gain customer trust.

This is an original research that compares performance differences across Islamic and conventional banks by using financial ratios.

This paper aims to examine the association between corporate sustainability commitment and cash holding and whether the board’s leadership competency moderates the association.

The sample consisted of Islamic banks in Malaysia from 2017 to 2019. The sustainability commitment was measured based on the dimensions of the economic, social and environment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The sustainability commitment of the Islamic banks are low. The regression results are not supportive of the hypotheses on the association between corporate sustainability commitment and cash holding and the moderating effect of board’s leadership competency.

The Islamic banks in Malaysia are still in their early stages to achieve the SDGs, but the trend of disclosure suggests that they are gradually embracing the commitment to sustainability practices. It is in support of the agency theory, with findings indicating greater agency cost that is perceived upon companies with greater sustainability commitments.

This paper integrates the dimensions of the SDG with the value-based intermediation guideline by Bank Negara Malaysia in measuring sustainability commitment of Islamic banks.

The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of talent management (TM) practices on employee performance (EP) among academic staff of Malaysian private universities (MPU) through employee engagement (EE).

This paper used both descriptive and quantitative approaches, while the research unit of analysis consists of MPU academic staff. A simple random and stratified sampling approach was utilized in this study while, the research sample consists of 314 MPU academic staff. A questionnaire was used to collect data from the target population, while partial least squares–structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the study hypotheses through a bootstrapping approach.

This paper results demonstrated that TM practices (succession planning practice, promotion practice and performance appraisal practice) have a significant effect on EP, while EE mediates the relationship between TM practices and EP in MPU.

This paper encourages university management to adopt and invest in TM practices for effective EE to achieve and sustain EP.

This paper has made a significant contribution to knowledge and to the operationalization of EE, EP and TM practices literature, which could help to develop theory, model, practice and research in areas of work performance.