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The tourist industry in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) region has grown at an unprecedented rate, keenly reflecting the rapid growth of the individual economies of the region. Associated training and manpower development efforts — keys to a position of competitiveness — however, have not kept pace with this growth. While various measures have been suggested to develop manpower capabilities in the tourism sector in this region, efforts to meet obligations are arguably insufficient. This paper traces recent developments in the tourist industry in ASEAN and its region and examines training and manpower development challenges that the region faces at present. This article also suggests ways to address those issues.

The paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

The paper finds that Muhammad Asad Sadi and Joan Henderson, in their article “In search of greener pastures: Al‐Marai and dairy food business in Saudi Arabia”, have provided a glimpse into a middle‐eastern commercial success story. The authors have gathered as much information as possible concerning the Saudi dairy company, Al‐Marai, their market position, their competition, and their operations, in order to provide a basis for discussion and analysis for future expansion and distribution policies.

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.

This study aims to explore the impact of system quality dimensions, namely, ease of use, accessibility, interactivity and website innovativeness on service quality (SQ) and customer satisfaction.

The study used a quantitative approach, by using a survey method. The unit of analysis was the individual. A total of 618 questionnaires were randomly distributed to university students and staff in Jordan. The partial least square path-modeling method was used in the estimation of causal relationships of the constructs examined in the study.

The outcomes of this study showed that ease of use, interactivity and website innovativeness have significant positive relationships with the SQ. Consequently, SQ significantly influences customer satisfaction.

Limitations of this research were related to the unit of analysis, as it was conducted within the geographical region of Jordan and the university context, where the culture and level of the technological advancement may be different than other countries.

This research can assist mobile commerce (m-commerce) service policymakers to formulate significant policies that could enhance the nature of services being rendered and thus bring greater benefits to the customers.

This research has extended the body of knowledge on emerging trends in m-commerce innovation adoption, more specifically in the university context. Furthermore, it offers insight on the importance of m-commerce in the minds of customers, in such a way that it will bring about the intention to repeat patronage in the future.

The engineering courses offered in Somali universities attract many students, ranging between 300 and 500 every semester, making the management and delivery of the course challenging. The increasing popularity of massive open online courses (MOOCs) has led to rapid growth in enrollment, posing difficulties in effectively managing and delivering content to large volumes of learners. To this end, this study aimed to explore the influence of MOOC implementation factors on learners’ continuance intention and satisfaction to provide insights that can enhance the learning experience and ensure long-term engagement.

The study utilized a survey approach based on an extensive literature review to collect data on the challenges faced by Somali universities in managing and delivering engineering courses. The survey included a series of questions, and 148 responses were collected from students enrolled in different programs. The collected data were analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling and deep neural network approaches.

The result demonstrated that MOOC implementation factors, including course design quality, instructor reputation, self-paced flexibility, information relevance, platform usability and student support services, significantly affect students’ continuance intention and satisfaction. Therefore, the study recommends universities should enhance MOOC implementation factors to improve the quality of teaching and increase students’ continuance intention to study in a MOOC environment.

The study provides empirical evidence on how MOOC implementation factors affect the level of satisfaction and continuance intention of engineering students. It suggests that the findings could be useful for university management and lecturers to increase teaching and learning quality in the course and develop new strategies and approaches that suit modern-day learners. The study also aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of class delivery and improve student engagement in the learning process.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the significance of some barriers in Saudi organizations from the perspectives of marketing executives.

A range of contemporary literature is presented to help define the term “organizational creativity,” and describe “barriers to creativity” from the marketing executives' perspective within the organizational culture of Saudi Arabia.

Self‐confidence and task achievement are the most significant barriers to the creativity of marketing executives in Saudi Arabia.

This paper is primarily based on a survey questionnaire, the contents of which were derived from previous studies on this subject or related themes. The barriers to creativity surveyed in this study were identified by Osborn. They were grouped into six constructs: self‐confidence; need for conformity and risk taking; use of the abstract; use of systematic analysis; task achievement and physic1al environment.

Throughout this paper the concept of “barriers to creativity” was explored. The results indicated that self‐confidence is considered a slightly higher barrier to creativity among Saudi executives compared to non‐Saudis who rate task achievement higher. To improve self‐confidence among executives, both Saudi and non‐Saudi organizations must improve positive behavioral elements such as optimism, passion, and self‐image and minimize negative behavior elements such as sarcasms, destructive criticism, status consciousness and fear of evaluation.

The celebrated Osborn model is used to identify the creativity barriers among organizations from the perspective of marketing executives. This paper concludes that creativity is an important issue for any organization to survive and excel, and knowing the barriers that diminish creativity is an essential step towards the objective of creating a culture of creativity within an organization in the Saudi Arabian context.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of interest in franchising among small medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to identify attitudes towards the mode of operation's success held by practitioners.

A literature review is presented to explain franchising and the reasons for its adoption by SMEs. Secondary information obtained from published sources forms the basis for a summary of conditions in Saudi Arabia. In addition, a survey questionnaire was administered to a sample of managers in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia to determine their views.

Franchising is deemed to be a suitable business format for SMEs and franchising support systems contribute to its success, although some problems are acknowledged. There are good prospects for further growth, but also obstacles to overcome.

Resource constraints limited the scale and scope of the survey and there is a need for further studies of more executives in other locations.

Policy makers in Saudi Arabia are now emphasizing the importance of both franchising and SMEs. This study affords insights into how practitioners see franchising and may help to inform decision and strategy making in the public and private sectors.

Most franchising studies have been conducted within American and European environments and there have been few attempts to examine the issue within the context of Saudi Arabia. This study therefore advances knowledge and understanding about a neglected area of commercial activity in an industrialising economy such as that of Saudi Arabia.

The purpose of this paper is to concentrate on management responses in terms of marketing and is intended as a basis for discussion of the effectiveness of actual policies, possible alternatives and future prospects.

There is much research that investigates the functioning of dairy food business, however, little attention is given to the responses of executives of the industry. This research aims to narrow this gap in the literature by focussing on the largest dairy food company in Saudi Arabia and its subsequent responses related to marketing. A case research of Saudi Arabian dairy food company, one of the market leaders in the entire Middle East, is advanced and discussed in detail. In addition, the paper highlights future challenges of its future expansion goals which would have implications for its operational, marketing and distribution strategies. Other important factors to consider are market differences, cultural conflicts, fluctuating exchange rates, cross‐border invoicing and financial transactions, tariffs and taxes and host country government regulations.

A number of dairy food companies in Saudi Arabia have been using varied competitive strategies over the last few years, but this study reveals how Al‐Marai uses strategy of market penetration to beat the competition. Promotion emphasises brand strengths across segments and an intensive distribution network is maintained locally, with new channels sought in Middle Eastern as well as South East Asian markets.

This paper provides a unique perspective of a dairy food company, which uses market penetration to beat the nationwide competition, thus stand high in offering quality merchandise across Middle East.

‘Stans’ is an ancient Persian word meaning land, country or nation. This chapter begins with a review of the historical basis of zakat management in Islamic practice and provides a brief historical account and status of zakat practices in select countries in Central Asia. The section thereafter focuses on benchmark international zakat management models before providing recommendations for the development of an effective zakat management model within Central Asia. The economic shocks resulting from the pandemic have forced many in the region into situational poverty. If left unchecked, this may easily regress into chronic poverty, undoing the significant growth that these countries have experienced over the last decade. Existing social programmes have limited the impact of economic loss. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, they have an opportunity to revive this history and once again empower their nations with Islamic social finance instruments. Effective zakat management models in Indonesia and Kuwait, for example, provide different dimensions to social impact. The Indonesian model of BAZNAS provides the most comprehensive methodology for governance, risk management and replication. BAZNAS′ strategy for digitalization and collaboration suggests a strong model for development within Central Asia. Through an effective zakat model, it is expected that Central Asian nations will be better protected against economic disruptions and provide a safety net for vulnerable communities in the region. These conclusions and recommendations in this chapter are limited to the information available in the literature. Further study is required through primary research to understand better what the challenges are in zakat modelling. Locals may also be surveyed to determine their levels of zakat knowledge and their concerns for institutional zakat collection and disbursement.

This paper aims to attempt to collate and understand the fragmented research on female entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The review assesses the literature at the macro, meso and micro analysis levels and addresses the obstacles, challenges, motivations and characteristics of female entrepreneurship in the MENA region.

The analysis bases on a gender aware, narrative review, which is an appropriate method when aggregating studies of different methodological approaches, covering broad and fragmented topics in different settings. The study analyzes the areas that have received sufficient research attention and those which are still under-developed.

Important gaps in the field are lack of theoretical foundations; an over emphasis on macro level indicators, such as culture and religion and an under emphasis on organizational level variables; a lack of studies that analyze female entrepreneurship within ethnic groups, or studies that acknowledge the complex social, cultural and religious diversity of the region; and inattention to particular regional experiences (e.g. refugees crisis) and emerging trends.

This is the first integrative review of the literature in the growing field of female entrepreneurship in the MENA region that identifies areas of particular research interest and questions that are still under-developed. The study proposes further avenues for future research.

Locally derived foods from the lens of restaurant settings play an important source of tourist attraction. Surprisingly, research into this sector is quite scarce. The aim of the paper is to develop and empirically examine a conceptual framework on tourist’s preferences in selecting local foods. The framework includes tourists’ satisfaction, quality of food, tourist’s perception, purchase intention and purchase behavior among tourist’s selection for local foods.

The research is designed as quantitative in nature. A sum of 280 usable questionnaires was used from 300 distributed instruments by using convenient sampling techniques.

The results show that the relationship of tourist satisfaction and behavior is mediated by purchase intention, whereas tourist’s satisfaction and perception have a positive and significant impact on the intention of purchasing local foods. There is also a significant relationship between tourist’s satisfaction and perceived quality toward the tourist’s perception of local foods. Moreover, a significant relationship exists between tourist’s intentions and tourist’s purchase behavior.

The study derived the purchase behavior dimensions of local foods by the tourists through literature and verified the conceptual model through empirical testing. Based on these findings, managers of local food restaurants require maximizing the purchase behavior of the visitors by considering satisfaction and perceived quality. In summation, they also should consider perception and behavioral intention of tourists. The limitation of this research relates to the sample, where data were collected from the major city of a tourist-friendly country. Future research could investigate the perceived value and gender variance as moderating variables in and between purchase intention and purchase behavior.

Managers and policymakers may use the outcome of this research as a guideline to understand the depth of tourist’s behavior. By identifying the antecedents of the behavioral factors may assist the managers to strengthen the restaurant’s competitive position within the industry. Finally, policymakers may use the research to assess tourists’ perceptions of local foods acceptability in promoting the nation’s culture to other parts of the world.

This work adds to tourism behavior research by exploring the effect of satisfaction, perceived quality, perception and intention on behaviors associated with local foods purchase behavior. In particular, the study highlights the relationships between tourist’s perception, perceived quality of local foods and satisfaction of local foods to measure tourist’s behavior through purchase intention for local foods from the perspective of restaurant settings, which have received less research attention.