This study replicates and extends Alexander’s study for the purpose of identifying the recurring implementation problems. One hundred questionnaires were mailed to business…
Abstract
This study replicates and extends Alexander’s study for the purpose of identifying the recurring implementation problems. One hundred questionnaires were mailed to business companies in the Bradford area (UK). Twenty‐seven questionnaires have been returned of which only 24 are usable. Six strategy implementation problems were experienced during implementation by over 70 per cent of the sample group. Anova results also show that firms experiencing high success in implementation have less problems compared to low success group. Communication, management support, and good information system are the key tools for smooth implementation processes.
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Salem M. Al‐Ghamdi, M. Sadiq Sohail and Abdulaziz Al‐Khaldi
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of consumer protection agencies. In the light of growing importance of consumerism in developing countries, the paper measures the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of consumer protection agencies. In the light of growing importance of consumerism in developing countries, the paper measures the level of satisfaction with the performance provided by five different consumer protection agencies, in a chosen country, Saudi Arabia.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on a questionnaire survey conducted in Saudi Arabia. Based on a model developed for this study, the paper uses empirical research to determine customers' satisfaction with consumer protection agencies.
Findings
Results based on testing of hypotheses indicate that overall satisfaction is primarily derived from the objectives and roles played by consumer protection agencies. Results reveal that consumers assign different levels of importance to various dimensions when evaluating satisfaction with consumer protection agencies in Saudi Arabia.
Research limitations/implications
Limited sample size and the generalization of results for the entire Kingdom although the sample has been confined to the eastern province region are the limitations of this study.
Practical implications
The findings of this study have implications on the manner in which consumer protection agencies in Saudi Arabia must operate. Besides, findings of this study have also implications for business operating in Saudi Arabia.
Originality/value
This study makes a valuable contribution given the fact that there is a dearth of empirical studies covering the measurement of consumer satisfaction role played by consumer protection agencies in Saudi Arabia.
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Salem M. Al‐Ghamdi, Matthew H. Roy and Zafar U. Ahmed
The purpose of this paper is to assess which communication channels are most frequently used by employees to gain corporate strategic information and the impact of seniority on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess which communication channels are most frequently used by employees to gain corporate strategic information and the impact of seniority on communication channel chosen.
Design/methodology/approach
A Saudi Arabian manufacturing company employing a wide range of both professionals and rank and file workers was used as the source of data. A total of 187 responses (85 per cent response rate) to an empirical questionnaire provided the data for analysis.
Findings
There are indications that employees are not satisfied with what they currently know and are eager to learn more about strategic direction. Results also show that rich communication channels such as one‐on‐one dialog and group meetings are preferred to lean ones such as bulletin boards, memos, and newsletters. Finally, more experienced employees utilize a wider variety of communication channels in garnering strategic information.
Research limitations/implications
Findings may not be generalizable to other populations or other companies within the same population.
Practical implications
Practicing managers need to consider the communication sources for strategic information. Further efforts must be made to maximize the communication of strategic intent through the use of rich communication channels for all employees.
Originality/value
Presently there is little research explaining the importance of different communication mechanisms for the transference of strategic information. This research fills that void as it shows the relationship between employee tenure and communication mechanism used to understand strategic direction. This research shows that practicing managers should use rich communication channels (face‐to‐face or group meetings) when communicating strategic intent.
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Mohamed A. Youssef, Salem M. Al‐Ghamdi, James V. Koch and Tom Dolan
The main purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the country in which a manufacturing plant is located on its ability to achieve one or more of the ISO certifications…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the country in which a manufacturing plant is located on its ability to achieve one or more of the ISO certifications, and the extent to which six other quality management practices have been implemented. It also examines the impact of achieving world class manufacturing status (WCM) on product quality. Product quality was measured by finished‐product first‐pass yield, scrap and rework costs, and warranty costs as percentages of sales.
Design/methodology/approach
The analyses are based on empirical data collected from more than 2900 manufacturing plants in the USA Canada, and Mexico.
Findings
The results show that there are significant differences in the plants' efforts to achieve quality certifications. Significant differences were also found in the extent to which six other quality management techniques are implemented. More important, our results show that there are significant differences in product quality performance among plants with different levels of progress toward achieving WCM status.
Originality/value
The findings of this study have many implications for both academic and practitioners who are interested in studying the impact of ISO 9000 and Quality Management practices.
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Mohammad I. At‐Twaijri and Salem Matter Al‐Ghamdi
This study presents the results of a field research designed to assess the seven bases of supervisory influence over respondents in industrial organisations working in Saudi…
Abstract
This study presents the results of a field research designed to assess the seven bases of supervisory influence over respondents in industrial organisations working in Saudi Arabia. These seven bases of influence are: referent, experience, reward, coercive, legitimate, connection and information. The sample is composed of Saudi subjects as well as non‐Saudi subjects. The respondents ranked the seven methods of influence according to their importance. Results pertaining to factor analysis indicate that culture can decide the significance of an influence method over another. This points to the fact that Saudi participants and non‐Saudi participants have different sets of power bases.
This paper investigates whether the introduction of the 2006 corporate governance code and subsequent amendments constrain corporate earnings management (EM) practices amongst…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates whether the introduction of the 2006 corporate governance code and subsequent amendments constrain corporate earnings management (EM) practices amongst listed companies in Saudi Arabia.
Design/methodology/approach
Accounting and corporate governance (CG) data were collected from annual financial reports of a sample of 108 listed companies from 2007 to 2019. Absolute value of discretionary accruals was regressed against tested CG determinants provided in the CG code. The authors also employed other econometric models to check potential endogeneities.
Findings
The overall results provide evidence that the 2006/2018 Saudi Arabia corporate governance code (SACGC) does not deter EM practices in public companies.
Practical implications
Regulators and other stakeholders should make a deliberate effort to improve the Saudi CG environment by focussing on governance aspects such as board and ownership structures to ensure the independence of the board to effectively perform its statutory roles, as EM practices persist in the system.
Originality/value
This paper extends the literature on the effectiveness of CG, by providing evidence that CG code does not effectively constrain EM activities in settings where CG structures may exist, but greater importance is attached to informal relationships and other considerations than formal CG mechanisms, as these features usually work against the potentials of the principles of good CG as in the case of Saudi Arabia.
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Julie Davies, Thamina Anjuman, Zeyad Al Ghamdi, Saud Altamimi, Sheikh Mateen Ellahi, Moza Al Thani, Frank Huang, Yara Alsoqair and Rawan Alshehri
This narrative literature review examines intersectional employee voice inequalities in a non-Western, high power distance context to develop a multilevel conceptual framework.
Abstract
Purpose
This narrative literature review examines intersectional employee voice inequalities in a non-Western, high power distance context to develop a multilevel conceptual framework.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use Leininger's (1997, 2002) culture care model to explore multilevel influences on intersectional voice inequalities. The article applies insights from a review of 31 studies to the specific challenges of migrant palliative care (PC) nurses in Saudi Arabia.
Findings
The themes identified in the review indicate how better transcultural communications might mitigate voice inequalities that influence migrant employee wellbeing and intentions to quit which result from cultural incongruities.
Originality/value
The impact of national culture differences and intersectional inequalities on employee voice has largely been ignored in academic research. This paper offers unique insights drawing on culture care theory into intersectional voice challenges from a non-Western perspective in the underresearched setting of Saudi Arabia which is mid-way through a national transformation program. It starkly contrasts policy ambitions for advancing healthcare with discriminatory practices based on conservative attitudes which stifle migrant worker voices.
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Inconsistencies and contradictions in the US government's story of hijackers and their masterminds are examined to account for what happened on 9-11. A little-known initial FBI…
Abstract
Inconsistencies and contradictions in the US government's story of hijackers and their masterminds are examined to account for what happened on 9-11. A little-known initial FBI list of 19, scrutinized for four names not on its final list, calls into question the FBI naming process. We discovered 11 of the FBI-named finalists could not have been on those planes, with 10 still alive and another's identity improvised by a double. The Dulles videotape, essentially the government's case that hijackers boarded the 9-11 flights, is found to have serious problems including authentication, as does the so-called bin Laden “confession” video.
Were “hijackers” known to be in the US before intelligence alleges it knew? Evidence is examined which shows that they were closely monitored by agencies which denied this knowledge; in particular, an undercover FBI agent lived with them the prior year.
Noting government refusal to disclose evidence called for by investigators, we find some pieces altered or fabricated and others confiscated or destroyed. Other revelations point to hijackers with national security overrides, protection in their alternate roles as drug traffickers, and deep political connections with government elites. We investigate patterns, reminiscent of historical intelligence involvement, revealing the presence of a covert intelligence operation disguised as an outside enemy attack.
Mohamed Abdel-Aty, Qi Shi, Anurag Pande and Rongjie Yu
Purpose – This chapter provides details of research that attempts to relate traffic operational conditions on uninterrupted flow facilities (e.g., freeways and expressways) with…
Abstract
Purpose – This chapter provides details of research that attempts to relate traffic operational conditions on uninterrupted flow facilities (e.g., freeways and expressways) with real-time crash likelihood. Unlike incident detection, the purpose of this line of work is to proactively assess crash likelihood and potentially reduce the likelihood through proactive traffic management techniques, including variable speed limit and ramp metering among others.
Methodology – The chapter distinguishes between the traditional aggregate crash frequency-based approach to safety evaluation and the approach needed for real-time crash risk estimation. Key references from the literature are summarised in terms of the reported effect of different traffic characteristics that can be derived in near real-time, including average speed, temporal variation in speed, volume and lane-occupancy, on crash occurrence.
Findings – Traffic and weather parameters are among the real-time crash-contributing factors. Among the most significant traffic parameters is speed particularly in the form of coefficient of variation of speed.
Research implications – In the traffic safety field, traditional data sources are infrastructure-based traffic detection systems. In the future, if automatic traffic detection systems could provide reliable data at the vehicle level, new variables such as headway could be introduced. Transferability of real-time crash prediction models is also of interest. Also, the potential effects of different management strategies to reduce real-time crash risk could be evaluated in a simulation environment.
Practical implications – This line of research has been at the forefront of bringing data mining and other machine-learning techniques into the traffic management arena. We expect these analysis techniques to play a more important role in real-time traffic management, not just for safety evaluation but also for congestion pricing and alternate routing.
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Nowadays, the main challenge in the higher education is the daunting task of transforming universities into digital era institutions. Improving HE students' competence to meet the…
Abstract
Nowadays, the main challenge in the higher education is the daunting task of transforming universities into digital era institutions. Improving HE students' competence to meet the flow of technological innovations through DT has been the focus of many countries. This task has imposed the restraint that HE institutions should implement the most effective strategies of DT. This chapter is focusing on how DT strategies play their role in making the transformation itself become germane and give its fruits. Therefore, this chapter presents the most effective DT strategies that can be implemented by HE institutions in order to prepare their students for the existing professional roles in their societies. A good DT strategy is one that connects the organization's current level of digital maturity with its future ambition. The well-known strategies in the DT field are as follows: the strategy of electronic projects, strategy of smart electronic platforms, integrated training strategy, participatory e-learning strategy, smart learning strategy, pervasive learning strategy, microlearning strategy and e-design thinking strategy, in addition to the strategy in which traditional learning methods are combined with e-learning methods. It is worth noting here that the chapter is not an attempt to favor a strategy over another or compare and contrast them to uncover their differences at any level. On the contrary, the writer will work on displaying how each strategy can be implemented in order to accomplish DT in HE instructional practices. Also, this chapter will show how complementary these strategies can be once they are utilized to reach DT.