Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Can organizations get away with greenwashing? CSR attributions and counterproductive sustainability behaviors(John Wiley and Sons Inc, 2023) Ahmad, Ifzal; Jamali, Dima Rachid; Khattak, Muhammad NisarItem The Nexus between Digital Innovation and Digital Entrepreneurship in the Strategic Transformation(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2023) Tangri, Kiran; Kalra, Deepak; Katuse, Paul; Masaeid, Turki Al; Afifi, Mohammed A.Item Assessment of Perception of Usage of Mobile Social Media on Online Business Model through Technological Acceptance Model (TAM) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2023) Tangri, Kiran; Joghee, Shanmugan; Kalra, Deepak; Shameem, Beenish; Agarwal, RuchiItem Blockchain and Edge Computing Integration Boosts Scalability and Reduces Latency(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2023) Mahfuri, Mahmoud; Alnawaiseh, Ahmad Enad; Asad, Umber; Yousif, Muhammad; Aslam, Shoukat; Chabani, Zakariya; Fiaz, MuhammadItem Building the business schools of the future with a strong focus on practical wisdom for a VUCA world(Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., 2022-11-15) Amann, Wolfgang; Stachowicz-Stanusch, Agata; Tripathi, Shiv K.Item Innovativeness and Involvement: An Unexpected Purchase Due to a Referral Behavior(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2022) Ramzan, Fizza; Ramzan, Izza; Ibrahim, Muhammad; Tangri, Kiran; Al-Kassem, Amer Hani; Inairat, Mohammad; Marwaha, Sunita; El Khatib, MounirItem What is a lion worth to local people – Quantifying of the costs of living alongside a top predator(Elsevier B.V., 2022-08) Jacobsen, Kim S.; Sandorf, Erlend Dancke; Loveridge, Andrew J.; Dickman, Amy J.; Johnson, Paul J.; Mourato, Susana; Contu, Davide; Macdonald, David W.The presence of large predators entails a range of costs and some benefits for the communities that live alongside them. The cost in terms of the value of livestock lost to predation is well known, but this represents only a part of the costs that people experience, as it does not account for non-market costs such as fear, avoidance behaviours and threat to human life. We quantify the total cost of lion presence for agro-pastoral communities in Zimbabwe using economic valuation techniques. The total perceived value of one additional lion was estimated to be negative US$180 per person per year, which is several hundred times larger than the market value of the average loss of livestock per household. If making simplifying economic assumptions, this discrepancy reveals the magnitude of the non-market costs associated with the presence of large predators. The disvalue of lion presence was linked to fear, ecocentric values, wealth and trust in compensation institutions. We also demonstrate the importance of considering heterogeneity in preferences within communities; segments of the population did not have net negative value attached to lions, and some disliked monetary compensation. We also estimate the willingness-to-accept for two human-wildlife conflict mitigation programs in terms of acceptable increases in lion numbers, as opposed to monetary units which is the conventional approach in economic valuation studies. We argue that estimating value in terms of biodiversity outcomes should be used more widely. We also demonstrate the distorting effect of distrust towards compensation in choice experiments and argue that economic valuation methods employing choice experiments should control for this distrust when estimating willingness-to-pay. These discoveries have relevance for a wide range of situations where potentially dangerous wildlife species co-exist with people. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.Item Testing for saliency-led choice behavior in discrete choice modeling: An application in the context of preferences towards nuclear energy in Italy(Elsevier Ltd, 2022-09) Contu, Davide; Strazzera, ElisabettaThis work proposes a discrete choice model that jointly accounts for heterogeneity in preferences and in decision making procedures adopted by respondents, as well as for non-linearities in the utility function, allowing for the potential effect of salient attributes in choice experiments. We present an innovative application in the context of preferences towards nuclear energy, with data obtained from a nationwide online survey conducted in Italy. Results show that most of the variation in the choice data is indeed due to heterogeneity in the decision process, where the saliency heuristic plays an important role. Furthermore, the proposed model provides more conservative monetary valuations as opposed to standard models, potentially leading to substantial differences in cost-benefit analysis. Implications for choice modeling practitioners are discussed, emphasizing the need to account for saliency effects when modeling the choice data. © 2022 Elsevier LtdItem Radioactive source search problem and optimisation model based on meta-heuristic algorithm(Sciendo, 2022) Zhang, Min; Lu, Xuewen; Hoffman, Ettiene; Kharabsheh, Radwan; Xiao, QianghuaIn the process of rational development and utilisation of nuclear energy, people often face nuclear accidents such as lost and stolen radioactive sources; so, the means of searching for these sources quickly in highly radioactive environments is an important security challenge. In the past, these jobs were limited to workers specialising in nuclear technology. They used gamma-ray detection equipment to search for radioactive sources, but the search efficiency was low. The main purpose of this article is to design a meta-heuristic algorithm based on imitating professional technicians to locate radioactive sources in a computer-aided manner. At the same time, due to the complexity that may characterise the actual search, the search strategy must be optimised. The article established an intelligent random search model with human thinking. Finally, it was proved based on the mathematical theory that the complexity of the model search algorithm is linear, and the simulation experiment results show that the optimisation algorithm has good efficiency and fault tolerance. © 2021 Min Zhang et al., published by Sciendo 2021.Item Performance evaluation of college laboratories based on fusion of decision tree and BP neural network(Sciendo, 2022) Yujie, Chang; Weimin, Gao; Chelli, Karim; Muttar, Ahmed K. H.Performance evaluation can promote the continuous improvement of the laboratories in a college. It is necessary to take into account the scientific evaluation method during the process of the performance evaluation. In this paper, a performance evaluation method based on the fusion of the decision tree and BP neural network is presented. In detail, the decision tree model is used to select performance evaluation indexes with high weight. The BP neural network was adopted aiming to reduce the impact of assessment prediction of classification by non-core factors. First, the data were pre-processed by trapezoidal membership function. Then, the decision tree was generated by the C4.5 algorithm to select the evaluation indexes with high weight. Then, the BP neural network was trained with as many samples as possible by evaluation indexes; it possesses experts' experience which can be used to predict the performance evaluation results. The method overcomes the shortages of the separate model, eliminates the disturbance of human factors and improves the accuracy of the evaluation. Experiments show that the model is feasible and effective in performance evaluation of college laboratories. The outcomes of this work can provide a scientific evaluation method for people such as researchers, college administrators and laboratory managers. Also, this paper will help them to improve the management of laboratories and provide them with decision references for constructing the laboratories. © 2021 Chang Yujie et al., published by Sciendo 2021.Item Adopting Business Analytics to Leverage Enterprise Data Assets(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2017) Djerdjouri, Mohamed; Mehailia, AbdelghaniIn today’s rapidly changing business environment, advances in information and communication technologies are happening at a very fast pace. As a result, firms are under constant pressure to quickly adapt, be competitive, and identify new business opportunities. Also, the amount of data collected by organizations today is growing at an exponential rate and includes structured as well as new types of large and real-time data across a broad range of industries such as streaming, geospatial, social media, or sensor-generated data. Enterprise data have become an invaluable strategic asset. Many organizations are using modern Business Analytics (BA) to extract new insights and the maximum possible value from these data assets, which will enable them to make timely and accurate decisions. In this paper, we briefly describe business analytics and discuss how leading world class organizations are adopting it and the technology environments that make it relatively easy and inexpensive and, the subsequent competitive benefits they have achieved. In addition, we will report some findings from surveys of executives, managers, and professionals across industries about the use of analytics in their organizations, done recently by IBM, SAS, MIT, and Gartner. Also, we will briefly address the organizational, cultural, and technological challenges faced by organizations embracing business analytics. Finally, we will discuss the unique obstacles and challenges encountered by firms in developing countries with the goal of raising awareness of organizations in the MENA region not only about these impediments but also about the benefits of these technologies and the crucial role they play in the survival and competitiveness of the firm in the complex and turbulent global market. © 2017, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.Item A Web-Based Benchmarking Tool and Database for SMEs: Research in Progress(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2017) Ahmad, Norita; Maarof, Fariedah; Elshareif, Elgilani Eltahir; Opulencia, JadeThis research focuses on developing a standard benchmarking tool and database that can be used by SMEs in the UAE to evaluate themselves against their competitors. The project presents an adaptation of an existing tool, QuickView, already in use in the USA. The short-term objectives of the project are to determine whether QuickView could be usable in the UAE, and to test whether SMEs in the UAE could be evaluated against the 4000 US SMEs on the QuickView database. Eventually, the goal is to help SMEs in the UAE improve bottom-line performance by transforming their practices for competitive advantage. © 2017, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.Item The Relationship Between Conflict Management and Job Performance(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2017) Majid, Mohd Yunus; Maarof, FariedahThe aim of this study is to examine the relationship between conflict management (CM) and job performance (JP). There are five styles of conflict management which are integrating, dominating, obliging, avoiding, and compromising. However, in this research the author only focuses on integrating, obliging, and compromising styles which are considered as our independent variables and job performance as our dependent variable. Accordingly, dominating (high concern for self and low concern for others) and avoiding (low concern for self and others) styles do not fit Malaysian culture. Data consists of respondents in the banking sector. Correlation analysis was used to support the findings. It was found out that obliging and compromising have a significant relationship with job performance while no relationship exists between integrating and job performance. It appears that the reserved and soft-spoken Malaysian would opt to sacrifice their goals (obliging) and can easily agree with the outcomes of the conflict management (compromise), as supported by research findings by Wang et al. (Manag Int Rev 45:3–21, 2005). The individualistic-collectivist culture characteristics indicate different approaches between Western and Asian managers in handling conflict management, Wang et al. (Manag Int Rev 45:3–21, 2005). © 2017, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.Item Implementing a Mass Customization Business Model in the Health Industry(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2017) Poulin, MarcThe healthcare industry is undergoing many challenges due to rising costs, lower governmental support, and ineffectiveness of many treatments. One popular approach to address these issues is the P4 vision where prevention and patient participation is paramount. To implement these newer approaches, there are business process challenges in order to control costs and offer the new personalized approach. The mass customization business model has been successful in offering various levels of personalization with costs and delivery delays similar to mass production. Although it has been researched and implemented for the manufacturing industry, research has shown potential in the service industry. This article presents a business model founded on mass customization to address certain challenges in the health industry. The article discusses the issues and presents an approach to remedy the problems. The business model is demonstrated through an actual global health company head quartered in Dubai. © 2017, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.Item Relationship Between Working Capital Management and Profitability: A Case of Tabreed (National Central Cooling Company PJSC)(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2017) Venkatachalam, R.Working capital management is a function of management to decide the optimum level of the various items of working capital. Though the current assets do not help increasing productivity, they are very much important in carrying a successful business. Too much of working capital may lead to idle current assets and increase carrying cost of current assets and it reduces the profit. On the other hand, if too low working capital is maintained the business faces liquidity risk and may lead to bankruptcy. This study aims to investigate the relationship between profitability and the various components of current assets of Tabreed. Pearson simple correlation technique and multiple regression analysis were employed. The study showed that working capital turnover ratio, cash turnover ratio and debtors turnover ratio have positive association with return on investment and other ratios such as current ratio, quick ratio, current assets-to-total assets ratio, current assets-to-sales ratio, and inventory turnover ratio have negative association with profitability. © 2017, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.Item Building a World that Works for Tomorrow: General Electric's Integrated Approach to Leading with Integrity(Case Centre UK, 2022) Sergio, RommelThis case study looks into the integrated approach of General Electric (GE) in leading with integrity. Specifically, the case highlights GE's corporate social responsibility and ethical practices. The company leads by example, and integrity is woven into everything it does as part of the business, including safeguarding its people and taking care of the environment. As a high-tech industrial company, GE's operations impact the environment one way or another; thus, it is worth looking at how the company ensures that it is minimizing that impact. Furthermore, the case examines various initiatives of GE to invest in its people, reduce the impact on the environment, and innovate to build better tomorrow for healthcare and aviation.Item Intercultural Competencies for Career Advancement: A Comparative Study of Managerial Competencies in United Arab Emirates and Malaysia(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2017) Haladay, Diana J.; Sergio, Rommel Pilapil; Makki, Ahmed M.; Zarim, Zainal Abu; Ismail, Mohd NorThis research paper examines competencies and career advancement of 338 managers in two different countries: the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. The descriptive-correlational survey method has been utilized. Research findings show that managerial competencies are similar across the two countries. It also reveals that managerial competencies are also a strong predictor of career advancement. There is limited research on the impact of culture on competencies and career advancement in non-Western countries. Thus, this research study benchmarks the similarities and differences of the impact of culture and competencies in career advancement at the managerial level in these two non-Western countries. © 2017, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.Item Abu Dhabi Ports' Horns of Hope: A Global Initiative During COVID-19(Case Centre UK, 2022) Gernal, Liza; Reyes, Fernando Eraña; Sergio, RommelThis case study highlights Abu Dhabi Ports' corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. It features into the organization's best practices, work methodologies, and sound tactical approaches in responding to the changes and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has paralyzed several parts of the economy across the world. The case examines how Abu Dhabi Ports demonstrated corporate social responsibility and commitment to its people. It also notes the achievements of the organization, particularly the awards it received in recognition of its people management solutions.Item Assessing views towards energy sources with social media data: The case of nuclear energy in the UAE(MDPI, 2021-11) Contu, Davide; Elshareif, Elgilani Eltahir; Gurrib, IkhlaasInsights from the analysis of views towards energy sources are of paramount importance for the setting of successful energy policies, especially in instances where the public might be reluctant towards certain projects’ implementations. This work presents an analysis of social media comments data given in response to posts around the connection to the grid of a nuclear plant reactor in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We assessed comments on Facebook posts of local and international media, as well those written in response to a post of a social media influencer. We extracted the main themes and performed sentiment analysis. The results indicate the presence of mixed views towards nuclear energy when focusing on comments on international media’s posts as well as on the social media influencer’s post considered, whilst they were very positive when assessing comments to local media. All in all, nuclear waste and previous nuclear accidents appear to be as the top of the mind; at the same time, solar energy is often suggested in the comments as a viable energy source for the UAE. Implications for the communication of nuclear energy developments in social media are discussed. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).Item Attitudes towards climate change and energy sources in oil exporters(Elsevier Ltd, 2021-11) Contu, Davide; Kaya, Ozgur; Kaya, IlkerSwitching to energy mixes that use more non-fossil fuels is critical to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to tackle climate change. Climate change poses a major challenge to oil exporting Gulf countries, like the rest of the world, but research on human views on energy and climate change is limited. We aim to fill this gap by focusing on the UAE, a nation with a peculiar demographic composition that includes an overwhelming proportion of expatriates and transitions towards green and nuclear resources. We examine whether transiency of residence and life satisfaction play a role in influencing perceptions about climate change and energy sources. We also analyze how expatriates' opinions differ from UAE citizens who have significantly higher income and welfare benefits. © 2021 The Authors