bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Women's career progression barriers and organisational justice: a study of Iranian society
Authors: Jamali Reza , Nejati Mehran 
Published: October 2009

PurposeFor a long time, women have not been judged by the same standards as men when trying to enter a trade or profession reserved traditionally for men or even after becoming part of it, while progressing. This paper explores the concept of career progression of female staff in an academic institute. It seeks to answer the following research questions: What barriers are faced by women in career progression? What are the differences in perceptions among female sub‐groups regarding these barriers? What policies and improvement programs can be provided to promote women's career progression? What is the relationship between women's career progression and justice?Design/methodology/approachAccording to the research objectives, the best way to collect the required data was a questionnaire. In this research, three different questionnaires were used. Also, to rank women's career progression barriers, the TOPSIS technique was used.FindingsThe authors found that there is a significant relationship between career progression barriers with interactional and distributive justice. Our ranking results showed that lack of organisational support and job restrictions are the main barriers to women's career progression. Also, flexible working time options is the main support program for eliminating of these barriers.Research limitations/implicationsThe major research limitations of this study were the failure to collect and analyse data that would yield a quantitative assessment of organisational justice, and the distribution of questionnaires among women at work.Originality/valueThis is the first study of its nature conducted among female Iranian university staff to focus on barriers to women's career progression. The paper also offers practical guidance that can be used by management and women employees to facilitate career progression.
A framework for effective feedback for non‐native learners of English writing
Authors: Pounder Elaine 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to devise, test, and refine a method suitable for providing effective feedback for second language university students learning to write academic and business English.Design/methodology/approachThe research takes the form of a case study using real learners in a Middle Eastern university who are provided with feedback slips which has been specifically designed to cover actual learning objectives along with standard features that remain common across all writing. The feedback slips are attached to assignments, marked using international symbols to highlight errors, for return to students. Following the use of such specifically designed feedback slips throughout the semester, students are invited to participate in the research activity to provide comments as to their effectiveness.FindingsThe paper led to a finding that not only are the feedback slips welcomed but also they are appreciated by all 15 students who participated as volunteers because they have found them to add value to their learning.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is limited by its small sample group and the fact that it is carried out in only one Middle Eastern university where the students are under pressure not only from overcrowded classrooms, but also to complete degrees in the same time frame as native English speaking students. The paper can be extended to include students in other universities with similar issues. It can even be extended beyond the Middle East and not necessarily only in universities where overcrowding pressures exist, i.e. it can include postgraduate students, high‐school students, and even native English learners of composition who might benefit from this particular feedback system.Practical implicationsConsidering student views, it is suggested that specifically designed feedback slips would provide a welcome addition to the repertoire of feedback options that are available to instructors.Originality/valueThis is an original initiative by the author which has been proven useful according to the end‐users, i.e. students. It can therefore be of value to instructors who would wish to explore ways to assist aid their own students so that they can make the most of their limited study time by being directed to specific areas for personal development.
Pharmacy students' perceptions of the teaching evaluation process in Jordan
Authors: Al‐Abbadi Ibrahim , Alkhateeb Fadi , Khanfar Nile , Mujtaba Bahaudin , Latif David 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess pharmacy students' perceptions of the usefulness of the teaching evaluation (TE) instrument and the rationale behind their responses.Design/methodology/approachA comprehensive survey instrument is constructed by the authors. Pharmacy students at University of Jordan (JU) are asked to complete the survey instrument. The questionnaire is completed during students first required, regularly scheduled class.FindingsOf the 577 pharmacy students who are invited to participate, 557 completed the survey for a response rate of 96.5 percent. The majority of the 557 pharmacy students viewed student evaluation of teaching as worthwhile (4.11 out of five on a Likert scale anchored at “1, strongly disagree” and “5, strongly agree”), but agreed that the faculty members receiving the best evaluations are not always the most effective teachers (3.54 out of five).Research limitations/implicationsThis paper only surveyed pharmacy students who are studying at JU and hence the results from this paper cannot be generalized to all pharmacy schools or countries in the Middle East. In addition, results may be biased by a social desirability effect whereas students respond in a manner that is different than their true perceptions.Practical implicationsStudents acknowledge that the nature of the course, answering questions during office hours, and a pleasant instructor personality positively affected their evaluation score, while the majority of students disagree with the belief that having less work to do and easy exams impacted positively their evaluation scores.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the few attempts to assess the students' perception towards the TE process and the rationale behind their responses in the Middle East.
Current status of operations research/management science education at the United Arab Emirates business schools
Authors: Abdulrahman Yousef Darwish 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate current status of operations research/management science education at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) business schools in terms of the position of operational research/management science (OR/MS) course in the curriculum, the title assigned to this course, its objectives, contents, teaching methods, text‐books used, assessment methods, and pre‐requisites.Design/methodology/approachOwing to the nature of this paper (exploratory), and the data collected (non‐numerical) this paper has adopted qualitative approach to analyze the collected data.FindingsResults reveal that all business schools offering this course offer only one OR/MS course. Results also show that OR/MS course is a business core course in the majority of schools offering this course. It is also found that different titles are assigned to this course at different business schools offering this course. Furthermore, results indicate that the main teaching mode used in this course is lectures and main assessment method is exams. It is found that the prevalent objectives of OR/MS course at the business schools offering this course are: teaching students quantitative skills needed to tackle real‐world problems, and teaching students how to use certain OR/MS techniques and how to use software to solve OR/MS models.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper like any other paper in the social sciences suffers a number of limitations. For example, this paper is based mainly on course syllabus as a mode of obtaining the required data. Therefore, if other modes of data collection, such as, for example, questionnaires are used, more advanced analysis techniques could be used and this in turn might enhance the results of the study. Furthermore, this paper is based mainly on the point of views of the instructors teaching OR/MS course and therefore neglecting the views of the students taking the course.Practical implicationsThis paper has a number of implications for courses' developers and instructors alike. For courses' developers, they will be aware of current status of OR/MS education in the UAE and this in turn might enable them make better decisions regarding OR/MS courses in terms of objectives, contents, teaching formats, assessment methods, etc. For instructors, they will learn from the experiences of each other and this, of course, will enhance their ability to deliver the course in much more effective manner.Originality/valueOwing to paucity of studies concerning OR/MS education in the Arab countries in general and in the UAE in particular, this paper is the first paper which provides a comprehensive picture of the status of OR/MS education at the UAE business schools.
Planning practices, strategy types and firm performance in the Arabian Gulf region
Authors: Yusuf Attahir , Saffu Kojo 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate planning practices, strategy types, and the performance of indigenous firms in Bahrain and United Arab Emirates (UAE).Design/methodology/approachData are collected from cheif executive officers (CEOs) and top management of 95 local companies sampled from Chamber of Commerce and Industry databases in Bahrain and UAE using face‐to‐face interviews. Analysis of variance and univariate logistic regression are employed in analyzing the data.FindingsAlthough most of the firms are long‐term planners, many of them do not have a planning process. Majority of the firms are Prospectors and Analyzers. Prospectors perform considerably better than all the other strategy types. Nevertheless, the firms that are included in this paper appear to be cautious and not aggressive in entering new markets or in taking the lead in introducing and marketing new products.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper suffers from selection bias by focusing on indigenous‐owned companies. Also, the data originate from self‐reported responses from business leaders and executives. The results do not establish causality. Finally, only broad demographic links are considered. Other individual and firm variables may influence performance in different ways than indicated here.Practical implicationsManagers must pay heed to the usefulness of planning and ensure that their companies have a planning process in place. Given the performance of Prospectors, managers must adopt some prospector strategies. Experience and high level of education as essential ingredients to successful planning and performance require management consideration.Originality/valueThe paper provides empirical support for Miles and Snow typology and corroborates the existing understanding that planning is beneficial to firms from an under‐researched part of the world.
Work intensity, work hours, satisfactions, and psychological well‐being among Egyptian managers
Authors: Burke Ronald J. , El‐Kot Ghada 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of measures of work intensity and work hours on potential antecedents and work and well‐being consequences.Design/methodology/approachData are collected from 242 male and female managers and professionals working in a variety of organizations in Egypt using anonymously completed questionnaires, with a 48 percent response rate.FindingsWork intensity is significantly correlated with work hours, but weakly. Work hours and work intensity share only one common personal demographic and work situation predictor (level of education) but it has opposite relationships with the work hours and work intensity measures. Work hours and work intensity also share one common stable personality predictor, non‐required work, and a workaholic job behavior. This measure however likely reflectes the requirements of managerial jobs more than the addictive and negative aspects of workaholism. Work intensity is more strongly and consistently related to both work and well‐being outcomes. Interestingly, work intensity is positively related to work outcomes and negatively related to indicators of psychological well‐being.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample is likely non‐representative of Egyptian managers and data are collected at one point in time making it difficult to determine causality.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that work intensity may be more important than work hours as factors in employee work experiences.Originality/valueThe paper fills a gap in understanding of human resource management practices and experiences in Egypt.
Joint venture instability and monitoring
Authors: Roy Chowdhury Prabal 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to build a theory of joint venture formation and instability based on synergy and monitoring.Design/methodology/approachThis problem is formulated as a dynamic game and solved using the notion of subgame perfect Nash equilibrium.FindingsIt was found that monitoring problems may prevent the joint venture from forming at all. Moreover, joint venture formation usually involves over‐monitoring, and ex post could involve cheating by one, or both the firms. Faced with the possibility of over‐monitoring, firms may choose to under‐invest in improving the input quality. The paper develops some testable implications of this theory.Originality/valueThe contribution of this paper is both methodological, as well as in terms of generation of new insight. It provides a framework that allows one to analyze issues like both sided moral hazard, as well as monitoring in joint ventures. New insights are that monitoring issues can take several forms including over‐ and under‐monitoring by partner firms, and, there is a linkage between such monitoring problems and joint venture instability.
Pursuing inclusion in India: a story of specification errors
Authors: Suryanarayana M.H. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate India's five year plan strategies for including the deprived in the development process since Independence.Design/methodology/approachThis is a policy review paper based on past studies.FindingsThe paper argues that effective policy formulation for inclusion and its evaluation is conditioned by the available institutional capacity to generate and effectively utilize a sound information base. Using empirical illustrations based on past studies, this paper shows that India's pursuit of inclusion has been hampered because of the limited appreciation of design as well as limitations in available information. This has led to a mechanical pursuit of sophistication in policy formulation, which has rendered both the implementation and an honest evaluation of the policy process difficult.Originality/valueThis paper has relevance for inclusive policy reforms and will open up a debate, as well as future research, on the issues raised.
The low‐income housing market in Jordan
Authors: Al‐Homoud Majd , Al‐Oun Salem , Al‐Hindawi Al‐Mutasem 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe housing sector in Jordan suffers from a lack of balance between supply and demand, in general, and from the inability to meet the demands of low‐income households, in specific. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potentials and obstacles facing low‐income housing supply. It is shown that there is undersupply in low‐income housing.Design/methodology/approachThe attributes of the supply–demand model are explored using qualitative and quantitative research methods. The first research step was archival. Findings indicated a presence of major obstacles facing developers and hindering them from supplying low‐income housing. The second research step included face‐to‐face interviews with the local developers in three major cities: Amman, Irbid and Zarqa. They were interviewed using a semi‐structured and open‐ended questionnaire.FindingsResults indicated that most plausible causality of undersupply of low‐income housing is due to macro‐environment attributes: controllable – management (lack of human resources and capacity building), real estate (lack of marketing skills and sales advertising), technology and construction industry (inaccessible appropriate building technology and affordable construction), land ownership and site selection (limited to the developers geographical area); and uncontrollable – financing (small capital operation and difficulties in bank loans and lending), government policies (lack of incentives, tax exemptions, and rigid laws and regulations), and social and cultural (social needs requires certain spatial arrangements and rejection of borrowing from financial institutions for religious reasons).Practical implicationsThe study recommends increasing supply of low‐income housing can be achieved by various means and not by single attribute. Attributes affecting this price reduction and increase homeownership include implementing real estate principles and processes, co‐operation of all key‐players through various forms of public/private partnership, facilitating procedures in commercial banks, increasing the number of units that share services and infrastructure, constructing multi‐use housing projects, defining gradual revenue rates for services and limiting revenue rates for the housing units, developing local construction material, using simple shapes and configurations, and reducing non‐used space like the formal reception and dining areas despite their cultural value.Research limitations/implicationsStatistical inferences will be needed in a future study to complement the present study's investigation of low‐income housing production in Jordan.Originality/valueAs the first of its kind, the research help to identify policy implications for different partners (housing developers, local planning authorities, national housing and planning authorities and government policy makers) in order to increase homeownership for low‐income groups.
Housing price volatility and its determinants
Authors: Lin Lee Chyi 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the housing price volatility for eight capital cities in Australia over 1987‐2007. Specifically, the volatility of Australian housing and its determinants were investigated.Design/methodology/approachAn exponential‐generalised autoregressive conditional heteoskedasticity (EGARCH) model was employed to analyse the volatility for eight capital cities in Australia. The Engle LM test was also utilised to examine the volatility clustering effects in these cities.FindingsThe volatility clustering effects (ARCH effects) were found in many Australian capital cities. The importance of estimating each individual city's EGARCH model was also demonstrated in which the determinants of housing volatility vary from a city to another city. Asymmetric of the positive and negative shocks were also documented.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has implications for investors and policy makers in which housing investors should estimate the conditional variance (EGARCH process) of a housing market in respect to the volatility of housing series is not always constant over time. Furthermore, policy makers should also address the importance of considering the sub‐national factors in formulating the national housing policy. The analysis and results are limited by the quality of the data.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the few studies in housing volatility. Additionally, it is probably the first attempt to assess the volatility spillover effects in the Australian housing market.
Considering client‐driven sustainability in residential housing
Authors: Raisbeck Peter , Wardlaw Sarah 
Published: October 2009

PurposeEnergy emissions from the new houses being built over recent years have increased rather than declined since the implementation of the current government rating system. This is despite evidence of Australians' growing concern about climate change. This paper seeks to compare the demographics, attitudes and knowledge of people considering building a new home with the factors that would motivate them to adopt a more sustainable home.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical data from a survey of 32 people considering building a home were statistically analysed.FindingsThe results of the research indicate that financial incentives are the key motivator. Furthermore, the research identifies a relationship between age and preferred motivators.Practical implicationsThe findings of the research project allow a better understanding of the target group, which can be used to initiate more targeted motivators to encourage them to adopt a more sustainable house design. This can inform more directed marketing of sustainable investment incentives.Originality/valueThe research project establishes an understanding of the target group and the important motivators that would encourage these people, who are considering building a new house, to drive sustainability in residential design. The findings allow a better understanding of the target group, which can be used to initiate more targeted motivators to encourage them to adopt a more sustainable house design.
Evaluating the sustainability of urban housing development in Nigeria through innovative infrastructure management
Authors: Otegbulu Austin , Adewunmi Yewande 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThis paper aims to determine the sustainability of housing development in the context of neighbourhood infrastructure provision and also to examine the level of averting cost and substitutes resorted to by households in the study areas.Design/methodology/approachA total of 80 questionnaires each were distributed and retrieved from households in Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) town and Badia, Lagos, Nigeria. The questionnaire design was based on a combination of an extensive review of literature dealing with the economic impact of urban infrastructure on the citizens of Lagos metropolis. All respondents returned completed questionnaires in a usable format, representing a 100 per cent response rate.FindingsInfrastructure provision is not sustainable in the study areas. This is based on the fact that infrastructure provision in the study areas is deplorable and in consequence households are willing to pay for its improvement.Research limitations/implicationsSustainability is a goal that allows for continuing improvement of standards of living without irreversible damage to resources need to survive as that humans species. It therefore implies that housing development has to be designed in a sustainable manner with due regard to its neighbourhood. This is reinforced by the fact that housing development cannot be sustainable without neighbourhood interactions and cost‐efficient infrastructure management.Originality/valueReview of sustainable urban services is needed to curb slum formation and deteriorating housing conditions in urban neighbourhoods. This will be a veritable tool in urban housing and infrastructure management.