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Data and information about products and services are now easily accessed via all types of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, Blogs, Twitter and others. There is a mass of evidence that, in many countries including Saudi Arabia, SNSs are now important tools for making and managing key relationships among individuals and diverse societies. As the core of marketing theory is about making trusted and robust connections with customers for use in product and service development, SNSs in marketing have been seen to give a strategic and competitive edge, creating a new domain or industry known as Social Media Marketing (SMM). However, marketing managers still face the challenge of how to use such platforms in SMM campaigns to secure more profitable outcomes by influencing customers' behaviour and purchase intentions, and this is very much the case for Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs). Saudi marketers in particular have not yet mastered the efficient use of these sites for marketing purposes. This study aims to develop an Integrated Social Media Marketing Model (ISMMM) to assess the impact of SMM practices on consumer behaviours and purchase intention within the context of Saudi Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This development is to enable those types of businesses within the Saudi marketplace to obtain improved outcomes from their marketing initiatives using the SNSs. The study adopts an exploratory research design, quantitative data collection and analysis, and literature analysis research methodologies and deductive approach with a survey tool as the research strategy for data collection; thus, a data collection instrument was developed. The ISMMM Model was developed based on integration of different theories, of which the most significant were: Social Impact Theory (SIT); Consumer Culture Theory (CCT); and Social Capital Theory (SCT). Key constructs involved: Social Capital (Bonding and Bridging); Electronic Word-of-Mouth (EWOM); Friendof-a-Friend (FOAF); Online Advertisement; Brand Knowledge (Image, Trust, Loyalty and Awareness); Purchase Intension; Customer Behaviour; and Actual Purchase. The study revealed a high Goodness-of-Fit for the ISMMM Model and that ISMMM can identify the key factors to be considered by Saudi marketers for use of SNSs for marketing purposes. The findings showed Saudi users to have a positive perception of SNSs with regard to Social Capital Bonding and Bridging, EWOM and the FOAF, while perceptions of Online Advertisement were slightly positive. Saudis were also shown to have positive perceptions of Brand Image, Loyalty, Trust and Awareness, as well as Brand Knowledge, and Purchase Intention, Customer Behaviour and Actual Purchase. Other key conclusions were: that Social Capital Bonding and Bridging can explain the Social Capital construct; that Social Capital explained the EWOM and FOAF constructs; and that SMM practices explained Brand Knowledge. In addition, the SMM practices and Brand Knowledge can jointly explain the Purchase Intention; the Brand Knowledge and Purchase Intention can explain the Customer Behaviour; and Customer Behaviour can explain the Actual Purchase. The study's findings provided a number of key recommendations for marketers and marketing managers as well as for Saudi users of SNSs. The study recommends that marketing managers should treat marketing initiatives by SNSs as a real and strategic opportunity and as a transition paradigm for providing quality marketing services and reaching goals successfully. The study also recommends that they should identify the best and most appropriate SNSs for their businesses to use, that they should invest in SMM campaigns to enable highly effective and low-cost channels for quality customer service, and that they should focus on creating a Social Capital environment through bonding and connecting with Saudi users using SNSs. The study also recommended that marketers conduct frequent and quality reviews of the marketing channels, that they continue to use traditional marketing channels in parallel to the SMM, that they enhance their online advertisement channels, and that they strengthen relationships and ties with Saudi users of SNSs to understand their behaviours and intentions about making purchasing decisions, but with very high care as this may create vulnerabilities. The study recommends that Saudi users treat the SNS platforms in a friendly manner, showing respect for content posted by Saudi SMEs and other users on SNSs, that they use only the appropriate channels to purchase products online, and that they improve their awareness and knowledge about SNSs and SMM. The study also recommends that Saudi users communicate with SMEs for more feedback on SMM practices over SNSs, that they are aware of cyber risks and dangers threatening users, and that they inform the responsible parties about any risks. Many of the available marketing theories were developed and applied prior to the era of SNSs and SMM. Therefore, this work contributes by transforming the use of those older theories into the recent circumstances of technology adoption. The integration performed using different theories with validation in this work brings important theoretical and technological innovation and insights into the modern online marketing domain. This innovation can deal in a suitable way with the needs of the web 2.0 and cyberspace. The ISMMM Model developed and validated in this work extends the use of theories from different domains into technology oriented marketing domain to identify new factors with impact in the context of SMM and SNSs. Despite all theories used in this work for the development of ISMMM Model has been used individually in other studies, this work combines the factors defined by all theories to explain the extent to which those variables are significant in the area of SMM over SNSs, and to show the dynamic relationship among those variables to achieve marketing goals for the SMEs.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the contextual embeddedness of entrepreneurship on female entrepreneurs. The contextual embeddedness of entrepreneurship in the social and geo-cultural environments has been consistently documented and societal perceived gender differences play a salient role in the development of female entrepreneurship. Moreover, there is an increase in emphasis on institutions as strong influencers of entrepreneurial engagement given their strong influence on the culture, beliefs and values of individuals and their views of society. The contribution that institutional theory brings to the analysis of the current knowledge of the state of entrepreneurship is even more significant in the case of female entrepreneurs who, according to the literature, are constantly disadvantaged and continually faced with significant obstacles due to their institutional setting. Also, investigating female entrepreneurship from a feminist perspective allows for attaining more profound insights by conducting the analysis both through the views of the female entrepreneurs as well as for them. Accordingly, this thesis combines an institutional gender-aware approach and a feminist perspective simultaneously to advance a comprehensive framework for the study of female entrepreneurship. In particular, the newly developed framework adopted for this thesis, the Institutional and Feminist Female Entrepreneurship Model (IFFEM) investigates the effects of institutional factors on female entrepreneurship at the meso-environment, macro-environment and motherhood levels and interprets their influence through a feminist standpoint allowing for more in-depth insights from the perspective of the female entrepreneurs. The investigation takes place in the Kingdom of Bahrain due to its standing as a representative Arab nation that lies in the heart of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the larger Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, as a response to the lack of research on female entrepreneurship in this region. The study is conducted using qualitative methodology via in-depth semi-structured interviews with a sample of 44 female entrepreneurs approached through a snowball sampling technique based on initial personal acquaintances. The sample is representative of locals and expats, owners of new startups, established enterprises, home-based businesses and electronic businesses. The findings highlight five main themes and several subthemes that influence female entrepreneurship at the meso-environment, macro-environment and motherhood levels. The main identified themes are, at the macro-environment 1) regulatory setting and 2) socio-economic conditions; at the meso-environment, 3) initiatives, and at the motherhood level, 4) motherhood ideals and 5) motherhood environs. In addition, the IFFEM model reveals additional interesting results that focus on the personal insights and perspectives of the female entrepreneurs, thereby confirming the appropriateness and relevance of the model as a tool for investigating female entrepreneurship. The thesis concludes with useful recommendations at the practical and theoretical levels for the study of female entrepreneurship.

This study aims to investigate the effect of uniform anti-money laundering policy adoption in Bahrain. The implementation of such a policy is required to improve transparency that may assist Bahrain Government, CBB and Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to compel investors to declare sources of money to banks voluntarily and Non-Banking Financial Companies(NBFCs) and report all violations of regulatory benchmarks to Compliance Directorate (CD) and FIU. The elevation of such transparent information exchange will deter launderers from placement, layering and integrating ill-gotten gains through the Bahraini financial institutions as well as constricting legitimisation of laundered proceeds and retarding funding of criminal activities. To examine the above, this study adopted a mixed method research design, comprising of in-depth interviews and secondary data. 31 employees from various banks and NBFCs were interviewed, and the secondary data was collected from banks, NBFCs, CD, FIU and the Public Prosecutor. These were analysed using content and correlation analysis to assess the validity of in-depth responses and secondary data. The findings of the study reveal the necessity to conform to the Basel guidelines and Financial Actions Task Force (FATF) 40 recommendations. The conformity to these equips banks and NBFCs to utilise Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) and Risk-Based Due Diligence (RBDD). Their judicious application enables them to communicate Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) and Suspicious Transaction Reporting (STR), share authentic information, analyse and report all breaches and awareness to the CBB, FIU, Ministry of Interior and Public Prosecutor. They are required to search, detect, convict, confiscate illicit wealth and constrict unlawful activities, signalling the impact of the uniform policy. Their utilisation is needed to enable banks and NBFCs to discharge the role of gatekeepers and disrupt money-laundering process. Finally, the study justifies the necessity to establish the conceptual framework and adopt FATF fully to reform anti-money laundering governance. They allow CBB and FIU to collaborate with banks and NBFCs, improve countermeasures and apply these to protect the financial integrity of Bahrain. Focus on such key goals stimulates a review of customer identity and sources of fund assess the authenticity of funding sources declared by customers and initiate search and seizure of tainted money.

Unhealthy diet, low levels of physical activity, high levels of sedentary behaviour and sleep deprivation are important weight related behaviours that have contributed to the increased prevalence of adolescent obesity. Numerous interventions have been developed to improve weight-related behaviours but they are usually focused on the individual and they ignore the effects of social networks on these behaviours. Much of the research in obesity has explored the role of social networks in promoting health through social influence and selection. However, little research has examined how the structure of social networks and the position of the individuals in the network could condition behaviour association (regardless of the underlying mechanism being social influence or selection) in adolescent friendship networks. Examining social network structure, individual position in the network and how they interact with individual behaviour in friendship networks can assist in better understanding the development and persistence of weight-related behaviours in adolescent friendship networks and provides valuable insight on how to modify these behaviours. Hence, this study aims to examine the role of friendship network properties (density, popularity and centrality) on the association between individual's and friends' weight-related behaviours after reviewing the literature and analysing social network and behavioural survey data. Methods are drawn from a set of analytical tools known as 'Social Network Analysis', which uses friendship nomination data from a complete network (socio-metric), along with reported data on diet, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep deprivation to investigate how friendship network structure is moderating behaviour association between individuals and their friends in the network. Four schools in Kingdom of Bahrain participated in the study with a total of 673 adolescents between the ages of 11 and 15. Findings suggest that there are associations between adolescents and their friends' in multiple weight-related behaviours. There is also evidence for the moderating role of some network properties on these associations. Findings are gender specific, which has implications for gender-tailored interventions.

There are different criteria that affect active leadership styles that enhance the role of a principal as an Instructional Leadership. However, many principals lack such criteria where a strong principal considered as an Instructional Leadership. To become Instructional Leaders, principals must transform their practices from managerial to instructional. They need to exercise their leadership by exhibiting the leadership styles in their role and character, or their role will merely perform administrative duties that are akin to an administrative position. Furthermore, a school principal as a leader should play an important role in enhancing teachers' satisfaction. This study investigated the moderating effect of four leadership styles Directive, Supportive, Participative, and Achievement-oriented (D, S, P, A) on Instructional Leadership and teachers' outcomes (job satisfaction, job expectancies and acceptance of leader). The study used mixed methods, qualitative survey and quantitative focus group to develop a model based upon empirical data. The findings are based on a survey of 536 participants including teachers, principals and senior chiefs at various levels of primary, elementary and secondary schools across the Kingdom of Bahrain. The statistical and thematic analysis of the data shows that there is a direct and positive relationship between Instructional Leaderships and teacher's outcomes when moderated by the four leadership styles. The contribution of this study is the empirically tested relationships between Path Goal Theory and Instructional Leadership which shows that there are statistically significant relationships between D, S, P, A and the relationship between Instructional Leadership and the teacher's job satisfaction, job expectancy and acceptance of leader. Focus group finding shows that Leadership styles D, S, P, A transforms Instructional Leadership into a form that enhances the leadership role in Kingdom of Bahrain that Transactional Leadership influences Job expectancy, whilst Referent Power influences acceptance of leaders.

This research was undertaken to study the impact of single and multicomponent knowledge translation interventions (KTIs) on barriers to the integration of Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) into Clinical Decision Making (CDM) in the context of physical therapists (PTs) and find out which of the two KTIs was more effective. A literature review showed that research knowledge (e.g. CPG) in the field of PT (Physical Therapy) is not being integrated in to clinical practice (e.g. CDM), thus leading to a research-practice (R-P) gap in other words CPG-CDM gap. It is suggested in the literature that the management and behavioural aspects of PTs might be acting as barriers hindering the integration of the research knowledge into clinical practice consequently affecting the delivery of optimum patientcare. Remedial measures, namely KTIs, are suggested to address those barriers and to bridge the R-P gap. However, the phenomenon of the R-P gap, the causes of it and the possible interventions are not well understood concepts in the literature, particularly in the context of PTs. CPG for Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) in PT was chosen as the example of research knowledge. It was argued that barriers have the potential to affect CDM which in turn can affect the CPG-CDM gap. Lack of knowledge about CPG-CDM gap is a major limitation in the literature that is affecting the integration of CPG into CDM. Other gaps found in the literature that have the potential to affect CPG-CDM gap include management and behavioural variables as probable causes of CPG-CDM gap (or barriers), use of KTIs to bridge the CPG-CDM gap and, KTIs. Furthermore, lack of knowledge about relationship between barriers and CPG-CDM gap, KTIs and barriers, KTIs and CPG-CDM gap and the impact of KTIs (effectiveness) in bridging CPG-CDM gap were the other gaps found in the literature that had potential implications to CPG-CDM gap. These gaps were addressed in this research to some extent. Relationships between the independent variables (lack of knowledge of PTs in CPG, lack of favourable attitude of PTs towards CPG and lack of self-efficacy and motivation of PTs to integrate CPG into CDM) and the dependent variables (CDM and CPG-CDM gap) were defined and models were proposed. Further, it was posited that KTIs could impact barriers based on theories and models found in the literature that provided some basis to create the linkage between KTIs and management and behavioural barriers. Education material (EM) and virtual communities of practice (VCoP) were chosen as of the KTIs in this study. The models of Cabana et al. (1999) and Fischer et al. (2016), primarily, were used to ground the conceptual models represented by figures and equations. Methodologically, a positivist approach with an objective ontological stance was employed and a deductive approach and quantitative research method were used to address the research gaps. The research design included a longitudinal element and survey questionnaire. The target population was licensed PTs in the USA. Random sampling was used. Two groups of PTs were identified namely EM-group and VCoP group. Data was collected from the groups before and after administering the KTIs. The results showed that single and multicomponent KTIs impacted barriers in different ways. EM impacted lack of favourable attitude of PTs towards CPG, and lack of self-efficacy and motivation of PTs to integrate CPG into CDM as barriers and narrow the CPG-CDM gap. VCoP was found to impact the combination of four barriers and narrow CPG-CDM gap. In addition, barriers in groups of two were also impacted by VCoP and narrowed the CPG-CDM gap. Furthermore, a CPG knowledge score card and a corresponding CDM score card developed by the researcher were used to test the change behaviour of PTs in integrating CPG into CDM. This experiment showed that barriers existed and caused CPG-CDM gap and KTIs could narrow the CPG-CDM gap. The findings indicate that this research has contributed to knowledge in many ways, including unearthing the relationship between CPG-CDM gap and barriers, better understanding of KTIs, their relationship with CPG-CDM gap and barriers, gaining knowledge about the impact of single and multicomponent KTIs on single and multiple barriers and identification of methods to bridge the CPG-CDM gap.

Information Technology Governance (ITG) is one of the most innovative practices through its provision of support for decision-makers in organisations. Interestingly, it has increasingly become a de facto strategy for organisations that are seeking to optimise their performance. ITG has emerged to support agencies in the integration of information technology (IT) infrastructures and the delivery of high-quality services. On the other hand, decision-making processes in public sector organisations can be multi-faceted and complex, and decision-makers play a major role in the adoption of innovation and technology in the government agencies. While formally adopting IT governance (ITG) has numerous reported benefits, many studies have shown that few organisations have adopted the ITG practice, particularly in the government sector. Therefore, this study attempts to identify and understand the dimensions that hinder ITG adoption and its successful use. The main objective of this research is to investigate and develop a theoretical model of the obstacles preventing formal ITG adoption, from both institutional and individual perspectives. Based on empirical evidence gathered via semi-structured interviews (n=32) with IT directors in government organisations as a qualitative inquiry, this study attempts to investigate institutional and individual dimensions that impact decision making for the adoption of ITG in the context of the public sector in development countries such as Oman. Furthermore, this study focuses on combining institutional and individual perspectives to explain how individuals can make decisions in response to institutional impacts via the integration of theories such as Institutional Theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). It also explores the key dimensions that influence decision-making in the public sector concerning the adoption of ITG. The findings of this study illustrate and analyse the institutional and individual dimensions that impact on decisions for the adoption of ITG and contribute to the body of knowledge by highlighting the dimensions impacting decision-making for adopting ITG in public sector organisations. In doing so, this study contributes to better understand the applicability of integrating both TPB and IS theories to explore and develop a model of ITG adoption in the public sector organization and advances the scholarship by developing a more holistic model. This adoption has benefits such as reaching organisations' strategic goals, improving performance and conferring other competitive advantages. As a final point, this study advises accelerating the adoption of ITG to increase the efficiency, productivity and transparency of government work as well as to make available integrated smart electronic services. Further studies on the adoption of ITG in the public sector in different contexts, or comparative research, may help to develop a deep understanding of the value of ITG innovation in government organisations to enable evaluation of its significance in enhancing e-government.

There is a consensus within the United Nations (UN), as well as various governmental entities, politicians, individuals, scholars, and academic communities, on the need to reform governmental performances. However, there is no unanimity among them pertaining to a specific reforming model that is valid for all contexts worldwide. Accordingly, many performance management processes and practical techniques have been put into practice, which aim at improving governmental institutions' performance. Hence, the purpose of this research is to develop, by studying the public health services that are provided by the government, an effective model, with the aim of improving governmental performance in the context of Bahrain. With regard to originality and values, the research discerns that among the many factors affecting governmental entities' performance, there are two dominant contextual factors, i.e. the sociocultural and political forces, both of which synergise with the so-called United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Good Governance Approach. The study develops a new perspective on the Interactive Complex Intervention Model (ICIM), stemming from the Grounded Theory (GT) and Normalisation Process Theory/Model (NPT/M), as disclosed in practical terms by the outcomes of the data gathered and its analysis. In fact, although those elements influence all other factors, there are interactive correlative impacts among all factors. Despite these outcomes, the data obtained from the research cannot be generalised, as they are derived from the local context of Bahrain; certainly until now, they can allow other similar contexts in particular to implement the insights reported in this study. It is important to note that the most influencing factor enabling this research, which aims to develop the ICIM for reforming governmental entities' performance in Bahrain, is the salient points raised in Imam Ali's famous consultative letter to the Governor of Egypt, Malik Ashtar, which he wrote while he was the Caliph, as scholars regard this letter as a basic guide for the Islamic administration and the UNDP Good Governance Approach. Regarding the practical implications, the research has attempted to empirically understand the role of the aforementioned primary contributing forces, that are regarded as the critical prerequisite - the first step that allows the governments' decision makers, based on the underlying knowledge involved in the work, to forthwith provide them with several contextual practical insights towards adopting the ICIM in order to enhance and reform the government entities' performance.

Due to the limited studies related to healthcare services future expanding demand, required resources and utilities, and related environmental and economic challenges; this research is carried out to complement other researchers in other economic sectors to identify the gaps, highlight good potentials of sustainability achievements and recommend necessary actions. This research investigates the future expanding demand of healthcare services; the environmental and economic challenges related to this expand and its environmental and economic impacts and the opportunities to overcome these impacts in order to improve healthcare services sustainability and performance. The research follows a SLR to discover earlier works related to environmental sustainability in buildings and healthcare facilities. The environmental challenges related to expanding in healthcare facilities found in the literature are increase in energy consumption and waste generation. The environmental impacts related to these challenges are excessive CO2 and GHG emissions. The economic impacts are escalations of project expenditures, operating expenditures and utilities expenditures. The research uses SD Analysis, as a methodological approach, to framework and understands different healthcare system elements and to develop models that are representing the dynamic relations between these elements. Bahrain healthcare system is selected as a research context due to the availability of good quality healthcare secondary data, the small size of the country that makes it a good model to implement and test new concepts, the limited country resources, and the country keenness to implement sustainability plans to meet sustainability objectives. This research numerically tests and subsequently, supports the implication of stated environmental and economic challenges. It also develops a number of important technical parameters and indicators such as energy and water benchmarks for different healthcare facilities. The research also determines another two sources of environmental challenges related to expanding in healthcare facilities. The first challenge is excessive water consumption. Availability of enough treated water for healthcare applications, especially in countries with limited fresh water resources and depending on 90% of its water need on desalination like Bahrain, a tangible environmental challenge needs to be addressed. The second one is a group of environmental challenges related to the practicing of healthcare services that can expose personnel and environment to high risks. These challenges need to be efficiently managed to improve the environmental sustainability and the social sustainability of healthcare facilities. The research also investigates the effectiveness of a number of mitigation measures used to overcome the environmental and economic negative impacts, such as using energy efficiency technologies, renewable-based energy resources and waste energy recovery. In this regard, the research numerically tests and subsequently supports the implication of stated environmental and economic impacts and the effectiveness of tested measures in mitigating the undesirable results on healthcare facilities. The developed SD Model, as one of the main contributions of this research, is considered as a strategic planning and decision-making administrative tools to forecast future healthcare facilities demand and required resources. It is also considered as a risk assessment tool to assess environmental challenges related to utilities and its environmental and economic impacts in order to improve healthcare facilities sustainability and performance. The potential of utilities saving and utilities expenditures saving in healthcare buildings are high and it is recommended to work toward energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment to achieve sustainable healthcare buildings. Recovery of energy from Medical Waste incineration to be kept under consideration as it is offsetting double the quantity of CO2e emissions resulting from the incineration process. Safe recycling of wastewater of some healthcare processes is highly recommended as it can reduce water consumption and contributes to the reduction of healthcare facilities CO2e emissions. Sources of gray water and gray water applications must be carefully selected to avoid any contradiction with Infection Control regulations or other healthcare regulations. It is recommended to conduct utilities assessment studies on wide sample of healthcare facilities to avoid low peaks and odd operation periods.

This qualitative study explores the interrelationship between perceived gender discrimination and its antecedents and consequences while examining the concept of the glass ceiling that presents some barriers to the career advancement of Bahraini female workers in the banking sector. The study examines female bankers’ perception of the existence of both gender discrimination and the glass ceiling concept in this sector. It first examines the factors that cause such phenomena at three different levels namely societal, institutional and individual. The study then verifies the effects of some identified antecedents i.e. whether they foster or lower the perceived gender discrimination and how such effects happen. Furthermore, the study examines the same factors to ascertain if they are barriers that hinder women’s career advancement or enablers that support their advancement as there is a lack of empirical studies on the effect of the factors of the three mentioned levels to women’s career advancement especially in non-western context (Tlaiss, 2010; Hejase et al., 2013; Yokkongdi & Benson, 2005). The study also examines the consequences of perceived gender discrimination that occurs at the individual level. Some previous studies related to this research topic adopted the quantitative approach, hence; this is a qualitative based research that examines the perception of the respondents whose experiences and opinions expound the context. This led to understanding subjective areas such as respondents’ emotions and experiences that address the nature of perceived gender discrimination and the concept of glass ceiling in the Bahraini banking sector, focusing on “How” and “Why” type of questions instead of stressing on the quantities. The existing literature of gender discrimination especially about the area of underrepresentation of female workers in higher positions especially in financial services sector including banking is minimal. (Bruckmuller & Branscombe, 2010; Elumti et al., 2009; Durbin & Conley, 2010). This approach unveils the research questions by conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews with 26 Bahraini females as most of the previous studies examined both male and female perceptions while this research focusing at female only to make it more gender specific. The respondents hold managerial and non-managerial positions in both Islamic and conventional banks in the kingdom of Bahrain. The aim of the interview was to extract their perceptions on the factors and the consequences of gender discrimination as well as the barriers and challenges that hinder their advancement to higher managerial levels. The study captures the factors and the consequences of gender discrimination as well as the most common barriers that impede the Bahraini females’ career advancement within an Islamic and Arabic cultural context. The themes that emerged from the analysis are used to discuss the research issues in the light of previous research findings from different empirical studies. This study identifies different ways of finding factors of perceived gender discrimination and their effects as well as the challenges that may hinder the women’s career advancement in this sector. This study discovers that perceived gender discrimination exists in the Bahraini banking sector especially in areas such as hiring preference and receiving of benefits and compensations. This study also unearths the existence of glass ceiling, which is related to the gender inequality in the advancement opportunities to higher positions especially in the areas such as obtaining a promotion and holding managerial positions in the banks. The study finds out various factors that cause the perceived gender discrimination and the glass ceiling in the Bahraini banking sector which are classified at three levels as explained above.

Bahrain is a developed country that faces different economic and political challenges. Economically, Bahrain depends mostly on oil. However, there are some attempts to diversify its economy. Bahrain has established several economic projects to boost its economy including Bahrainization (Nationalization), Tamkeen (Labour fund), the Bahrain Business Incubator center, the banking sector, transport and communication, manufacturing and education. The Ministry of Education has established various educational projects to accommodate Bahrain Vision 2030, which aims to diversify the economy of Bahrain, building strategies of government and encouragement of a partnership between the private and public sector and the provision of an effective education system based on well trained teachers, enhancing the performance of public schools, provision of equal education opportunities for all students and improving and encouraging scientific education. This study investigates the different measures of secondary school effectiveness in Bahrain as a result of the new development of the education system in Bahrain including both teaching and improvement programs. These were initiated by the Ministry of Education in Bahrain and educational specialists. The literature reviews showed that secondary school effectiveness has been examined using specific factors - students' performance, teachers' performance, leadership. However, other factors such as leader-member exchange, value congruence, supportive supervisor communication and task performance have not been investigated well in the education sector and at the secondary school level in particular. The aim of this research is to investigate the impact of leader-member exchange, value congruence, supportive supervisor communication and task performance on secondary school effectiveness in Bahrain. Subsequent to this, a linkage was made between leader-member exchange and secondary school effectiveness in relation to the factors of supportive supervisor communication, task performance and value congruence on the one hand and the impact of value congruence on the relationship between leader-member exchange and secondary school effectiveness on the other. The research gap in this research is about the lack of knowledge of how to measure secondary school effectiveness in Bahrain. The conceptual model tested in this study is based on leader-member exchange theory. The study is based on a quantitative approach on reports provided by Quality Assurance Authority for Education and Training; a self-administrated questionnaire was distributed to both teachers and school administration. This was preceded by a pilot study to test the validity and reliability of the measures used in the main survey. The questionnaires were distributed and collected from 1/10/2015 until 31/10/2015. The total number of questionnaires was 1200 divided into two groups: (500) for the supervisors and (700) for the teachers. A total of 940 were returned: 420 from supervisors and 520 from teachers). The total number of questionnaires that were void was 225, 105 for supervisors, and 120 for teachers; due to missing data, the questionnaires eligible for analysis were 715, 315 for supervisors, and 400 for teachers. This empirical study reveals firstly that leader-member exchange and task performance have a significant positive and direct impact on Bahraini secondary schools' effectiveness. Second, supportive supervisor communication has a significant positive and direct impact on task performance. Third, leader-member exchange has a significant positive and direct impact on supportive supervisor communication. Finally, value congruence partially moderates the relationship between leader-member exchange and school effectiveness, leader-member exchange and supportive superior communication, and task performance relationship with supportive supervisor communication. The study also utilized the indicators of schools effectiveness provided by Quality Assurance Authority for Education and Training reports integrated with variables of leader-member exchange, supportive supervisor communication, task performance and age of school. These school indicators include the capacity to improve, students' academic achievement, students' progress in their personal development, the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning, the quality of the curriculum delivery, the quality of guidance and support for students and the quality and effectiveness of leadership and management which have a significant relationship with leader-member exchange, supportive supervisor communication, task performance, age, talented and creative students, physical disabilities, special needs and physical difficulties students. It was found that talented and creative, physical disabilities and special needs and physical difficulties students have a significant effect on the school's capacity to improve, students' academic achievement, students' progress in their personal development, the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning, the quality of the curriculum delivery, the quality of guidance and support for students and the quality and effectiveness of leadership and management. On the other hand, leader-member exchange, supportive supervisor communication, task performance and school's age have no significant effect. The research findings contribute to the theory in widening the understanding of the different measures of secondary school effectiveness in secondary schools in Bahrain and integrate them with indicators of effectiveness provided by Quality Assurance Authority for Education and Training reports. Finally, the report studies effectiveness of schools from both teachers' and supervisors' perspective, which provides deep understanding of the education system in Bahrain and helps in the continuous improvement process implemented by the Ministry of Education.

The strategic decision making process (SDMP) is a major issue in organisations. It is part of the larger topic of strategic management and related to strategic planning. Achievement of strategic objectives outlined in the strategic plan of an organisation depends on the decisions taken through the process. Yet the literature shows that the concept of SDMP is not well understood and organisations find it difficult to develop and implement an SDMP, particularly Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The literature indicates that decisions are taken in organizations in different ways for example using intuition, data, collaboration and ad-hoc considerations. In addition contextual factors are argued to affect the SDMP although very little research has been conducted to explain how contextual factors affect SDMP they do in HEIs. Some examples of contextual factors namely decision process characteristics have been identified and discussed as part of the SDMP literature in industry. However, lack of knowledge about SDMP and how contextual factors influence SDMP is regarded as to be a major obstacle for HEIs in taking decisions and choosing the best alternative amongst available decisions. This research seeks to contribute to address this important issue. Whilst there are many strategic decision characteristics (contextual factors) identified in the literature, this research focuses on decision importance. The rationale for choosing decision importance was that there is always some concern in the minds of the decision makers in the HEIs on what constitutes an important decision. What is considered as important decision while the decision is being taken may prove to be less important after implementation if there is no clear understanding of how to assign importance to a decision. Even in the industrial sector, Elbanna and Child (2007) it has been argued that decision importance has not been studied well. Relying upon the theoretical model developed by Elbanna and Child and other arguments found in the literatue, this research argued that the SDMP is a combination of relationships between decision characteristics, SDMP characteristics and decision outcomes that are influenced by environmental factors. As far as environmental factors were concerned environmental uncertainty was chosen as an external environment factor while organisational performance was chosen as the internal contextual factor. These two factors were argued to moderate the relationship between SDMP characteristics and SDMP outcomes and theoretical support for this conceptualisation was taken from the model developed by Elbanna and Child. A research model was developed to address the research questions, and the aim of the study was “to examine the different decision specific characteristic, SDMP characteristic and SDMP process outcome variables and develop a relationship amongst them in the context of HEIs in a changing environment”. The research was conducted in the United States of America and data was gathered from faculty members involved in decision making at the department level and higher. A positivist epistemological and objective ontological stance was adopted and a deductive approach was used. The research model was tested using the data collected from 485 valid responses to a survey questionnaire. Linear regression was the primary analysis approach and supplemented by path analysis. Results from the regression analysis showed that decision importance exerts influence on decision effectiveness through the mediators, rationality in decision making, intuition and decentralization in decision making. However, the outcome of path analysis showed that only rationality in decision making and intuition are important while decentalisation was not found to be statistically significant. Similarly environmental factors exerted pressure only on the relationship between rationality in decision making and decision effectiveness. The contradicting SDMP factors rationality in decision making and intuition were both found to be necessary to SDMP in the HEI context. This research has contributed to knowledge in terms of establishing a relationship between decision importance and decision process effectiveness mediated by rationality in decision making and intuition and development of the model. Theoretically the findings of this research show that the modification imposed on the model developed by Elbanna and Child was found to be statistically significant and found support from the literature. Environmental factors affected the relationship between rationality in decision making and decision effectiveness. This research has provided a model that can be used to help decision makers in HEIs to implement SDMP practically in the organization, to guide the process towards more robust decisions. The findings of this research find application in supporting policy makers to increase the likelihood of more effective decisions so that the decisions taken more effective.

This study explores the conceptualisation of glass ceiling by Bahraini female managers in their bid to attain senior management position as a career advancement. It assesses their perception of the concept of the glass ceiling, and what coping mechanisms adopted in eliminating barriers and empowering women to attain senior executive positions in the finance sector. The study identifies gender discrimination as a cause that impedes female career progression to senior management levels in the banking industry which originate in multiple environmental levels: organisation barriers (i.e. meso level), societal barriers (i.e. macro level) and individual barriers (i.e. micro level). The study adopts a qualitative approach to uncover the research questions and conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 37 Bahraini female managers in the banks to extract their lived experiences on barriers that hamper their advancement to senior levels. The study captures barriers common to women within an Arabic-Islamic cultural context and seeks to explore its differences from the barriers experienced by western women in their career. The study found out that women’s career progression is affected by social, religious and cultural dogmas, gender stereotype, individual limitations, and organizational structures. This study finds that patriarchal societal pressures, cultural norms, and religious studies influence glass ceiling experienced by Bahraini women. The findings also revealed the limited ability of women to take decisions that affect their advancement. Furthermore, this study highlights the differences in experiences between the majority of women in Western countries where they have autonomy and freedom as their male counterparts in the society. The societal norms and culture appear to undermine women’s empowerment and result in stress, tension and losing valuable talent within the work milieu. The research also revealed the strive by women under the pressure of organisational, societal and individual barriers and the influence of the religious aspects impeding their career progression. The study has added a new insight by emphasising on the value of empowerment for women as a key to breaking the glass ceiling. The analysis shows barriers are varied by the level of empowerment of women, where empowered women can overcome the barriers they encounter while disenfranchised women believed that the barriers operate to their disadvantage and justification for not attaining senior executive positions by making it stiffer. The study concludes there is a need for the re-evaluation of the foundational rubric of the education system on gender equality at an early stage and empowering women in several aspects. These include building up women's capacity by training, mentorship, and networking, presenting inspiring female role models, temporary measures such as mandatory quota, and raising awareness regarding gender equality and emphasis on revising the educational curriculum at schools.

Over the last few decades, microfinance industry has played an essential role in alleviating poverty level and helping the underprivileged, by enabling access to myriads of financial services. Statistics from the World Bank reveals that, currently, only 4% of the underprivileged were served out of the 3 billion potential clients. Such results were due to several claims, particularly the operational and financial challenges faced by the MFIs in the constant flux, inviting more attentions towards its performance. While explicit focuses were given by many researchers towards mobile banking and Information Communication Technology (ICT) and online services in improving the MFIs performance, the study on how Social Media, as a rapidly growing online phenomenon, could affect the MFIs performance remain scarce. Hence, this study was aimed at investigating and clarifying the impact of social media on MFIs, based on four dimensional performance indicators: efficiency, financial sustainability, portfolio quality, and outreach. A model was developed utilising Resource Based-View (RBV) Theory, to test the relationship between social media application and organisational performance. A quantitative approach has been adopted employing from web-based questionnaires, to collect data from MFIs employees in developing countries such as Kenya, India and Jordan. Structured Equation Modelling (SEM) technique (i.e. SPSS and AMOS 20 software) was used as a tool to analyse the responses. Results revealed a significant influence of the social media over the MFIs performance, offering valuable insights to both researchers and practitioners in the domain of micro-finance, as well as social media – conforming that the adoption of social media as marketing, advertising and communication tools could significantly improve the MFIs performance. Keywords: Microfinance, Microfinance Institution Performance, Social Media, Resource Based View Theory.

This study investigates preferred conflict management styles in order to explore how conflict is dealt with in a particular cultural/geographical context (i.e. the Middle East), as culture is one of the factors, which affects management style, whether in a conflict situation or any other situations. Upon researching the literature in the area of conflict management styles in the Middle East it has been found that there is no published research for the region and specifically on the cultural issues. Therefore, this research study has taken a step forward in exploring how and in what ways, the conflict management styles of those individuals (e.g. employees) in Kuwait (a culture/context within the Middle East) may or may not be similar or different to those described in studies carried out in other cultures/contexts. The research explores the different conflict management styles used in Kuwait, which is approached by simulating the application of different conflict situations in Kuwaiti business context and explores the negotiation and application of conflict management styles applied. The use of the Thomas Kilmann Conflict mode Instrument (TKI) to gather research data helped in understanding the different conflict management styles used. The TKI is an extensively validated instrument used in the field to highlight the different ways of how people handle disputes and its effects on the dynamics of individuals and teams. This study attempts to make its contribution to knowledge in the field of conflict management styles in that (a) it assesses Kuwaiti conflict management styles, and (b) It studies the effects of the process of the different conflict management styles and its outcomes in resolving these conflicts in the Kuwaiti Business culture.

Audit, inspection and quality assurance are aspects of a broader but rapidly evolving "performance measurement"; which is part of the performance management (PM) in public administration. The effectiveness of PM and its public reporting are not established in all contexts and applications. In some contexts, PM public reporting is used along with other measures such as inter-organisational networks to reform public service provision. In such contexts, how PM reporting help stakeholders in a network? There have been different conceptual frameworks and models explored in the literature that aim to explain how networked governance works. None of the available models, however, addresses the impact of an outside performance measurement tools. The review of literature, on the perspective of inter-organisational network, shows a need to explore more deeply what is going on within the network, and how the network interacts with its boundaries and outside context. Therefore, the overall objective for this research is to propose a conceptual model that can explain the impact of externally reported PM, an example of which is independent mandatory quality assurance (QA), on inter-organisational networks dynamics and outcomes. The research starts by building an ‘initial theoretical conceptual’ model based on theoretically derived influences of PM on the dynamics and outcomes of a network. The research uses qualitative case study strategy, using data from four cases, all linked with national education and training reform initiatives in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Participants representing the four cases were interviewed using semi-structured interview protocol. Data collected were analysed through two-order thematic analyses, and the results were used to revise the initial model and develop a novel conceptual model for this purpose. The results of the analyses contribute to existing theories by proposing four themes, covered by four propositions, in which QA public reporting impacts the network dynamics – namely on accountability, engagement and trust, power and control; and collaborations and cooperation. The impact on the network dynamics may lead to the achievement of some collaborative advantages, after going through the resistance of some collaborative inertias that may exist in the system and context in which network operates. In summary, QA reporting, in the case of this research, is an external variable to the network setting which activates members and offers a medium of change around members, within a network as well as outside it. The researcher introduces the term ‘network catalyst’ to describe the role of QA reporting in this context.

Throughout the 1960s and the early 1970s, almost all developing countries pursued an import substitution policy that sought to develop a domestic manufacturing sector. At the same time, these governments carried out nationalisation programmes based on the view that foreign ownership of industry and assets was a drain on their wealth and hindered the economic development of the nation. Some developing countries saw foreign investment as a continuation of their colonial past and wanted to move away from it. As a result, there was a natural dislike and distrust of foreign investment. However, in the last three decades there has been a sea change in government opinions regarding foreign investment, and now many countries are actively encouraging it. In fact, some governments have paid financial incentives reaching as much as US$150,000 per employee to foreign companies to attract them to their country. These financial incentives are paid on the basis that governments believe that inward investment has positive effects on the economy, the most important of which is transfer of technology. Through improved technology a country can significantly enhance its competitiveness in the global marketplace leading to increased economic growth. With economic growth countries can also improve their social indicators such as education, health etc. Therefore, technology transfer from inward investment is viewed as the catalyst to change within a country. Despite the widespread popularity of governments seeking to attract inward investment there is no conclusive evidence that it leads to positive spillover effects in the form of technology transfer. This study seeks to fill this gap in the current body of academic knowledge, using the case of a small resource abundant country with a low population, such as the UAE, using both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The primary data was obtained through a detailed questionnaire, and provides an in depth approach to understanding the issue of technology transfer for the UAE; while the secondary data, obtained from UNCTAD and the World Bank, is more macro level in nature. The macro level data indicate that certain factors in the UAE are conducive to technology transfer taking place. The primary data seek to interrogate this for the case study presented in this study. In doing so, the primary and secondary data sets are connected in so far as to provide cross reliability through the identification of commonalities and differences of results. This study aims to provide understanding on whether FDI does indeed lead to a transfer of technology from the overseas firm into the host country economy. Understanding such a link within an academic framework allows this study to arrive at relevant policy recommendations that can be taken up by policy makers in similar contexts. The prior literature has shown that FDI both flows into countries that have proven economic growth and that FDI leads to economic growth, and therefore these factors are interrelated. This study has found that FDI can play an important role in filling domestic gaps in investment and also spur economic growth. This study develops a simultaneous regression to test the existence of a joint relationship between economic growth, which is a proxy for technology transfer, and FDI. In the case of host country factors a linear regression model is developed and tested. At a more micro level this study examined the case of Tawazun Economic Council, a high technology organisation that operates within the aerospace and defence industry cluster, in order to understand whether its investments have led to any real impact as far as technology transfer is concerned. The Tawazun Economic Council is a project with a total investment of US$60 billion, and as such allows this research to capture the impact of technology transfer in an enhanced cluster that has aerospace and defence as its core theme. The aerospace and defence sectors have leading edge technology, and therefore a high probability of technology transfer taking place. Through a survey of senior managers within the organisation responsible for strategy development, this study also found that technology transfer has taken place due to the very sophisticated off-take contracts that have been negotiated with buyers and technology suppliers. However, none of these technologies have been applied outside their narrow aerospace and defence usage. In addition, if capital abundant countries wish to capitalise on the technology transfer benefits from FDI then, future government policies should seek to protect intellectual property rights. The novel contribution of this study is that it has identified factors that are important for technology transfer from FDI to take place in capital abundant countries that have a small population. As such, the research has not only increased the current body of knowledge in this area, but has sought to provide policy recommendations that could help in increasing the level of FDI-based technology transfer in developing countries, with a particular emphasis on capital abundant and low population countries.

Project management (PM) plays a significant role in achieving the company’s goal and objectives. Due to its significant role, it is essential that the project managers use processes which remain focussed on the company’s business strategy. However, some implementations of the company’s business strategy have led to failures as a result of misalignment between project management and the company’s business strategy. Such misalignment has an impact on both the project management and business strategy and may lead to problems in the overall functioning of the business, including the implementation of the company’s business strategy through the projects. This research was undertaken to investigate the problem of aligning project management process with the company’s business strategy which has not been fully investigated to-date. This investigation aims to provide a deeper understanding and more holistic analysis of the key factors, such as stakeholders and contextual factors (AF), which enable or inhibit this alignment in order to develop a conceptual framework that addresses this research gap. This study examines and analyses the alignment process, by considering the key factors at the early planning phase of project management. To address the research gap, the study employs a qualitative, multiple case study approach in the interpretive paradigm. Data was collected via interviews of senior personnel (executives and project managers), mainly from three managerial levels of the organisation, including corporate, business, and functional levels in four telecommunication companies of the private sector in Saudi Arabia. The investigation was carried out by collecting data through semi-structured interviews to critically explore collectively the perspectives of the executives and the project managers on their experience of managing and executing the company’s business strategy and the projects. Written and electronic documentations as well as non-participant observations also served as important triangulation and complementary sources in understanding the phenomenon being studied and as a means of gaining additional perspectives and further insights on key issues. This study provides a novel contribution to the alignment process of project management to business strategy. The original contribution and findings of this study contribute to the growing body of knowledge of project management by developing a practical framework to benefit both academics and practitioners and to increase awareness of the alignment process. This holistic conceptual framework includes two sets of factors that impact the alignment process. Additionally, it provides a unique prescriptive standard and a code of practice for practitioners seeking to realise efficient and effective alignment.

Purpose - Healthcare (HC) is a globally expensive investment, suffering from service quality, due to medical errors caused by physicians’ poor decisions making (DM). Current published literature: (1) encourages clinical DM research to reduce diagnostic errors and (2) stresses on the dearth of means for practitioners’ knowledge shared DM; this research focuses on knowledge sharing for improving medical DM quality through physicians’ social capital (SC) in a virtual community of practice (VCoP). Physicians join a virtual community (VC) to share clinical practice knowledge to aid medical DM. This study aims to assess the effect of physicians’ SC on medical DM and assess the mediating role of knowledge sharing quality, between physicians’ SC and medical DM quality since research lacks to investigate the impact of knowledge management (KM) tools in a HC context. VCoP is a KM tool and medical DM quality is a HC topic of this study. Design/methodology/approach – This positivist, quantitative research utilizes non-experimental survey to empirically assess its conceptual framework. After attaining an ethical approval, from Brunel Business School Research Ethics Committee, online survey was pre-tested and pilot tested for clarity and validity. 10 non-physician Ph.D. academics voluntarily participated during the survey’s pre-test phase. The survey was amendment for its pilot study phase; conducted in “plastic surgery yahoo group” VC. 31 physician VC members voluntarily participated. Again, the survey was amended and distributed for main data collection from 204 voluntary SurveyMonkey’s VC’s physician members. Findings – Data was analysed using SPSS 20 and LISREL 8.80 by means of confirmatory factor analysis and Structural Equation Modeling. Empirical findings supported this study’s four main hypotheses as well as supported this study’s initially proposed conceptual framework. Originality/value – This study customized the Honeycomb framework to establish a definition of professional physicians; HC VCs followed by identifying 51 VCs from social networking platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. This study also fulfilled its aim and hence proposed a structurally fit conceptual framework.

Electronic government (e-Government) in terms of public service delivery and administration has endured signification transformation over the last decade. More recently, modern second generation web technologies (Web 2.0) have started to be used to deliver e-Government. However, this in turn has brought about additional challenges. By its nature, Web 2.0 is more interactive than the traditional model of information provision or creation of digital services and as such opens up a new set of benefits, costs and risks to those who make use of it as part of their e-Government approach. In the main, the usage of Web 2.0 is in its infancy within e-Government and this creates a need for research into exploring the application of Web 2.0 technologies in e-Government and to provide practical advice to practitioners. This research draws on the existing literature to present a novel conceptual model that could be used to guide implementation and evaluation of Web 2.0. The conceptual model draws the existing literature into the traditional information systems (IS) evaluation model (benefits, costs and risks) specifically in terms appropriate to Web 2.0. In turn that evaluation is set in the context of the impact on the organisation in terms of organisational, technological and social consequences. This conceptual model was tested in a United Kingdom local government authority (LGA) that had recently started to make use of Web 2.0 in terms of service delivery and for internal work purposes by its employees. The result was a qualitative enquiry making use of interviews and documentary evidence to explore the validity of the conceptual model as a tool to assist decision making in this field. The findings elicited from the in-depth case study offer an insight into IS evaluation criteria and impact factors of Web 2.0 from both a practical setting and an internal organisational perspective. An interesting finding of this study was the contrast between the agreement on the need for evaluation of Web 2.0 tools and how to carry that out, and the fact that this had not been formally carried out by the case study with respect to its early Web 2.0 projects. This study concludes that a combined analysis of the evaluation and impact factors rather than a singular approach would better assist the decision making process that leads to effective application of Web 2.0 technologies. Keywords: e-Government, Web 2.0, Information Systems Evaluation, Impact, Local Government Authorities (LGAs).

This thesis aims to provide an approach to real estate residential modeling and forecasting covering property types’ correlation, time series attributes within a region or a city, and socio-economic attributes of preferred real estate locations. The thesis covers residential estate markets and concentrates on property types, while previous studies that have considered country wide house price indices. There is a gap identified in the literature in the need to study correlations between property types within a region or a city and whether they will provide diversification benefits for real estate investors such as risk reduction per unit of returns. The thesis concentrates on property type seasonality in addition to modeling time series attributes within a region or city instead of real estate index seasonality. This thesis the first to combine modern information systems techniques such as geographic information systems (GIS) with socio-economic factors to help understanding causal relationships that can be used to forecast real estate prices. The results show that it is more achievable to forecast real estate prices within a city than for the real estate market of the entire country. The GIS and socio-economic modeling results show that higher property prices are awarded to real estate with more green spaces, residents with higher disposable incomes, lower council tax bands, fewer tax benefits claimants, and better health services. Previous studies have examined real estate price indices at the macro level (the general, all real estate house price indices). There has not been a study that examines real estate price forecasts by property types within a city. The contribution of this thesis is its focus on time series analysis as well as causal modeling within a city with the objective of providing a better understanding of the dynamics of real estate price changes.

E-Government security is a major area of concern that has the potential to affect the success of e-Government services across the world. Much of the literature has addressed this phenomenon by applying principles of computer science or engineering which tend to be objective. User concern of e-Government service security has not been addressed applying social science principles or management that tend to be subjective and have not been addressed in the literature. Objective research outcomes are unfortunately not suitable to address subjective factors. Further, user centric approach has not been adopted in most of the empirical studies that have dealt with e-Government security leading to lack of an understanding of how users perceive or feel or comprehend about e-Government services, particularly e-Government service security. Most of the research efforts addressing e-Government security have focused on either technological issues or engineering issues neglecting user perceptions and behavioural aspects. This disadvantage has led to possible reduction in the up-take of e-Government services. There was a need to have an in-depth understanding of user centric e-Government security and user centric factors that affect it as its antecedents addressing which it is possible to enhance user confidence in e-Government and hence its success. This research has addressed this partially. While addressing the concerns raised above, this research has defined and identified certain user centric factors that are required to examine the user centric nature of e-Government service security from the management and social sciences perspective. E-Government literature was critically reviewed to determine the user centric factors and their relationship to user centric e-Government security with the help of theories, models, concepts and frameworks that have not been applied so far. Contextual factors have been identified as important user centric ones that affect user centric e-Government security with e-Government technology chosen as the main contextual determinant of user centric e-Government security. User trust and user felt risk in using e-Government services were brought in as mediators of this relationship due to the prime importance these two user centric factors carry with regard to affecting the relationship between technology and user centric e-Government security. In addition demographic factors and culture (nationality) as a factor were applied to test their influence on the relationship between user trust and user centric e-Government security mediated by user felt risk to find whether they have any impact. Moderators (Human Computer Interaction (HCI), user privacy and web design quality) of this relationship were added to the investigation as literature showed that e-Government technology could not operate in isolation. Finally empirical outcomes of testing the above relationships were practically tested by examining the influence of perceived ease of use and usefulness on the relationship between user trust and user centric e-Government security mediated by user felt risk to find whether technology impacted users in reality. Theoretical framework was drawn from the literature review leading to a conceptual model that was used to answer the research question. 12 hypotheses were tested in all. The research was conducted in the Kingdom of Bahrain which ranks high in the implementation of e-Government (e.g. 14th ranked in the world in implementing e-participation in 2014 ranked by UN). The country offered a fertile ground for conducting research as the e-Government service provided were updated technologically constantly with the latest technological advancement cloud computing introduced in e-Government service provision. Most government services were offered now through e-Government services. The population was cosmopolitan and education levels of the users of e-Government were reasonably high providing a strong basis for conducting this research. Quantitative research method and survey questionnaire strategy were used. Users of e-Government services were the target population. Sampling procedure yielded 309 valid responses. Rigourous statistical analysis provided the findings. Except for 2 hypotheses the remaining were verified and established. Technology was found to determine user centric e-Government security with the mediation by trust being stronger than risk. HCI and web design quality moderated the relationship between technology and user centric e-Government security significantly. User education and experience were found to influence user trust and user centric e-Government security. User privacy and nationality were not found to be statistically significant. Perceived ease of use and usefulness of the technology were found to influence e-Government security mediated by trust and risk. This research was perhaps one of the first to have been conducted in a context where e-Government technology used cloud computing. The research contributed to the growing body of knowledge in the field of e-Government security that has viewed this phenomenon from the lens of social sciences and management. Theoretical contribution showed how the operationalization and relationship amongst the factors could be explained by expanding the application of theories including socio-technical, behavioural, managerial, technology adoption, organiational and HCI. Practical implications showed the usefulness of this research to users, service providers and policy makers involved with e-Government services. Methodologically this research has introduced a verification stage by which it has verified the theoretical results using practical outcomes.

Research Purpose: This study aims to build a new model of quality for education based on a Saudi-British consensus regarding the major factors contributing to education quality and after considering other models (such as EFQM) and other authors’ perspectives. Research Methodology: The research relies on realism philosophy and as a multiple case study with 15 cases, it utilises a mainly qualitative research design that employs semi-structured interview as its research instruments. This study has adopted an ‘Inductive’ approach to build a new model. Primary data in this study was collected by interviewing 33 Saudi and 30 British academics and higher education authorities from six Saudi and nine British universities. Content Analysis was used for analysis. Research Findings: While the degree of agreement with each of the 11 propositions was varied (a range from totally agree to totally disagree), all of the Saudi and British participants believe that eleven pillars/criteria of quality education are: Leadership and Strategic Management; Students, Academics and Staff Recruitment; Syllabus/ Curriculum; Research/Teaching; Pedagogy; Learning & research support; Knowledge management; Academics’ achievements; Students’ progress, success & satisfaction; Universities/Schools’ achievements; and Innovation and Change Management. Recommendations: Decision makers in education sector are recommended to consider all eleven identified factors and their connection to each other while developing policies for quality of education. Universities and other educational institutes should plan and allocate required budgets for implementation and maintenance of all aspects of quality in education. Research Contributions: The main contribution of this research is developing the 'Education Quality Model’. Although there has been some research regarding the quality of education, seemingly they have not led to the development of a research-based customised model such as the Education Quality Model. Another contribution is preparing a new and broad ‘Taxonomy of Quality’. In previous taxonomies, either the only focus is on education or in contrast, education is missing in these taxonomies. Furthermore, possibly for the first time, perspectives of Saudi academics are presented alongside their British counterparts regarding quality of education.

This thesis investigates Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) adoption and implementation in Service Sector Organisations (SSOs). ERP is a business management system that has emerged to support organisations to use a system of integrated applications to enhance their Information Technology (IT) infrastructures, enhance business processes and deliver high quality of services. Regardless of the fact that several other sector organisations have adopted and implemented ERP systems, its application in SSOs is rather inadequate. Among other reasons, two core rationales can be attributed to the latter fact – firstly, SSOs lack the sufficient knowledge, expertise and training to implement such sophisticated integrated systems and secondly, the top management lacks the ability to take appropriate decisions for ERP adoption and implementation. However, merely focusing on a number of factors influencing ERP adoption and implementation may not be suffice, as there is a need for a systematic decision-making process for adopting and implementing ERP systems in SSOs. The limited number of ERP systems’ applications in SSOs has resulted in inadequate research in this area with many issues, like its adoption and implementation requiring further exploration. Despite, the implications of ERP systems have yet to be assessed in SSOs, leaving ample scope for relevance and producing a unique piece of research work. Thus, the author demonstrates that it is of high importance to investigate this area within SSOs and contribute towards successful ERP adoption and implementation. This thesis makes a step forward and contributes to the body of knowledge as it: investigates factors influencing the decision-making process for ERP adoption and implementation in SSOs, prioritises the importance of factors influencing ERP adoption and implementation, evaluates ERP lifecycle phases and stages, maps the ERP factors on different phases and stages of the ERP lifecycle, and in doing so, to propose a model for ERP adoption and implementation in SSOs. The author claims that such an ERP adoption and implementation process in SSOs is significant and novel as: it extends established norms for ERP adoption and implementation, by including Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique for prioritising the importance of factors, thus, facilitating SSOs to produce more robust proposals for ERP adoption and implementation. The author further assess the proposed ERP adoption and implementation model by using a qualitative, interpretive, multiple case study research strategy. Findings from two case studies demonstrate that such a systematic approach contributes towards more robust decisions for ERP adoption and implementation and indicates that it is acceptable by the case study organisations. The thesis proposes, assesses and presents a novel model for ERP adoption and implementation in SSOs and contributes to the body of knowledge by extending the literature.

Problems in healthcare are difficult to comprehend due to complexity, involvement of multiple stakeholders in decision making and fragmented structure of delivery systems. Major Problem Structuring Methods (PSMs) have been used to aid problem understanding which, in principle, can provide greater clarity to strategic problems and engage diverse decision makers using transparent representation that capture differing perceptions of problems. In reality, PSMs can be difficult in accurately representing problems, limited in highlighting improvement opportunities due to non-intuitive visual representations and requirements for facilitators and stakeholders to be experts in tools used. This research aims to address this gap by developing a framework, taking into account characteristics of healthcare delivery systems, advantages and limitations of PSMs with an aim of providing accurate and holistic representation of delivery workflow, so as to promote problem understanding in a rapid manner. The framework, termed CARE, first establishes nature of problem and a commonly agreed problem statement along with an understanding of stakeholder involvement and operating regulations. It then sets specific guidelines for data collection, representation, verification and validation from stakeholders and provides methodology for data analysis which allows facilitator insight into possible flaws in workflow. A case study approach is used to test effectiveness of CARE across two different healthcare settings, each involving a different nature of problem. Implementation of CARE leads to improved participation and ownership amongst stakeholders, ease of facilitation during individual or multidisciplinary meetings, intuitive and informative representation of workflow, minimized time and effort for implementation and minimized dependencies on learning new tools and terminologies. A post mortem indicates the positive impact of CARE on services rendered to the patients, leading to an increase in patient satisfaction and workflow efficiencies. The research concludes by noting the contributions and lessons learnt from this research for healthcare practitioners and possible future work.

The concept of community leadership as a field of study has attracted the attention of researchers for many years across the globe. The role of municipality councils is of great importance as an aspect of democratic governance. Councils have a significant role to play as partners to the central government in providing community services. This research attempts to explore community leadership in a new democracy focusing on the relationship between community members, community leadership and government organisations compared to the same of established democracies. The specific focus of the research investigation is community leaders and community members in the Kingdom of Bahrain as a new democracy. This thesis is an investigation of the success factors and barriers that influence the performance of municipal councils' members as community leaders. It also investigates how community leaders have practiced their roles and duties and assesses their performance and characteristics in new democracy compared to those of established democracies as exemplified in the UK, Canada, Australia, and the Philippines. The research objectives are: (1) to identify success factors that influence community leadership performance in a new democracy as perceived by community leaders; (2) to identify barriers that hinder community leadership performance in a new democracy as perceived by community leaders; (3) to identify the roles and duties practiced by community leadership in new democracies as perceived by community leaders and community members; (4) to assess community leadership performance in new democracy as perceived by community members; and (5) to identify characteristics practiced by community leadership in a new democracy as perceived by community members. Three sequential pilot studies were undertaken to gain better feedback from respondents and to build a strong foundation for the main survey. Two sets of questionnaires were developed for this study; the first set of questionnaires dealt with community leaders in new democracies, where they evaluated the success factors, barriers and roles and duties practiced by community leadership in established democracies. The second set of questionnaires dealt with community members in a new democracy, where they evaluated their community leaders through roles and duties, performances and characteristics practiced by community leadership in established democracies. The findings showed that municipal councils‘ members agreed on the importance of success factors and barriers that influence communities in established democracies and they were very positive about their own perceptions of their roles and duties in municipality work. On the other hand community members were negative about their own perception of their municipal leaders‘ roles and duties, performance and characteristics. The results also revealed an absence of clear demarcations of roles between government agencies and councils, and disproportionate demarcation of the constituents. The respondents agreed that awareness programs could be an important undertaking to improve and enhance the effectiveness of council leaders. This study may contribute to the literature by filling the gap related to success factors and barriers that influence community leadership performance in new democracies, focusing on problems facing community leadership and the solutions to overcome these problems. Furthermore, the governments of new democracies can use the empirical evidence to create and adopt new laws, policies and regulations that will redound to community improvement services, leadership enhancement and goal achievement.

Providing care services across several departments and care givers creates the complexity of the patient pathways, as it deals with different departments, policies, professionals, regulations and many more. One example of complex patient pathways (CPP) is one that exists in integrated care, which most literature relates to health and social care integration. The world population and demand for care services have increased. Therefore, necessary actions need to be taken in order to improve the services given to patients in maintaining their quality of life. As the complexity arises due to different needs of stakeholders, it creates many problems especially when it involves complex patient pathways (CPP). To reduce the problems, many researchers tried using several decision tools such as Discrete Event Simulation (DES), System Dynamic (SD), Markov Model and Tree Diagram. This also includes Direct Experimentation, one of techniques in Lean Thinking/Techniques, in their efforts to help simplify the system complexity and provide decision support tools. However, the CPP models were developed using a single tools which makes the models have some limitations and not capable in covering the entire needs and features of the CPP system. For example, lack of individual analysis, feedback loop as well as lack of experimentation prior to the real implementation. As a result, ineffective and inefficient decision making was made. The researcher also argues that by combining the DES and SD techniques, named the hybrid simulation, the CPP model would be enhanced and in turn will help to provide decision support tools and consequently, will reduce the problems in CPP to the minimum level. As there is no standard framework, a framework of a hybrid simulation for modelling the CPP system is proposed in this research. The researcher is much concerned with the framework development rather than the CPP model itself, as there is no standard model that can represent any type of CPP since it is different in term of its regulations, policies, governance and many more. The framework is developed based on several literatures, selected among developed framework/models that have used combinations of DES and SD techniques simultaneously, applied in a large system or in healthcare sectors. This is due to the condition of the CPP system which is a large healthcare system. The proposed framework is divided into three phases, which are Conceptual, Modelling and Models Communication Phase, and each phase is decomposed into several steps. To validate the suitability of the proposed framework that provides guidance in developing CPP models using hybrid simulation, the inductive research methodology will be used with the help of case studies as a research strategy. Two approaches are used to test the suitability of the framework – practical and theoretical. The practical approach involves developing a CPP model (within health and social care settings) assisted by the SD and DES simulation software which was based on several case studies in health and social care systems that used single modelling techniques. The theoretical approach involves applying several case studies within different care settings without developing the model. Four case studies with different areas and care settings have been selected and applied towards the framework. Based on suitability tests, the framework will be modified accordingly. As this framework provides guidance on how to develop CPP models using hybrid simulation, it is argued that it will be a benchmark to researchers and academicians, as well as decision and policy makers to develop a CPP model using hybrid simulation.

Healthcare problems are complex; they exhibit both detail and dynamic complexity. It has been argued that Discrete Event Simulation (DES), with its ability to capture detail, is ideal for problems exhibiting this type of complexity. On the other hand, System Dynamics (SD) with its focus on feedback and nonlinear relationships lends itself naturally to comprehend dynamic complexity. Although these modelling paradigms provide valuable insights, neither of them are proficient in capturing both detail and dynamic complexity to the same extent. It has been argued in literature that a hybrid approach, wherein SD and DES are integrated symbiotically, will provide more realistic picture of complex systems with fewer assumptions and less complexity. In spite of wide recognition of healthcare as a complex multi- dimensional system, there has not been any reported study which utilises hybrid simulation. This could be attributed to the fact that due to fundamental differences, the mixing of methodologies is quite challenging. In order to overcome these challenges a generic theoretical framework for hybrid simulation is required. However, there is presently no such generic framework which provides guidance about integration of SD and DES to form hybrid models. This research has attempted to provide such a framework for hybrid simulation which can be utilised in healthcare domain. On the basis of knowledge induced from literature, three requirements for the generic framework have been established. It is argued that the framework for hybrid simulation should be able to provide answers to Why (why hybrid simulation is required), What (what information is exchanged between SD and DES models) and How (how SD and DES models are going to interact with each other over the time to exchange information) within the context of implementation of hybrid simulation to different problem scenarios. In order to meet these requirements, a three-phase generic framework for hybrid simulation has been proposed. Each phase of the framework is mapped to an established requirement and provides guidelines for addressing that requirement. The proposed framework is then evaluated theoretically based on its ability to meet these requirements by using multiple cases, and accordingly modified. It is further evaluated empirically with a single case study comprising of Accident and Emergency department of a London district general hospital. The purpose of this empirical evaluation is to identify the limitations of the framework with regard to the implementation of hybrid models. It is realised during implementation that the modified framework has certain limitations pertaining to the exchange of information between SD and DES models. These limitations are reflected upon and addressed in the final framework. The main contribution of this thesis is the generic framework for hybrid simulation which has been applied within healthcare context. Through an extensive review of existing literature in hybrid simulation, the thesis has also contributed to knowledge in multi-method approaches. A further contribution is that this research has attempted to quantify the impact of intangible benefits of information systems into tangible business process improvements. It is expected that this work will encourage those engaged in simulation (e.g., researchers, practitioners, decision makers) to realise the potential of cross-fertilisation of the two simulation paradigms.

In a comprehensive review of literature on the strategic adoption of information systems (IS), various approaches to strategic IS adoption were unable to verify and coordinate different factors for IS investment as a strategic business unit. An assessment of different models in this area through the review of empirical case studies was required to identify the factors that affect IS strategic adoption, because these factors support the evaluation and adoption of both the process and result of IS strategic adoption. Thus, a study to investigate and evaluate the adoption of strategic information systems planning (SISP) within organisations is required in order to identify the factors that affect this type of adoption. The research in this thesis takes into account the adoption process and the factors for the adoption of SISP. There is also a need to understand and evaluate different IS planning techniques within a framework that can support decision-makers through the entire IS strategic adoption process. This framework is a component of the proposed novel model that considers other crucial factors that influence IS strategic evaluation and adoption. Decision-makers may employ such a model and evaluation framework that considers important SISP criteria, such as (a) SISP benefits, (b) SISP requirements and, (c) SISP drivers, as an important reference tool. After presenting the conceptual components of this research, the empirical side expresses the application of a qualitative research approach through a case study strategy to investigate the proposed model of SISP adoption. As a result, two global organisations were investigated, reported, and analysed. Additional factors for the adoption of SISP emerged from these analyses. The proposed conceptual model was modified to present 11 factors that influence the adoption of SISP, including (a) planning team; (b) benefits; (c) requirements; (d) drivers; (e) costs; (f) IS performance measurement; (g) framework for the evaluation of SISP techniques; (h) SISP methods; (i) SISP tools; (j) support; and (k) IS strategy. The primary contribution of this thesis is a comprehensive novel model for the evaluation and adoption of SISP. The model includes two levels of original contribution. Firstly, it accounts for previous studies in SISP and their factors, which supports the conceptual level of this contribution. The researcher incorporated and extended these studies to merge the factors which were recognised in the normative literature. In addition, factors from empirical work have also been combined in the proposed model, thus developing a consistent paradigm for the evaluation and adoption of SISP. Secondly, the concept and process of the proposed model can be applied as an educational guide throughout the IS strategic evaluation and adoption process. Nevertheless, this model contains a proposed framework for the evaluation of IS strategic planning techniques as factors that influence the adoption of SISP. This framework is novel, since it is a part of the proposed model as well as a classification of IS planning techniques, and supports decision-makers’ understanding and evaluation of planning techniques during the adoption of SISP.

Managing relations with customers has been a main concern for business organisations from different sizes and fields. Such a concern has grown rapidly in the last few decades for a number of reasons such as the development of new technologies especially in the field of information technology (IT). Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a newly emerged concept in the fields of IT and business that aims to strengthen the relationships between an organisation and its customers. Despite the promising expectations of implementing such a concept by many organisations, a significant number of CRM projects fail or result in disappointing outcomes that fall far short of expectations. This motivated researchers and practitioners to study the sources of failure and the factors of success in CRM implementation. Although CRM existed first in western organisations, it has spread almost all over the world as an increasing number of firms are implementing or planning to implement CRM. This research designed an integrated framework for investigating and evaluating the implementation of CRM in developing countries. The design of this framework was based on previous studies in the field of CRM implementation especially in the area of studying CRM success and failure. It is also based on the common sense and knowledge of the researcher in the field of CRM. To help identify successful implementation of CRM and to provide organisations with a guide to implement CRM projects, the research reviewed and organised the literature on CRM success and failure as well as the previous studies in CRM frameworks. Subsequently, the research designed a framework for CRM implementation that integrates CRM implementation phases/stages, CRM components, and CRM success factors. To assess the feasibility of the framework in developing countries, the research developed in-depth case study methodology that focused on two large communication companies which operate in Saudi Arabia and are implementing CRM projects fully and partially. The questions of the case study were developed to assess the feasibility of the framework based on the comparison between the conceptual framework and the practical implementation of CRM by the case companies, and the case study protocol was developed accordingly. Data was collected through multiple sources such as in-depth interviews, observations, documentations and archival records. The results of the case study support the feasibility of the framework in implementing CRM in general. The assessment stage was highly supported by the results. In addition, the success factors and their importance in implementing CRM were supported by the results with variation of importance of the success factors. However, cultural issues were significant to the CRM implementation and required modification to the framework to be more effective when implemented in developing countries.

Unpredictable events (UE) are major factors that cause disruption to everyday bus operation. In the occurrence of UE, the main resources - crews and vehicles - are affected, and this leads to crew schedule disruption. One way to deal with the problem is crew rescheduling. Most of the current approaches are based on static schedules do not support rescheduling in a real-time scenario. They have the ability to reschedule but a new complete schedule is produced without concerning the real time situation. The mathematical approaches which are used by most scheduling packages have the ability to search for optimum or near optimum schedules but they are usually slow to produce results in real-time because they are computationally intensive when faced with complex situations. In practice, crew or bus rescheduling is managed manually, based on the supervisor's capabilities and experience in managing UE. However, manual rescheduling is complex, prone to error and not optimum, especially when dealing with many UE at the same time. This research proposes the CRSMAS (Crew Rescheduling System with Multi Agent System) approach as an alternative that may help supervisors to make quick rescheduling decisions by automating the crew rescheduling process. A Multi Agent System (MAS) is considered suitable to support this rescheduling because agents can dynamically adapt their behaviour to changing environments and they can find solutions quickly via negotiations and cooperation between them. To evaluate the CRSMAS, two types of experiment are carried out: Single Event and Multiple Events. The Single Event experiment is used to find characteristics of crew schedules that influence the crew rescheduling process while the Multiple Events experiment is used to test the capability of CRSMAS in dealing with numerous events that occur randomly. A wide range of simulation results, based on real-world data, are reported and analysed. Based on the experiment it is concluded that CRSMAS is suitable for automating the crew rescheduling process and capable of quick rescheduling whether facing single events or multiple events at the same time, the success of rescheduling is not only dependant on the tool but also to other factors such as the characteristics of crew schedules and the period of the UE, and one limitation of CRSMAS that was discovered is it cannot simulate different type of events at the same time. This limitation is because in different events there are different rules but, in Virtual World, agents can only negotiate with one set of rules at a time.

A review of normative literature, in the field of e-government, indicates that the transactional stage of e-government is one of the most important to the implementation of an e-government system as it represents the highest level of interaction within organisations and between customers and government organisations. Due to the importance of the transactional stage of the e-government system and its positive impact, not only in making the delivery of external services quicker, but also in increasing the efficiency of internal government processes, government organisations might seek to reach this stage. In fact, in the literature, there appears to be an absence of theoretical models for the technical and organisational challenges facing transactional e-government systems. Furthermore, there is a lack of studies focusing on identification of the importance, categorisation and presentation of strategies for overcoming technical and organisational challenges. Consequently, this dissertation attempts to fill the information gap based on empirical data derived from two case studies. This work proposes a novel model for the technical and organisational challenges facing transactional e-government systems. In moving from the conceptual to the empirical, the work is based on a qualitative case study approach to examine the proposed model for the technical and organisational challenges facing transactional e-government systems. In doing so, two case studies were conducted, presented and analysed. During the empirical research, additional technical and organisational challenge(s) facing transactional e-government systems emerged, which resulted in modifications being made to the previously presented conceptual model. However, this dissertation proposes the conceptual model, identifies the importance, categorisation, and presentation of the strategies for overcoming, technical and organisational challenges facing a transactional e-government system. This results in the development of a frame of reference that will lead to a model that can be used to enhance decision-making.