Volume 19, Number 1, April 2016 Guest-edited by Saad Ghaleb Yaseen and Saeb Farhan Al Ganideh

EN:

The sectarian violence in the Middle East has changed the face of the Arab Uprisings and has extended violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims to a wider scale. The current investigation explores economic and social implications of the Sunni-Shiite Muslim tension and competition to control the Middle East. The study aims to examine the influence of demographic and socio-physiological variables on feelings of animosity Arabs express towards Iran and purchasing Iranian products. The research design is quantitative. Data were collected from 108 Arab Sunni Muslim Jordanians who live in the capital of Jordan, Amman and the northern Irbid city over a period of 4 weeks, June, 2014. The results showed that younger Jordanians and Jordanians who express high level of internationalism hold less feelings of animosity against Iran than their other counterparts. Also, it was found that Jordanians’ feelings of animosity towards Iran have been translated into unwillingness to purchase Iranian products. Limitations of this research overall are related to employing a convenience sample and the relatively small sample size. Feelings of animosity Arab express toward Iran are not alarmingly high, nonetheless, such negative feelings should not be ignored by neither Iranian global marketers nor by Arab local marketers. To the best of the author’s knowledge, there is a death of studies that explored the social and business implications of the current Arab Spring events.

EN:

This study seeks to determine the relationship between firm core competence, competitive advantage and performance of small and medium enterprises based on analysis of data from a survey conducted on 58 owner and manager of small firms of Banyumas batik in Banyumas Region, Central Java, Indonesia. Data was analysed using multiple regression analysis. The results showed that competence in relationship, adaptation and innovation has significantly effect on firms innovativeness. The ability of entrepreneurs to build business network has eased information exchange leading to social relatedness, and thereby contributing to improve the competitive advantage. The results of the study provide new empirical evidence supporting the resources-based view (RBV) theory.

EN:

The literature on legal origin argues that legal institutions mold what firms do: within common law systems, shareholder rights are much stronger, reducing agency issues. We explore whether publicly-listed companies are more likely to have corporate social responsibility (CSR) codes than privately-held companies, and whether the association between a public listing and the existence of a CSR code is affected by the company’s location within a specific institutional and cultural setting. We conclude that proposals to introduce more ethical dimensions to the behavior of firms need to be thought through: what works in one location may be inappropriate in another.

EN:

The tremendous growth and ubiquity of the Internet in today’s world makes access to information much easier than ever before. Many global forums consider access to information as a basic right and an absolute necessity for the sustainable economic development of nations and an indispensable instrument for human growth. Net neutrality is the concept that all citizens should have equal and non-discriminate access to the Internet and networked services, without any restrictions. This paper looks at the history and evolution of the concept of net neutrality and the associated concept of access to information in the context of the United States and India. U.S. and India are chosen since they are both large democracies accounting for the second and third largest number of Internet users. US is the world’s largest and mature economy, whereas India is an emerging economy. Both countries are current dealing with the issue of digital divide, and both countries are currently embroiled in animated debates concerning net neutrality and access to information. The paper offers a contrast between the approaches taken by the two countries and the interactions among the government, regulators, the law and citizens. The results of this study could be used as a basis by countries that are embarking on information policy formulations.

EN:

The impact of qualities and experiences of high quality relationship is of great value to the companies and field of human resource. Pakistan is facing critical situation regarding qualities and experiences of relationship of employees. Innovative work behavior of employees has not been studied in developing countries like Pakistan. In order to assist the business in pharmaceutical sector this study is aimed at investigating the effect of experiences and qualities of high quality relationship on innovative work behavior of employees. Pharmaceutical sector was considered for this study as this sector has significant contribution in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Pakistan. This research was quantitative in nature in which data was collected from managerial and non-managerial employees of pharmaceutical sector. Total 310 questionnaires were completely filled and entered in SPSS for analysis. Correlation analysis was performed in SPSS to show relationship between the variables. Model was tested through structural equation modeling in AMOS and goodness of fit indices were estimated using Hu and Bentler (2010) criteria and all the values were found to show good fit model. To test the mediation among variables through regression the SOBEL test was used as a supplemental test. All the direct and mediational hypotheses were accepted. The results reveal that the psychological wellbeing mediates the relationship between experiences, qualities of high quality relationship and innovative work behavior. Limitation of the study and managerial implications are also discussed along with guideline for future research.

EN:

This study examines the possibility of adapting a technology acceptance model designed in the context of the developed world to a developing nation. Jordan will be used as a case study for this purpose because it experiences similar challenges and opportunities that other Arab countries encounter in their technology acceptance. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to collect data for this research. The results indicated that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, competitive pressure and facilitating conditions had a positive impact on intention to use e-commerce. In contrast, perceived risk, government support and compatibility had insignificant relationship with behavioral intention. Furthermore, the result pointed out that age and gender did not affect the relationship between performance expectancy, perceived risk and behavioral intention.