While some organizations realize the important role of strategic planning (SP) and leadership in influencing their business performance, it is unknown what SP dimensions and leadership style are required to improve the performance of banking institutions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of transformational leadership (TL) style and SP dimensions (strategic planning level, implementation and barriers) on organizational performance. To this end, a self-administered questionnaire is distributed to a sample of 246 managerial employees from private banks in Yemen. The analysis with structural equation modelling using partial least squares indicates that TL style and SP dimensions significantly influence the performance of Yemeni banks. The results reveal that TL and SP dimensions are profoundly needed to enable Yemeni banks to propel to improved bank performance. The results draw several pertinent implications for decision makers that will help enhance the performance of the banking sector. Limitations from the findings and recommendations for further research are put forward.

This study identifies the role of religiosity in the willingness to pay for halal transportation among Muslim consumers in Malaysia by applying the ABC theory. Applying a purposive sampling method, data were gathered from questionnaires distributed to Muslim consumers at malls in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. From 250 Muslims who were approached, 200 respondents agreed to answer the questionnaire. SMART-PLS 3.3.2. was used to analyse the data for this study using a Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach. Out of six direct hypotheses tested, five hypotheses were found supported. From four hypotheses on mediation, only one was found as unsupported. Religiosity was found to have a moderation effect between knowledge and the WTP for halal transportation. The findings provide useful information on the WTP for halal transportation. Related parties such as governments, halal transport service providers and customers can use these findings to plan further actions in order to enhance the WTP for halal transportation. The study reveals the capability of the ABC theory to identify the factors of the WTP for halal transportation among Muslim consumers in Malaysia. The findings also show the moderation effects of religiosity on the WTP for halal transportation. The study also incorporates awareness as a mediator and as a sequential mediator within the model. The findings also enrich the literature on the WTP in halal studies.

Strategic IT-business alignment is being expanded by researchers and professionals owing to its beneficial effect on the performance of SMEs. Luftman (2000) [Luftman, J. (2000). Assessing business-IT alignment maturity. Communications of the Association of Information Systems, 4(14), 1–50.] created the Strategic Alignment Model (SAM), which integrates various alignment viewpoints to offer a cohesive perspective on IT-business alignment. While SAM was widely implemented for western IT studies by theoreticians and practitioners, its adoption is not evident in the Middle East with few available studies. The goal of this gap is to examine the effect of small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) in Iraq of three alignment styles (communication, governance and competency) listed in SAM. The findings of the current study verified the beneficial effect of all sorts of IT alignment centered on a survey of 228 owners, IT managers, but the latter has also shown a strong positive influence across various types of alignment. Theory and implementation implications are addressed, and more research recommendations are suggested.

The aim of this study is to provide an insight into the factors that influence the successful implementation of knowledge management and organizational performance in Saudi Arabia’s telecommunications industry. One thousand copies of survey questionnaires were sent to targeted telecommunication organization and they were distributed by hand. Middle management level was chosen to participate in this study due to their importance as stressed by many knowledge management researchers. Out of the 1000 questionnaires distributed, 441 complete questionnaires were successfully collected and used for data analysis. There is still a lack of the knowledge management research in the Saudi Arabia context. The present research focus-es on telecommunication industry in Saudi Arabia. The result of this research will be able to provide an insight into what are the overall perception overall perception of knowledge management and how various knowledge management elements (preliminary success factors, strategies and processes) affect the successful implementation of knowledge management and its organizational performance among the telecommunication organizations in Saudi Arabia. The findings are useful for the telecommunication industry. The present research serves as one of the pioneer studies that focuses on telecommunication industry in Saudi Arabia. The empirical insights from this study contributes to successful implementation of knowledge management in the telecommunication industry in Saudi Arabia.

Small medium enterprises (SMEs) hold 98.5% of businesses and serve as economy backbone in Malaysia. However, the global competitiveness of Malaysia in innovation has been declined recently. The declining innovation index has been reflected a low level of innovation in SMEs. This study serves as one of the pioneer studies conducted to foster the achievement of Malaysia Master Plan (2012-2020), focusing on a fresh approach to bring SMEs to the next level through innovation. The study aims to examine which innovation factors affect innovation performance, as there are relatively little empirical evidences in previous researches and very little innovative activities in SMEs Malaysia. This study uses quantitative research methodology, 300 sample sets have been collected from Malaysia SMEs and the data was analyzed by using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). All proposed factors in this study (absorptive capacity, internal R&D collaboration and knowledge sharing) are significantly affect innovation performance, except technology transfer. The findings of this study provide theoretical contribution and practical contribution for small medium enterprise, stakeholder, academic institution, policy makers as well as a reference for government to help SME achieve higher innovation.

Implementing sustainable and smart supply chain practices have a great impact on the performance of an organization. In today’s globalized and highly industrialized world, sustainability is recognized as one of the highest priorities of all organizations. Evolution of internet-based technologies, digital platforms and big data analytics have paved the way for redesigning supply chains to be smart, agile, and resilient. Therefore, the implementation of practices related to these two concepts is found to improve the supply chain related organizational performance. This research aims to investigate empirically the impact of these two practices on improving the supply chain organizational performance in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) of India. This research considered the dimensions and the variables related to sustainable supply chain and smart supply chain practices in SMEs in India which were not considered in research contributions prior to this. Therefore, this research becomes a unique contribution to the existing body of knowledge. Empirical analysis was carried out on data from 92 SMEs from Telangana State in India, collected using a questionnaire. The directory of SMEs of Government of Telanagana, India was used to select the cluster sample of SMEs as respondents, based on a criterion using exploratory research methodology. SPSS software was used to test the model. Regression and ANOVA were used for this purpose. Findings of this research reveal significant influence of sustainable and smart supply chain (SC) practices on improving SC organizational performance. Additionally, individually each of these practices also have a direct influence on the performance of SMEs. Obtaining responses from the representatives of SMEs was a challenge and limitation of this research while expanding the scope of this research to different geographical regions and clusters will be a topic for further research. The outcomes and results of this research provide significant contribution to the existing body of knowledge by filling the gaps and value-adding to the researchers, academicians, students, policy makers and industry practitioners.

Strategists have unique skills and abilities to connect the past and the present in order to predict what might happen in the future. The current study is the culmination of a number of research ideas in the field of Strategic Thinking (ST), Strategic Planning (SP) and Strategic Innovation (SI) in relation of Human Capital (HC). The survey method was used to collect data from 235 SMEs in the manufacturing industry of Yemen. Results indicate that ST, SP and SI have a significant effect on HC. The mediating effects of HC on the relationship between ST, SP and SI and SMEs’ performance were also examined. Results indicate that HC mediates the relationship between ST, SP and SI and firm performance. The findings of this study offer important insights for managers of SMEs, researchers and policymakers to further understand the effects of ST, SP SI, HC and SMEs’ performance. SMEs should also be encouraged to develop their ST, SP, SI and HC to improve their performance. Finally, this study serves not only to clarify the mechanism between HC and SMEs’ performance, but also to generalize the ST, SP and SI results in the Yemen and Middle East context.

The availability of the internet and its usage has become accessible to all and it has contributed to the ease of employees avoiding work pressure and leading it for non-work-related matters, which is cyberloafing. It has caused many problems in organizations and the most affected are organization commitment. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of workload dimensions (psychological workload and physical workload) on organizational commitment. It also seeks to determine whether cyberloafing mediates the link between workload and organizational commitment. A survey was conducted on 304 employees of a mining company in Jordan. Descriptive statistics, correlation, multiple regression, and hierarchical regression analyses were performed to analyse the data using SPSS v23. The results showed that the workload significantly influenced the organizational commitment among the employees. Cyberloafing was found to partially mediate the link between both workload variables and organization commitment. The study was conducted in the mining industry in Jordan. Thus, future study is suggested to examine the model in other industries and countries.

Science and technological developments in the material field have been currently dedicated to a super strong material potential based on nanotechnology. The super strong material can be created from the mixture of epoxy-resin polymer and SiO₂ (silicon dioxide) nanoparticles. Polymers exist as a nanoparticle adhesive due to nano-SiO₂, which possesses a high amorphic level, resulting in a stronger, more flexible, and stiffer combination than the current super strong material. The advantages of nanocomposite polymer using epoxy- resin and nano-SiO₂ produce strong and light products with an easier production process, utilizing local materials that can improve the following material quality. This study used four material variations, namely P30, P35, P40, and P45, combined with nanoparticles at 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%. Based on the results, the highest compressive strength level was found on the PNK 40 EH2:1N1 mixture at 53.18 MPa with 1627 kg/m3 weight density. From the X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) test results, the following mixture had the lowest amorphic phase, while Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) test results showed that the following mixture absorbed more hydrogen elements, and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) observation on the following material mixture had more organized particle distribution.

Success key elements are crucial for the improvement and preservation of competitiveness in the ho-tel sector. Hotels thus need efficient employees with best possible quality of work life to remain competitive. This paper investigated the impact of organisational structure (OS) and leadership style (LS) on quality of work life (QWL) among five-star hotels employees in Jordan with job satisfac-tion (JS) as mediator. Questionnaires were distributed among 430 five-star hotel employees to ob-tain the study data. The levels of relationships among the constructs (OS, LS, JS, and QWL) were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PL-SEM). The results showed a positive relationship of JS and OS with QWL, while JS showed a partial mediating role on the rela-tionship among LS, OS and QWL. Similar studies should be carried out on other sectors in Jordan and in other settings using different perspectives.