Little research has been devoted to focus on women’s leadership styles in particular especially in Kuwait. The aim of this study is therefore twofold: (i) to identify the different leadership styles of women in the public sector in Kuwait, and (ii) to examine if the identified leadership styles of wom-en vary in terms of the demographic characteristics of their subordinates. A quantitative study (questionnaire with 263 employees) is conducted in order to achieve the study objectives. The re-sults of the study show that women in public sector in Kuwait frequently displayed various leader-ship styles as perceived by their followers such as inspirational motivation, idealized influence (at-tribute) styles. Some other styles were displayed fairly often such as management by exception (ac-tive), idealized influence (behavior). Moreover, the dominated leadership styles that displayed fre-quently by women was the transformational style. The study found that the transformational leader-ship style of women varied in terms of the educational level and job title of their followers. Several recommendations were suggested based on these findings that may improve the effectiveness of women leadership in the public sector.

The pandemic of the coronavirus known as ‘COVID-19’ has spread rapidly across the globe, resulting in a worldwide economic recession. Although global efforts are in place to combat the virus, it continues to spread on a massive scale. This is not just a medical crisis; rather, it is a business crisis as well. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to develop a research scale that could be used to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on business. We adopted a scale variables approach that is generated from topics covered in the papers of leading academic business journals to form the basis of our analysis. We exposed the scale to qualitative and quantitative testing and concluded that it is reliable for research on the negative effects of COVID-19 on enterprises. The scale was used to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 on businesses in two countries, namely Serbia and Kuwait, to represent two different continents. The results of this research indicate that the influence of this coronavirus is equally devastating in both countries, Kuwait with its otherwise good economic conditions and Serbia with relatively poor ones. The findings of the research are beneficial for both academics in producing quality output papers, as well as their support to managers in various business industries in their fight against coronavirus to keep their businesses sustainable.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between strategic planning as busi-ness management dimensions and financial management (FM) practices. To achieve this objective, employees from various firms working in Kuwait are under observation. A survey questionnaire is developed, considering fifteen items of strategic planning and five for financial management practices. A final sample of 276 respondents is considered for investigating the empirical relationship between the selected variables. Both descriptive and traditional linear regression modelling techniques are applied. However, the study findings are pretested through model specification for all five items of FM. It is found that various strategic planning items are significantly associated with financial management proxies including staff turnover, safeguarding physical and financial assets, and development of financial budgets in selected firms. Significance of the study can be viewed as emerging contribution in the present literature while assimilation strategic planning with financial management too. Besides, the study findings are useful for both strategic planning and finance departments in the business organizations for their better future development. Limitations of the study cover limited sample size and application of traditional method of analysis. Future studies should be in direction while addressing these boundaries.

This paper investigates the impact of lagged-exchange rate along with market risk and financial sector indicators on country risk in Kuwait. For this purpose, time series analyses both in aggregated and disaggregated approach are conducted along with the correlation and descriptive outcomes. Overall study sample is divided into fourth groups; namely the whole-time period, 1980 to 1990, 1991 to 2000, 1991-2005 and finally 1995-2005. To achieve this objective, regression equations are developed, indicating the set of lagged predictors along with market and financial sector indicators of exchange rate volatility. For the whole sample of the study, it is found that exchange rate lagged values are significant predictors of country risk from 1980 to 2005. Under the first subsample, lagged 1 and market risk through real interest rate are blamed for creating exchange rate (ER) volatility. For the 2nd disaggregated analysis, the factors like lagged 1 of ER along with deposit interest (DIR) and price level of the Government (PLG) are significant predictors of exchange rate. Additionally, during the period 1995-2005, none of the regression models appears to create the exchange rate volatility. However, for the last disaggregated time series analysis, it is found that ERL1, and PLG significantly determine the country risk in the region of Kuwait. Findings of the study are contributing in the present literature while confirm the fact that lagged values of exchange rate are very much significant to be observed to understand the current trend in ER. Besides, the re-sults can also support the argument that exchange rate risk and interest rate are interlinked with each other.

This study focuses on the factors of financial supply chain (FSC), financial institutions, and inventory for supply chain efficiency through various cost dimensions. To address this objective, a questionnaire is developed, based on various items of selected variables and it is presented to a targeted sample of supply chain practitioners, business managers and industry experts. A final sample of 216 respondents is observed for both descriptive and inferential analysis. To check the significance of each indicator under FSC, financial institutions and inventory factors, confirmatory factor analysis is conducted. Empirical facts explain that factors like financial supply chain as risk prevention strategy had a significant influence on supply chain efficiency. Through inventory factors, communication with vendors for raw material also indicate a significant impact on efficiency of Supply Chain (SC). This study would help both industry experts and business managers integrate financial supply chain, inventory factors and financial institutions for cost efficiency of supply chain. The limitations of the study includes a limited sample size and restricted indicators of inventory management. Future studies can be implemented while addressing these limitations through improved econometric methods.

This paper examines the effect of supply chain on performance indicators including sales growth and market value in the context of manufacturing firms in Kuwait. The dimensions of supply chain; namely strategic supplier partnership, information sharing, and information quality are also added in the model. Along with sales growth and market value, industry leadership, future outlook, overall response to competition, overall business performance, employee’s productivity, process productivity, and success rate in the launching of new product are some of the important indicators for measuring firms’ performance. Both factor analysis and structural equation modelling approaches are applied to the sample of 314 respondents taken from the manufacturing firms in Kuwait. Factor analysis provides some evidence that all the indicators for supply chain and business performance can be considered for the structural modelling and regression analysis. The core findings under structural modelling indicate that both strategic supplier partnership and information sharing had positive and significant impacts on the overall business performance. However, information quality appears to be the insignificant determinant of business performance. For the sales growth and market value, strategic supplier partnership and information sharing are significant determinants obtained through the regression analysis. The originality of the study can be viewed with reference to the selected performance measures and their determination through supply chain management. However, this study is confined only to the manufacturing sector and the services sector can be focused by incorporating additional performance measures and suitable sample size in future studies.

This paper sought to test the impact of mixed reality technologies on student engagement in Kuwait universities. Physical reality, augmented reality, augmented virtuality, and virtual reality have been relied upon as mixed reality technologies. Moreover, behavioural, cognitive, and emotional engagement were used as measures of students' engagement according to self-determination theory. The data used in the analysis were received from 812 students in various disciplines in Kuwaiti universities with a response rate of 86.19%. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was the statistical approach used in data analysis. The results indicated varying relative importance levels for mixed reality techniques, although the relative importance level for students' engagement was high. Besides, all mixed reality technologies had a positive impact on students' engagement, with the highest impact of augmented reality and the lowest impact of augmented virtuality. This paper provided contributions to the development of an empirical approach based on new technologies to improve student engagement in developing country universities. Accordingly, the paper emphasized the need for Kuwaiti universities to invest in augmented reality technologies, for example, interactive screens and 3D mobile applications to increase students' exploratory ability.

Despite the rare use of the term ‘strategy’ in public and voluntary sector organizations, recent research has seen the use of both the strategy and strategy-as-practice concepts in regulating the innovation perspective within the public sector. The available literature on innovation, strategy, and service delivery within the public sector offers positive insights into forming a new concept of innovation within the public organization sphere. Using a systematic review, we aim to understand the integration of the strategy-as-practice perspective into the public service ethos to drive the innovation perspective forward. The review was performed in two stages, 855 documents were retrieved in the first stage that covered a five-year time span, while 8,620,000 documents were retrieved in the second stage that covered a twenty-three-year time span. We further supported our argument through a quantitative questionnaire with 93 respondents from Kuwait. The findings of the research indicate that public sector policymakers need to pay attention to the social complexity of their context in order to innovate delivered public services. Furthermore, policymakers need to adopt new innovative schemes including innovative strategy practices, digital governance, reform ethos, and mutual constitution in their strategies in order to ensure the innovative public services that are required by their communities.

Although e-learning management-related research has been pursued in many parts of the world, there is dearth of research that integrates this concept with the increasing trend of smartphone usage for educational purposes. Furthermore, research in the area shows a general lack of contextualizing the concept in the Middle Eastern context. Therefore, the aim of this study is twofold: (i) to explore the everyday use and role of smartphones among university students in Kuwait; and (ii) to identify if there are any socio-demographic differences in smartphone usage among university students. A questionnaire was completed by 376 students in order to achieve the study objectives. The results showed that students frequently used their smartphones at home and that they sometimes used these phones in recreation places and on transportation, at university, and when walking. Also, they always used their smartphones to complete fourteen non-learning activities, such as making phone calls, using it as a watch and as an alarm clock, and ten learning activities, such as checking their exam schedules, checking class timetables, and checking their grades. Moreover, social networking, learning, privacy, and safety were important reasons offered by students for owning/using smartphones. Furthermore, the study found that at least one of eight socio-demographic variables (i.e., gender, marital status, major/subject, nationality, smartphone brand, using it for the first time, age range, and level of study) has an effect on at least one pattern of smartphone usage. Several recommendations were made based on these findings that may improve the effectiveness of smartphone usage among university students in Kuwait.