2828 research outputs found
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Favouritism: a recipe for ostracism? How jealousy and self-esteem intervene
No full textPurpose–Ostracismisacommonchallengeintheworkplace,butlittleisknownaboutthebehavioursofthose
who trigger it. The authors examined how leader favouritism can drive coworkers to ostracise one another,
given that leadership is a key factor in shaping employee attitudes and behaviour. Invoking social comparison
theory, the authors assessed a model of how perceived favouritism affects ostracism through jealousy,
moderated by organisation-based self-esteem (OBSE).
Design/methodology/approach– The authors surveyed 294 non-managerial employees from several
service organisations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and analysed the data with partial least squares
structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS 3 software.
Findings– Unexpectedly, leader favouritism did not directly affect ostracism but only indirectly through the
mediation of jealousy. OBSE was found to moderate this relationship, suggesting that higher levels of OBSE
can weaken the impact of leader favouritism on employee jealousy.
Originality/value– These findings explain the intricate dynamics and underlying reasons as to how leader
favouritism can instigate employee-to-employee ostracism
C-3PA: Streaming Conformance, Confidence and Completeness in Prefix-Alignments
No full textThe aim of streaming conformance checking is to find dis crepancies between process executions on streaming data and the refer ence process model. The state-of-the-art output from streaming confor mance checking is a prefix-alignment. However, current techniques that
output a prefix-alignment are unable to handle warm-starting scenarios.
Further, no indication is given of how close the trace is to termination—a
highly relevant measure in a streaming setting.
This paper introduces a novel approximate streaming conformance
checking algorithm that enriches prefix-alignments with confidence
and completeness measures. Empirical tests on synthetic and real-life
datasets demonstrate that the new method outputs prefix-alignments
that have a cost that is highly correlated with the output from the state of-the-art optimal prefix-alignments. Furthermore, the method is able to
handle warm-starting scenarios and indicate the confidence level of the
prefix-alignment. A stress test shows that the method is well-suited for
fast-paced event streams
An Investigation into the Influence of Culture on Principals’ and Teachers’ Relationships and Practices in Public Secondary Schools in the UAE
No full textAs today’s world has become more globalized and interconnected, multicultural work environments have become the norm. However, Leading and/or following in a multicultural work environment can be quite challenging. The lack of knowledge and understanding of the different cultural norms, values and even communication styles can hinder both leaders and followers’ ability to navigate cross-cultural interactions more effectively. It logically follows that in order to have a more successful and productive relationship as well as to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts, it has become imperative for both leaders and followers to learn how influential culture is and how to function in an environment in which differences are likely to be more pronounced than similarities.
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of culture on principals and teachers in public secondary schools in the UAE. This purpose was further broken into several objectives: to understand how national culture and organizational culture influence the perception of leadership styles, to understand the influence national culture might have on the relationship between principals and teachers in terms of conflict creation, to understand the influence organizational culture might have on the workplace practices of principals and teachers in terms of conflict resolution, and to understand the influence cultural induction might have on improving the workplace practices of and the relationship between principals and teachers in terms of conflict prevention. The study adopted a mixed method research approach and results revealed that there was a variation in the perception of leadership styles between principals and teachers. While principals perceived their leadership style to be transformational, teachers perceived it to be transactional. This variance in perceptions was found to be stemming more from differences in national culture than in organizational culture. As for national culture influence in terms of conflict creation, results revealed that the influence was evident both directly through manifestations in behaviors and indirectly through language. As for organizational culture influence in terms of conflict resolution, results showed that organizational culture was quite influential in this respect. The same influential role was found to be played by cultural induction in terms of preventing conflict from taking place.
In light of the findings of this study, the researcher concluded that future research should consider a larger sample size, a more generalizable sampling technique, and to extend studying the influence of culture on leaders and followers in settings other than educational ones. Furthermore, future research should be well-cognizant of real-self vs. ideal-self for participants. Recommendations to leaders, followers and policy makers were also provided; those included: the importance of designing a more immersive and extended onboarding/induction cultural programs for new joiners who come from different cultures, that future cultural induction programs better be led by school principals themselves in the real work-environment context/school, and that both leaders and followers should be open and welcoming of differences and engage in a life-long cultural learning journey.
This study filled in a gap of knowledge concerning the influence of culture on leaders and followers in terms of conflict creation, conflict resolution and conflict prevention, particularly within the UAE public education context. The study also stands out among a limited number of studies that explored the influence of both national and organizational culture on leadership styles perception through examining the perspectives of both leaders and followers, and therefore, paving the way for a single holistic model that accounts for both national and organizational culture (‘Organational’ culture) simultaneously and equally. Lastly, this study expanded the existing literature examining the use, application and interpretation of nation-wide cultural data at the individual level; hence emphasizing the importance of being vigilant and not fall into the trap of ecological fallacy when drawing conclusions
The Effectiveness of Instructional Supervisors in Promoting Personalized Professional Learning at Four Private Schools in Abu Dhabi
No full textPersonalized professional learning (PPL) is conceptualized as a targeted set of instructional supervisory practices designed to address teachers’ diverse growth needs and relevant interests. Research across a wide range of contexts shows that some schools that implement the PPL are led from the side by instructional supervisors who have challenged the traditional top-down paradigm of professional learning and redesigned its core practices to facilitate offering a personalized set of bottom-up professional learning strategies. These strategies involve teachers collaborating individually in a personalized focus with their instructional supervisors or collectively with other teachers. The PPL is practiced in the UAE, yet there is no transparent and clear investigation to show whether it is promoted effectively. Thus, this study investigated the effectiveness of instructional supervisors in promoting PPL at four private schools in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. A mixed research method was employed as a methodological triangulation design to guide the investigation using a model for PPL and an integrated theoretical framework that merges various theories and models related to leadership and learning. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected using data collection instruments that included self-administered questionnaires, semi-structured and focus group interviews, and document analysis. The study’s findings revealed that the professional learning provided impacted teachers’ performance based on the perceptions of instructional supervisors. However, teachers perceived that instructional supervisors were still relying on top-down professional learning practices that limited their choice, restricted their voice, and barely tailored professional learning content to their growth needs or interests. Teachers were restrained by top-down decisions that limited their freedom to choose or design their PPL activities. The study concluded with implications and recommendations for policy and practice to better foster a profound PPL experience.
These recommendations include adopting more personalized and job-embedded strategies from the bottom-up professional learning model. Also, using digital platforms adaptive to assess, track and manage teachers’ needs, granting them a space to exchange experiences and share best practices, along with offering more ongoing learning opportunities to teachers everywhere at any time. For policymakers, upgrading the professional learning policy and the school inspection framework with guiding statements that provide more detailed descriptions of personalized professional learning would be valuable
Exploring the Factors Affecting Chatbot Use in Higher Education and Its Impact on Social Sustainability Using a Hybrid SEM-ANN Approach
No full textPrevious studies have identified various drivers of chatbot adoption through different technology adoption theories. However, these studies have not been thoroughly reviewed and synthesized. Most studies have focused on examining the intention of using chatbots, with limited investigations on actual use and sustainable intention. This thesis explores the factors influencing the sustainable adoption of chatbots in higher education, specifically focusing on social sustainability. It aims to develop an integrated model that comprehensively examines the influencing factors, moderating effects, and organizational dynamics that shape chatbot adoption. The research begins with a comprehensive literature review to identify factors that generally influence chatbot adoption. These factors encompass technological, individual, organizational, and contextual dimensions. Building upon this literature review, the conceptual model is developed, addressing the research gaps in the existing literature and focusing on chatbot acceptance in the higher education sector. The systematic review includes an analysis of empirical studies published between 2016 and September 2022, resulting in 219 eligible studies out of 3,942 reviewed. The main findings reveal that the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Social Presence Theory (SPT), and Computers as Social Actors (CASA) are the prevailing theories explaining chatbot adoption. Anthropomorphism is the most examined external factor, followed by trust, enjoyment, and interactivity. The conceptual framework integrates established theories such as Task-Technology Fit (TTF), Source Credibility Theory, Social Presence Theory (SPT), and additional factors specific to chatbot adoption in higher education. A quantitative survey is administered to a sample of 341 individuals and students from the higher education sector in the UAE, capturing diverse perspectives on chatbot adoption. The model is then validated using advanced analytical techniques, including Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). The findings contribute to understanding chatbot adoption in higher education, providing insights into key drivers, challenges, and implications for social sustainability. The study's findings highlight factors such as task-technology fit, credibility, and social presence that significantly influence the intention to sustainably use chatbots in higher education. The sensitivity analysis reveals the importance of social presence, followed by credibility and task-technology fit, in influencing chatbot use. The chatbots’ technological characteristics have a greater impact than the task characteristics, and visual cues are perceived as more important than invisible and verbal cues for chatbot social presence. Trustworthiness is the most significant factor impacting credibility, followed by ease of use, tailoring, and commercial implications. However, Expertise, Real-World Feel, and Amateurism do not significantly impact credibility. These results contribute to developing acceptance models that can guide the design, implementation, and evaluation of chatbot initiatives in higher education institutions, fostering social sustainability. The theoretical contributions lie in developing an integrated model that extends existing theories to the context of chatbot adoption in higher education. The model provides a comprehensive understanding of the influencing factors and their interrelationships, offering a valuable framework for future research. From a practical perspective, the findings assist higher education institutions in strategically implementing and managing chatbots. The insights gained from this study can guide the development of effective strategies to promote chatbot acceptance, address privacy concerns, and leverage chatbots' potential for enhancing social sustainability in higher education settings
Re-Orienting Awareness to Human Sustainability by Integrating Indoor Spaces Strategies in Schools. Case studies from Sharjah and Ajman
No full textA combination of global and regional methods can lead to the sustainability of the entire universe; this may also require a massive, extensive effort on a larger scale. Environmental sustainability is defined as the planet's resistance to the universe's eventual expansion- as the planet's destiny-, which is brought on by the planet's rising temperature and the greenhouse gases that will eventually produce an explosion! Fighting against this fate will slow it down, but it won't stop it! In contrast, one way to change one's perspective on "what really needs to be sustained" is to consider for whom the environment is being maintained.It's crucial to understand that sustainability includes not just environmental considerations but also social, emotional, psychological, humanitarian, and economic ones. The lack of sustainability, internally and externally, has become a significant problem in today's society. Most of the time, Sustainability is typically associated with actions taken at a global level, but it is also vital to consider its effects in our immediate surroundings, especially, in indoor environments where we spend a big portion of our lives, as well as in the most important aspect among all, Our own selves. The integration between the sustainability of indoor strategies and individual well-being are two interrelated elements that affect the overall sustainability of our environment. By choosing strategies or objectives such as Feng Shui, Biophilic design, minimalism, and Islamic principles "FBMI" -as external strategies- and then studying how they will affect occupants' neuro programming and psychological well-being - the internal section- we can create indoor spaces that do not only prioritize sustainability but also enhance the psychology and well-being of individuals..Aim: This article examines the demand for human sustainability through the educational sector by focusing on Re-Orienting Awareness to Human Sustainability by Integrating Indoor Spaces Strategies in Schools. Methodology: Two schools were selected: The International School of Creative Science in Mueileh, ISCS and Al-Shola American School in Ajman, SAS. A voice recording of two Interviews of seven questions was done with the schools' principals, plus Two types of survey questionnaires -kids and adults- were distributed on 600 responders, as follows, 400 responses from SAS and 200 responses from ISCS. Surveys targeted these categories as follows,100 kids between grades 3-6, 150 adult students between grades 7-12, and 150 teachers in SAS, meanwhile, in ISCS were distributed as 100 kids, 50 adult students and 50 teachers. The agreement scale questionnaire which targets adults and the image choice questionnaire which targets the children are the two selected types of questionnaire. Data will be analysed after collection by software such as Excel sheet ,Nvivo and SPSS. Results: An average of 74% of the 400 adult respondents agreed that the external environment variables (airflow, site orientation, natural light, greenery, minimalism, and faith) can positively impact participants' psychology; furthermore, 73.74% of the same respondents disagreed on -the participants' psychology and well-being can be healed or enhanced by the external environment variables alone-; instead, there must be internal self-healing and enhancements. Any Indoor space strategies can't be effective if the three main human components are not well sustained. > 80% of the total 400 responses from both cases, agreed that Human sustainability is required and a vital core in sustaining the environment, which is considered a high rate of DEMAND for human sustainability through schools. Reorienting our awareness towards human sustainability is a Demand
Exploring School Leadership and Teachers’ Perspectives on the Effectiveness of Classroom Observation on Tracking Curriculum Implementation: A Case Study in a Private School in Abu Dhabi
No full textCurriculum is the core component of education development with a direct impact on learners’ knowledge, skills, and competencies. There are many approaches to evaluating the implementation process of the curriculum, and classroom observation is an effective tool as it reflects what happens inside classrooms. This qualitative case study was designed as a response to a current issue in a private international school in Abu Dhabi that lacked an appraisal policy, and the observation report was the only evaluation tool for teachers’ overall performance. Given this, the study aimed to explore the effectiveness of classroom observation as a tool to track the quality of curriculum delivery from the perspectives of heads of departments and teachers. For this to be achieved, the study utilised three instruments: semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and qualitative content analysis. The study's findings highlighted key characteristics of effective classroom observation, emphasising deliberate alignment with curriculum goals and the need for a comprehensive understanding of educational activities. The research also identified qualities in current observation rubrics, emphasising the importance of addressing inconsistencies across departments for reliable and valid assessments. Additionally, teacher and school leadership perspectives revealed the influence of experience and pedagogical beliefs, emphasising the need for professional development to enhance professionalism and support positive views of observations
The Impact of Dynamic Managerial Capabilities on Response Strategies to Disruptive Innovation: The Mediating Role of Unlearning and Moderating Role of Managerial Discretion
No full textThis thesis utilizes the upper echelon theory, and dynamic capability view of the firm, to address the impact of dynamic managerial capabilities (i.e., managerial human capital, managerial social capital, and managerial cognition) on response strategies to disruptive innovation (i.e., adaptive, and defiant resistant response strategies) in established professional service firms operating in the Emirate of Dubai. Additionally, it tested the impact of individual and organizational unlearning as serial mediators, and managerial discretion as a moderator, on the above-mentioned relation.
Adopting a philosophy inclined to positivism, this deductive and quantitative investigation followed a survey strategy, and employed questionnaire as a data collection tool. The questionnaire was established based on adopted measures from previous literature, pre-tested and piloted, before final data collection commenced to its total count of (491) responses. Utilizing (IBM-SPSS 26.0) and (IBM- Amos 23.0), data were analyzed through covariance-based structural equation modelling technique (SEM).
The findings of this investigation revealed interesting, and somehow unexpected insights. Contrary to the expectations, managerial human capital indicators (i.e., experience, education, and training) failed to predict for any of the identified response strategies. However, managerial social capital indicators (i.e., social capital from relations with government and community leaders, and social capital from relations with top managers at other business firms) had contrasting results. While the first indicator was expected to predict adaptive response strategies, it did not. Rather, it predicted for defiant resistant strategy. The second indicator successfully predicted the adaptive response strategy, as hypothesized. Finally, managerial cognition indicators (opportunity, and threat cognitive perceptions) played their hypothesized role in relation to response strategies, where opportunity cognitive perception predicted adaptive strategy adoption, and threat cognitive perception predicted the defiant resistant. Unlearning (individual and organizational) significantly and serially mediated the significant identified relations. Managerial discretion was not moderating it.
This study contributes in many ways to theory and practice. Theoretically, new insights have been retrieved on the applicability of the upper echelon theory in the research context. A contribution is made in terms of partially unpacking the relational black box of the theory. The study also provided interesting insights on the somehow taken for granted significance of the dynamic managerial capabilities (i.e., managerial human capital, and managerial social capital) and the role they play in responding to disruptive innovation. It also contributed to the enrichment of the literature on upper echelon theory, dynamic managerial capabilities, and disruptive innovation, by providing an empirical and quantitative evidence which the literature lacks, as it highlighted the role of endogenous factors (i.e., dynamic managerial capabilities) in predicting strategic behaviour of established firms (i.e., response strategies to disruptive innovation). It has also emphasized that established firms do respond to disruptive innovation, contrary to the common argument of established firms’ lack of response.
Practically, this study provides important empirically supported insights for managers and practitioners regarding the impact of dynamic managerial capabilities on response strategies to disruptive innovation adopted by established firms. In addition to those responsible for developing and selecting executives in organizations, it provides empirical evidence on which capability might affect adaptive response strategies the most. The findings of this study are of significance to policy makers too, who might need to re-look into their requirements if creative economy and innovation are being pursued
Developing a Digital Trust Framework between Government and Private Sector in the Financial Sector
No full textCOVID-19 accelerated the transformation to a digital society. It created a necessity for an ecosystem trusted by all parties to avail services, which requires identity to be verified and information to be exchanged. The trusted digital identity of individuals and organizations is a fundamental block in such an ecosystem. Services in critical domains such as finance, health and travel heavily rely on identity verification. This process is known as “Know Your Customer” (KYC). Despite the need for a digital service offering, regulators mandate the physical verification of individuals and their documents. This process is usually lengthy, inefficient, costly and inconvenient to the customer. It mandates the customer to visit each service provider at least once to conduct customer identification and verification prior to availing the service or obtaining digital credentials.
Regulators requirements need to be identified and addressed in a digital mean which is accepted and trusted by all involved parties, service providers, customers, and document issuers, in order to transform KYC process to a digital process which is trusted and efficient. The physical identity of individuals must be mapped to a digital identity that can be trusted and verified by all service providers. The physical documents of individuals representing their identity or any claim they make about themselves or their ownership must be transformed into trusted and verifiable digital credentials. This would enable an end to end digital service offering without the need for customer to physically visit service providers for customer identification and verification.
This paper develop a Digital Trust Framework between the government and private sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that aims to enable service providers to offer an end to end digital service through the development of a unified trusted digital identity and credentials that eliminate the need for the initial physical identification and verification, and imporve the continuous KYC monitoring of the customer therefore improving the efficiency and the user experience, reducing the cost, and increasing the transparency of the KYC processes. The framework uses decentralized identity and verifiable credentials (VCs) as a layer on top of blockchain technology to address the challenges faced in KYC processes while adopting Privacy-by-Design principles.
Hence, this research paper follows a design science research methodology (DSRM) as research method to develop the framework. The focus is on the financial sector in the UAE. The DSRM research method integrates existing theoretical knowledge and insights from industry practitioners obtained through semi-structured expert interviews. The proposed framework to imporve the KYC process was successfully implemented as prototype system and it was evaluated through a case study evaluation with real users to verify its feasibility. The results of the demonstration were used to evaluate the prototype system through different performance metrics. The results of the evaluation showed satisfactory performance across various metrics indicating the system stability and reliability
Understanding the impact of using Chatbot for shipment delivery toward environmental sustainability using the SEM-ANN approach
No full textThis research paper examines chatbot technology acceptance in customer service and shipment delivery, adoption studies, and sustainability. However, little research concerns the effect of the use of chatbots for shipment delivery and the correlation with environmental sustainability. The study aims to evaluate the impact of chatbot use on environmental sustainability in shipment delivery and develop an integrated theoretical framework for chatbot acceptance. An online survey was conducted with 344 participants from UAE residents to test the proposed model, which considers individual, and task-technology fit factors and extends UTAUT2. The study takes a unique approach compared to prior literature by relying on structural equation modeling (SEM) and artificial neural network (ANN) to analyze hypotheses.
The study findings revealed that task-technology fit had the most significant effect on sustainable chatbot use for shipment delivery, with an (87%) normalized importance score, followed by social influence (81%), hedonic motivation (78%), habit (72%), individual-technology fit (57%), and facilitating conditions (47%). Sensitivity analysis results further revealed that these factors play a crucial role in shaping consumer attitudes toward chatbot use in the shipment delivery domain and their impact on environmental sustainability.
The study provides valuable recommendations for developers, designers, and decision-makers in shipment delivery based on these results. Focusing on these areas can improve the results related to effort and performance expectancy, ensuring that chatbots are used for shipment delivery as effectively and efficiently as possible. However, additional research is required to validate the results and extend the proposed theoretical framework to other domains