Antecedents of parent-based school reputation and loyalty: an international application

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 635-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masood A. Badri ◽  
Jihad Mohaidat

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to validate the direction and strength of the relationships between school reputation, parental satisfaction and parental loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports the findings of a survey of 806 parents from Schools in Abu Dhabi – the United Arab Emirates. The paper builds mainly on previous work of Skallerud (2011) on measurement of school reputations. Structural equation modelling was used to validate the reputation measure and to test the proposed relationships. The model hypothesised and tested relationships linking school reputation to parental satisfaction and loyalty. Findings – The results show strong support for a satisfaction-reputation-loyalty model and confirmed the four-dimensional scale (parental orientation, learning quality, safe environment and good teachers) for assessment of parent-based school reputation. Evidence was found that parents’ satisfaction significantly affects the four reputation dimensions. However, only three constructs of parent orientation affected parental perception of school loyalty. Additional personal or demographic variables should be included to improve the model. Research limitations/implications – The study was limited to parents of children attending public and private schools in Abu Dhabi. The model should be validated with other schools and in other Emirates and countries. Practical implications – Identifying the antecedents of parent-based school reputation might aid school decision makers to better address parental satisfaction and loyalty. A careful examination of the causal relations between the various constructs could aid in crafting and implementing effective programs for increasing parental satisfaction and attracting future students. Originality/value – The study adds to the limited body of research addressing the appropriate conceptualisation and measurement of school reputation. It also sheds light on a better understanding of the potential relationships among the constructs in the model.

Author(s):  
Nada Hammad ◽  
Syed Zamberi Ahmad ◽  
Avraam Papastathopoulos

Purpose This paper aims to investigate residents’ perceptions of tourism’s impact on their support for tourism development in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires from Abu Dhabi residents (n = 407), who represented 30 nationalities residing in the emirate. Based on social exchange theory, structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses. Findings Results suggest that Abu Dhabi residents perceive the impacts of tourism positively and are more sensitive to the environmental and economic influences of tourism than the social and cultural influences. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to Abu Dhabi residents; findings cannot be generalized to other emirates in the UAE, or other countries. Originality/value This study adds value to extant tourism literature by investigating residents’ perceptions of the influence of tourism in one of the richest cities worldwide, which aspires to be one of the fastest growing tourism destinations in the Middle East.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Al Dhaheri

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report results of testing and validation of the cultural intelligence (CQ) Scale in a new location, the culturally diverse United Arab Emirates (UAE) and in a new sector: public and private school leaders. Design/methodology/approach This study surveys 167 school leaders from public and private schools in the UAE using the 20-item version of the CQ Scale, which uses a seven-point Likert response scale of strongly agree to strongly disagree. An examination of the dimensionality of the 20 items was conducted using both principal components analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Demographics were also gathered. Findings Results from testing and validation of the scale indicated a high level of CQ among school leaders in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. An examination of the dimensionality of the 20 items showed them to fall into the same structure of four sub-components as conceptually conceived: knowledge, strategy, motivation and behaviour. The mean scores for the four components of CQ in this study indicate high CQ amongst Abu Dhabi school leaders, although the knowledge dimension measured slightly lower. The results confirm previous research that found CQ to be higher in culturally diverse settings, which, according to socio-demographic details gathered in the study applies to the UAE. Originality/value This is the first known study to test the Cultural Intelligence Scale in UAE schools. It answers the call from the CQ Scale developers to validate the scale in diverse contexts.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 455-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled Ahmed Al Mansoori ◽  
Jawahitha Sarabdeen ◽  
Abdel Latif Tchantchane

Purpose E-government is new to the public administration sector of Abu Dhabi and it is rapidly expanding. The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that might motivate citizens to adopt the e-government public services provided by the Government of Abu Dhabi Emirate. The insights of the study will help government leaders to plan the delivery of public services effectively. Design/methodology/approach The study surveyed 638 United Arab Emirates (UAE) citizens living in three main districts of the Abu Dhabi Emirate. The research used an exploratory factor analysis that conforms the validity of the theoretical model to the data collected, confirmatory analysis to extract the latent factors and both multiple regression and structural equation modelling to test the research hypotheses. Findings The finding revealed that internet trust and performance expectancy was the strongest predictors of intention to use e-government services. Effort expectancy, facilitating conditions and trust had a positive influence on behavioural intention (BI). However, social influence (SI) did not have a significant effect. Gender, age and experience did not affect the relationship between SI and BI. It was also found that BI to use e-government services had a significant influence on the actual use of e-government sites. Practical implications When the government gets to know the major factors that affect the adoption of e-government services in Abu Dhabi, it can maximise its returns on ICT infrastructure investments by providing efficient service that could be adopted by the citizens. Originality/value The research has theoretical and practical value. Though the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model has previously been used in organisational settings, the present study uses a modified version in the context of citizens’ acceptance and use of e-government services. The present study thus provides an extension of the UTAUT model that could be suitable for developing countries such as the UAE.


Author(s):  
Jill M Aldridge ◽  
Kate Rowntree

AbstractThe global lack of student motivation towards learning science and gender imbalance in STEM careers provided the impetus for this study, which had two key aims: (1) to examine the influence of female students’ perceptions of the psychosocial learning environment on their motivation towards and self-regulation in science learning,; and (2) to investigate the influence of their reported motivation on their self-regulation of effort. Data were collected from 338 female students in grades 6 to 9 science classes across 16 government schools in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Structural equation modelling was used to explore the hypothesised relationships, which indicated that there were statistically significant relationships between learning environment perceptions, motivation and self-regulation. The results provide exigent information to both teachers, policy-makers and researchers with regard to the influences of the psychosocial learning environment on female students’ motivation towards science, as well as the influence of motivation towards science on their self-regulatory behaviour within science classroom settings.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamad A. Al Ali ◽  
Syed Zamberi Ahmad

Subject area International business and/or strategic management. Study level/applicability This case is useful for undergraduate and postgraduate level students majoring in international business management and/or strategic management. Case overview Etihad Airways was established in 2003, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the UAE government as sole owner. It is the national carrier of UAE with Abu Dhabi as its centre of operations. Etihad is recognized as a fast-growing player in the aviation industry, and has become one of the dominant international players in the industry in a relatively short time. Etihad's fleet now contains more than 67 planes, with more than 1,300 flights per week to diverse destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. The company describes its business strategy as “sustainable growth”. Looking through a practitioner's lens, strategic partnerships have been the critical activities through which Etihad has delivered its strategy. The purpose of this case study is therefore to elaborate on its major and successful partnerships and the critical benefits of these. Secondary data were collected from credible sources including academic studies, relevant Etihad publications and industry reports published by official aviation associations. Expected learning outcomes Students will be able to understand the theory of strategic partnerships, their roles and benefits and critically evaluate the pre-staging “requirements” of such partnerships. In this case, the specific learning outcome of it is to help students to understand the importance of successful strategic partnerships for Etihad Airlines and how partnership strategies can improve the performance of Etihad Airlines. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dev Jani ◽  
John R. Philemon Mwakyusa

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to test the perceived economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts on the satisfaction of local residents with the Zanzibar International Film Festival.Design/methodology/approachStructured questionnaires were administered to 299 local Zanzibaris, to obtain the data necessary for hypotheses testing using Structural Equation Modelling through Smart PLS 3.0.FindingsThe findings reveal that locals' perceptions related to economic, cultural, environmental and pride impacts of the festival had greater positive significant effects on the level of satisfaction of local residents compared to image, entertainment and social impacts.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings uphold the utility of Social Exchange Theory in explaining local residents' perceptions of the festival. The results contribute to the existing literature on festivals by affirming the multidimensional nature of their social consequences.Practical implicationsManagerially, the results shed light on possible areas to be improved by festival promoters from both the public and private sectors in enhancing the positive perceptions held by local residents as well as improving festivals in the area or similar context.Originality/valueThe study expands the Triple Bottom Line dimensions of sustainability in the festival context by adding pride, entertainment and image perceived value.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel E. Collier ◽  
Daniel L. Sherrell ◽  
Emin Babakus ◽  
Alisha Blakeney Horky

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential differences between types of self-service technology. Specifically, the paper explores how the dynamics of public and private self-service technology influence customers' decision to use the technology. Design/methodology/approach – Existing customers of private and public self-service technology were surveyed from the same industry. Using structural equation modeling, the authors examine how relevant self-service constructs influence evaluations and attitudes of customers across both settings. Findings – The analysis reveals that customers' control and convenience perceptions differ across public and private self-service technology. Additionally, customers placed a heavier emphasis on the hedonic or utilitarian evaluation of a service experience based on the type of self-service technology. Practical implications – For managers of self-service applications, understanding the unique differences of public and private self-service technology can aid in the implementation and adoption of the technology. By properly understanding the differences of the self-service types, managers can provide a beneficial experience to the customer. Originality/value – By identifying and describing two distinct categories of SSTs, this study allows managers and researchers to better understand how and why individuals choose to utilize individual self-service technologies. Through understanding the unique dynamics of a public and a private SST experience, retailers can determine the appropriate strategy for customer adoption based on the utilitarian or hedonic functions of the technology.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 940-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mukesh Kumar ◽  
K.S. Sujit ◽  
Vincent Charles

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose the microeconomics concept of elasticity to estimate the SERVQUAL gap elasticity to derive important insights for service providers to develop the right strategies to bridge the overall gap in service. Design/methodology/approach The dimensions of SERVQUAL adopted from Parasuraman et al. (1988) and Kumar et al. (2009) are first verified for their unidimensionality using structural equation modeling and reliability in the context of United Arab Emirates banking industry. Furthermore, the technique of dominance analysis is used to derive the relative importance of dimensions for different groups of banks. Finally, the stepwise log-linear regression models are used to estimate the gap elasticity to measure the responsiveness of the overall SERVQUAL gap to a change in customers’ perception on different dimension. Findings The results reveal that the dimension which is prioritized as the most important dimension need not to be the one to be targeted under the resource constraint to react faster to the changes of customers’ banking behavior. Originality/value This is probably the first attempt to examine the service quality through gap elasticity. This method is especially useful when the traditional approach to measure relative importance of critical factors fails to clearly discriminate between two or more dimensions, which, in turn, may lead to failure in decision making to choose the right strategies to bridge the overall gap in the service.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 1016-1034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Said Elbanna ◽  
Tamer H. Elsharnouby

Purpose The purpose of this study is to address a timely research question by clarifying whether formal planning is a worthy approach for hotels. In so doing, the authors developed a theoretical model that extends prior research by exploring how the formal planning process influences organizational capabilities and decision-making style. The model also examines the impact of the three identified factors on planning effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 175 hotels located in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar and hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings The study concludes that the practice of formal planning in the tourism sector does matter and both organizational capabilities and decision-making style are important factors in predicting planning effectiveness. Research limitations/implications Generalizations to organizations operating in other sectors, such as manufacturing or government sectors, should be drawn cautiously. Practical implications Taking into account oil price volatility and serious political crises in the region, this study provides several insights to hotel managers into how the formal planning process can influence planning effectiveness. Originality/value The findings enrich the debate on the role of formal planning in the tourism sector, which has been relatively devoid of similar studies.


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