Impact of integration management on performance in the UAE

Integration management is a significant factor of success in different types of organizations. Yet, the definition of integration management and ways to measure performance in a comprehensive framework need to be investigated in different environments. This paper analyzes the impact of integration management practices on company performance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study uses a questionnaire that was designed with constructs and dimensions following the literature review. The components of integration management are supply chain integration, supplier integration, customer integration, knowledge transfer with customers, and managing knowledge transfer channels with customers. A questionnaire was distributed among organizations in the UAE. Statistical analysis methods were employed to analyze 94 responses, e.g. reliability tests, ANOVA, and correlation analysis. The results show that integration management improves organizational performance to a considerable degree in the UAE. The impact of these practices was positive and significant on the performance of organizations, with an average correlation coefficient of 0.81. The comprehensive assessment for integration best practices and performance and their relationship are done for the first time in the context of the UAE organizations.

Attitudes towards infopreneurship among information science students at a higher education institution

This study aimed to explore the attitudes of students of a higher education institution towards infopreneurship. The study emanated from observations that the widespread use of information technologies has created a new sector in the labor market – infopreneurship. The study adopted the case study research design based on focus group discussions to establish the students’ attitudes towards infopreneurship. The participants for the focus groups were students of the Information Science department at the University of Technology, Cape Town. Data collection during the focus group discussions was based on unstructured interviews. Quantitative data analysis was applied based on data reduction from codes to categories. An enterprising attitude (26.4% code frequency) dominated the positive responses while negative attitudes were mainly reflected by a critical attitude (20.8% code frequency) towards infopreneurship. While it appeared that positive attitudes were more prevalent than negative attitudes, there were notable observations that the respondents were critical or neutral towards the essence of infopreneurship in the South African context. It was found that the belief that infopreneurship is not a viable form of employment was still prevalent. Some respondents believed that employment means working for someone. They felt that there is greater respect in being employed than engaging in infopreneurship. Some respondents, however, appear to have stronger entrepreneurial orientations and felt that infopreneurship offers the best employment opportunities. The study recommends changes in higher education curricula and the creation of a stimulating environment for infopreneurship.

Digitalization and higher education for sustainable development in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic: A content analysis approach

Higher education for sustainable development (HESD) in the Covid-19 pandemic faces different challenges. Empirically few studies to date have introduced much on the digitalization of higher education for sustainable development. This study aims to explore and explain the digitalization of HESD from different attitudes and to build linkages of the digitalization in HESD. Furthermore, the study makes content analysis where 1,200 tweets on digitalization in higher education for sustainable development are collected from Twitter, and 19 documents have further categorized information data via NVivo. In addition, 22 students and 9 instructors were invited for a semi-structured interview to further supplement this study and confirm its findings. This study finds that attitudes towards digitalization in the study area can be divided into three correlated attitude layers. Teaching attitudes and educational attitudes are the first level, and the second level is the digital platform attitude, technology use attitude, and resource attitude. Furthermore, network attitude, service attitude, and development attitude are the third level. Thus, through the analysis, this study suggests higher education institutions should make improvements in digitalized teaching, education quality via innovation, technological development, resources use, and development via creating a better digital platform or environment is essential for genuinely promoting the HESD.

Impact of tax fairness and tax knowledge on tax compliance behavior of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria

Tax compliance is a major contemporary debate surrounding corporate taxation in the business world. The tax avoidance issue, which remains an ethical problem for companies, has been a general concern in developed and developing countries alike. The main problem of this study is a non-tax compliance behavior of the corporate organization taxpayers in Nigeria. This study examined the influence of tax fairness on the tax compliance behavior of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The paper adopted a survey research method, and four hundred (400) copies of the questionnaire were administered to the selected manufacturing companies of both consumer and industrial goods sectors. The Laffer Curve Theory underpinned this study and Correlation Analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and Multiple Regression Analysis were also employed. The study found that there is a significant level of tax compliance among the listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The study also shows that the corporate taxpayer’s perception of fairness of –2.765 (0.006) has a significant impact on corporate taxpayers’ willingness to pay taxes and tax knowledge of 4.601 (0.000) significantly influenced tax compliance. Based on tax knowledge, the study recommends that tax authorities must improve the knowledge of taxpayers and tax collection agents through programs, initiatives, and training on tax awareness.

Honesty as a value in the interpersonal relationships in organizations

The crisis caused by COVID-19 has increased interest to the subject of integrity in organizations. The purpose of this study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the opinions on the value of honesty, broken down by the group of supervisors and subordinates during the crisis caused by COVID-19. The analysis was carried out in Poland among undergraduate students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in fields representing disciplines other than management. The paper used a survey method; 102 respondents took part in the survey. 9.52% of men and 5.00% of women in the group of subordinates did not have opinions on this subject. In the group of supervisors, the situation was completely opposite: 6.25% of women and 4.76% of men showed such a result. Significant discrepancies were noticed in the assessment of the importance of honesty depending on the education field of the respondents. The difference between the highest assessments of the importance of this value was 33.70 percentage points in the supervisors’ group, and 38.64 percentage points in the subordinates group. Drawing attention to this problem, which affects all participants of an organization to a different extent, may help to shape the ethical attitudes of future managers and, in consequence, manage their organizations better.

Responsiveness of rural development to budget management attributes: Evidence from Ogun State, Nigeria

The essence of local government as contained in the Nigerian Constitution is bringing government closer to the people and make them feel the impact of governance. This study examined the responsiveness of rural development to three of the attributes of public budgeting (effectiveness, openness, and adequacy) in selected local governments in Ogun State, Nigeria. The objective was to establish the functional association and interconnectedness between the explained and explanatory variables. Data were gathered through the administration of a five-point Likert scale questionnaire distributed to 800 respondents in 8 local governments in Ogun States, out of which 348, representing 43.5%, were retrieved and used for analysis. Both descriptive statistics and ordinary least square regression were utilized in the study. The result showed that three explanatory variables, namely budget effectiveness, budget openness, and budget adequacy, are positively related to rural development, although the impact of budget adequacy was shown to be insignificant. The implication is that the effectiveness of budget management and the openness of the budget in terms of transparency and accountability are more responsive and influential determinants of rural development than the adequacy of the budget estimates. The paper, therefore, recommended improvement in budget openness through more consultations and accessibility to budget information by the public as well as monitoring of projects and programs within the local council to engender development and add value to the rural dwellers.

CEO hubris and Islamic banks’ performance: Investigating the roles of Sharia board vigilance and CEO power

The purpose of the study is to thoroughly outline how the hubris behavior of chief executive officers (CEO) is detrimental to Islamic banks’ (IBs) performance. Specifically, this study attempts to examine the role of the Sharia supervisory board (SSB), board vigilance, and CEO power in the relationship between CEO hubris behavior and decreased IBs’ performance. This study observes IBs’ performance during the period from 2014 to 2020 and develops eight models to test their determinants. Empirical testing of all models shows that CEO hubris has a detrimental impact on IBs’ performance. The moderating impact test shows the following results: firstly, the presence of SSB, which is represented by the reputation of its members, reduces the detrimental impact of hubris behavior by CEOs on IBs’ performance, while that impact, which is represented by member expertise, does not have a moderating effect. Second, the size and independence of the BOC both weaken the negative relationship between CEO hubris and IBs’ performance. Third, CEO power as represented by tenure and ownership has no moderating effect.

Analysis of potential factors influencing audit quality: The moderating effect of time budget pressure

In a pandemic situation the audit sector, either government or public, is affected in terms of audit implementation, especially in carrying out field audits. However, auditors can tackle this issue by applying new methods. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the effect of auditor skepticism, auditor competence, understanding of information systems, and auditor motivation on audit quality. It also assesses whether time budget pressure has a moderating effect on the relationship between auditor competence, auditor motivation, and audit quality. 58 questionnaires were issued to government internal auditors in the Principal Inspectorate of Indonesia’s Supreme Audit Institution in the AKN V and VI units, and the data were acquired using a Google Form. SmartPLS software version 3.0 was used to analyze data applying Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Purposive sampling was used in this investigation, which took a quantitative approach. The paper uses the theory of planned behavior and the inverted U theory. The results conclude that auditor skepticism, auditor competence, and understanding of information systems have a significant positive effect on audit quality. Auditor motivation has no significant positive effect on audit quality. Furthermore, time budget pressure does not moderate the effect of auditor competence and auditor motivation on audit quality. This study is expected to provide valuable input to improve the audit quality and assist auditors in the AKN V and VI units uphold professionalism and integrity in carrying out audit examinations even under the condition of a pandemic.

Challenges impeding women into leadership roles in a student-led organization at the South African higher education institution

The study shows that a patriarchal society where women are still in the minority when it comes to leadership positions is still dominating. A few studies are exploring the role of women in leadership in government and industry, and very little focus is paid on higher education institutions and more especially – from a female leadership perspective. Therefore, this paper aims to determine the factors that hindered female students from attaining leadership positions and simultaneously make recommendations to create more leadership opportunities in a nationally recognized student-led organization known as the Student Representative Council at a large public South African higher education institution – the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The target population was 16 female leaders who served in the University’s Student Representative Council from 2019 to 2020 of which 13 had responded. A qualitative approach was followed and interviews were conducted. The study employed inductive qualitative thematic analysis using NVIVO 12. Findings revealed that the Student Representative Council structure at the university was patriarchal with little commitment to gender equality. Males outnumbered women in leadership roles. Portfolios assigned to women were mainly administrative rather than leadership. Females were subjected to stereotypical behavior. The study recommended ways to promote female student leadership whereby policy and constitution change is required to facilitate gender equality and the implementation of quotas. Women should be empowered to enhance their leadership skills via effective leadership development programs specifically designed for females to address the leadership gap between males and females.

Employee motivation and job satisfaction in family-owned businesses

This study aimed to investigate the differences in motivational focus and sources of satisfaction between family and non-family employees in family businesses. Data from a questionnaire survey conducted between May and September 2021 were used to examine the relationship of work motivation between family and non-family employees. Data were collected via a questionnaire and interviews with 56 non-family employees and 148 family employees from family businesses of eight Slovak regions. To meet the stated aim, relevant quantitative methods such as the two-sample Fisher’s F-test, two-sample Student’s t-test with inequality of variances, and the Pearson correlation method were applied. Based on the established results, it can be assumed that it is possible to adapt the dealings with the employees of family companies more closely to their individual needs, and thus contribute to their performance. Non-family employees are more oriented towards economic benefits. Family employees show a more balanced orientation between economic benefits and moral satisfaction. This confirms that financial considerations are still an important factor of motivation for non-family employees. According to the results of the study, non-family employees tend to focus on content and activity, while family employees rather focus on success. A possible explanation could be that family members perceive the success of a company more than their own and feel more confident in the choice of activities they would like to carry out, so they take this fact more than for granted. AcknowledgmentThis paper has been supported by funds of the project VEGA No. 1/0240/20. This study was supported by the project GAAA 5-5/2020 “Development of family businesses in Slovak regions”, which has received funding from Grant Agency Academia Aurea and by project VEGA 1/0813/19 “Managing the development of innovative and start-up forms of businesses in international environment and verification of INMARK concept”, which has received funding from the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic.