LIS Education in the GCC Region: A Case Study for UAE Emiratization.

Taking a cursory look at the trends of LIS education among the six GCC countries, certain patterns in the practice of LIS profession in the States with two or more library schools were identified. In spite of the low representation of the LIS education in the region, the influx of expatriates to the region has closed the gap that lack of library and information professionals would have created. However, the increasing youth unemployment rate of the nationals of the Gulf States have prompted their governments into actions. The United Arab Emirates in particular, through the employment policy initiative for its citizens has mandated private companies with at least 50 skilled workers in the country to ensure its citizens constitute 2% of every 50 skilled workers in the company. Given that there is only one library school (private) in the country, this paper x-rays the potential employment opportunities that LIS education could create for the unemployed citizens of the UAE (otherwise known as Emiratis). This is based on the premise that education sector is arguably the largest employer of skilled labour that the country seek for its citizens. Data of private schools across the country were sourced from education authorities in the seven Emirates that make up the country and categorized by grades. The recommended number of librarians required for each grade category by stakeholders in the field was determined. The finding corroborating Boumarafi, (2008) shows that on a short term of 5-year period, LIS education targeting private schools only could create 1330 skilled jobs for Emiratis. This is beside hundreds of other job opportunities in about 100 higher institutions of learning in the country which are not factored in this paper. The identified patterns which could pose challenges to LIS education from achieving its mandate are highlighted and recommendations are made on how to overcome them

IT OFFSHORING: History, Prospects and Challenges

Offshore provision of IS/IT related services has been growing rapidly in recent years and seems firmly set to continue. This trend is fueled by the many advantages of offshore service procurement; however, there are dangers in this practice. Furthermore, offshoring requires adaptation of the IS function and IS management. This, in turn suggests the need for modifications of IS curricula in order to prepare graduates for the new environment. The advantages of offshoring are those of outsourcing in general – cost saving and allowing the organization to focus on its core activities. The main dangers include loss of possibly-important business skills and reliance on remote suppliers who face risks that are unfamiliar to the client firm. The loss of jobs due to offshoring also introduces political considerations. Offshore IS activities are generally the responsibility of an organization’s CIO. This management responsibility requires awareness of cultural and legal differences and of risks associated with offshoring and outsourcing in general. Offshoring has an effect on job opportunities for graduates of information systems programs. The number of some jobs will shrink, but new positions with new responsibilities are likely to emerge. Training of students in the U.S. and other countries in the developed world to function in an environment of offshored operations will introduce new IS roles and skills and require the adaptations of IS curricula

The Review of the Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) in Four Selected Countries

Recently, SIWES has attracted studies from scholars in higher educational systems in Nigeria due to the deficiency or lack of proficiency of many graduates, mostly in the natural sciences. This shows that the scheme has not been effective in ensuring impartation of practical knowledge on students. Consequently, many employers of labour view this challenge as one of the causes of unemployment, an obstacle to achieving corporate goals and a serious obstacle to national development. Although SIWES stakeholders have been primarily indicted for its dysfunction, most especially, the Government, and the management of tertiary institutions, but none of such studies have compared SIWES in developed countries with a developing society like Nigeria with the aim of identifying the missing gap that needs to be filled to ensure students proficiency at work after graduation. Being a descriptive article, the present study used data from secondary sources to analyze and synthesize SIWES in four purposefully selected countries. By synthesizing SIWES activities in these countries, the study identifies factors responsible for the dysfunction of SIWES in Nigeria. These include poor quality of education from the elementary school to higher educational systems; short duration apportioned to SIWES in the curriculum of tertiary institutions; insufficient industries and closure of some of the few existing ones due to unfavourable environmental factors; inadequate equipment / facilities in existing few industries for effective practical training and poor leadership of SIWES stakeholders. The study concluded that SIWES in Nigeria could improve if these flaws could be effectively addressed

Trend & Mind-Set that India’s Central Science & Technology Sector & Further Need

The ability to innovate and deploy globally competitive technologies has been recognized as the next key driver of global economic change in the emerging knowledge economy. While science is scholarship driven, technology and innovation are market and competition driven, respectively. Currently, Indian Research and Development landscape is largely influenced by the character of public funded research and selection of R&D priorities is mostly supply driven. The private sector investment into R&D have been marginal. Therefore, demand driven component of R&D goals has been limited. Policy, strategy and tools are required to stimulate larger investment into demand driven R&D goals. Energy sector invests far too into R&D, although industrial turn over in the sector is extremely high. Promotion of public- private partnership into R&D and clean energy is a critical component of India’s competitiveness in global trade and industrial growth. New strategies and tools are required to stimulate engagement of private sector into R&D and enhance the share of private sector investment from the current 26% of India’s R&D spend to at least 50% during the 2012-17 period. The larger share of public investments into R&D could also be leveraged by focusing of R&D for public and social ‘good priorities of the country. There is an un-tapped opportunity for India to emerge as a global leader in affordable innovations under PPP by focusing on R&D for public and social goods in the areas of agriculture and food security, water, energy, affordable health care, education, environment, renovation of urban infrastructure, S&T inputs to rural development etc. Residual idealism among the youth and vast talent base offer an opportunity for the R&D sector in: the country to gain leadership in affordable and social innovations. Coming five years should lead to the creation of an innovation ecosystem most suited to the developmental phase of the country. Such an ecosystem should be complete with new responses to risk averse nature of the society, delivery models for innovative deployment of technologies, business models for financing deployment of innovations and adjustments in governance and management models for supporting strategic goals of innovations. The approach for R&D sector should address all’ stages of life cycles of ideas; from creation to commercialization and value creation. Thiswould call for paradigm shifts in approaches of planning for R&D in India during the Twelfth Five Year Plan period

Assessing the Effects of Sound Financial Statement Preparation on the Growth of Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises

The objective of this study is to assess the contribution of sound financial statements preparation to the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and identify the challenges SMEs face in preparing their financial statements. The study employed descriptive survey design and targeted SMEs operating in Ho Municipality of Ghana. A sample of 200 respondents was selected purposively for review. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and the results presented using tables and figures. The study result revealed that many SMEs maintained sales day book using single entry bookkeeping. Most SMEs prepare financial statements with the help of full-time accounts officers. Majority of SMEs highlighted high cost involved maintaining and preparing financial statements as a challenge in preparing financial statements.  The study findings also show that there is a significant relationship between sound financial statement preparation and SMEs growth. Sound accounting bookkeeping leading to sound preparation of financial statements serves as leverage to SMEs in monitoring, analyzing their business for financial performance evaluation and accessing credits from financial institutions which translates into their growth ultimately. Keywords: Financial Statement, SMEs, Growth, Ho Municipality, Ghan

Gender and organizational citizenship behavior in library technology: Mixed methods study

Academic librarianship continues to be a feminized profession, yet there are specializations within the profession that tend to be gender segregated, such as library technology. In this mixed methods study, women technology librarians\u27 behaviors are examined through the gendered lens of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), which are discretionary, voluntary acts that are outside an employee\u27s job description (Organ, 1988), but help shape the organizational culture and facilitate organizational functioning (Podsakoff & MacKenzie, 1997). This mixed methods study uses a survey to inform the extent of differences in organizational citizenship behaviors between men and women, and interviews to provide new insight on how women technology librarians describe their organizational citizenship behaviors. Acker\u27s (1990) gender processing and Greenberg\u27s (1996) organizational justice theories will be applied to their described organizational citizenship behaviors to reveal institutional barriers that creates a lack of perceived fairness within the organization. Finally, this mixed methods study assists in filling the void in research regarding gender and library technology, as well as gender, organizational citizenship behaviors, and library technology

'Surfing the edge of chaos':An ethnography of police joint working

Police joint working is a messy area of enquiry, which has thus far been somewhat compartmentalised in previous research. This thesis reflects the complexities of police joint working amidst an era of austerity. It advances complex adaptive systems (CAS) as a theoretical construct, through which to study and comprehend the process of joint working. The principal aim is to provide a deeper and richer understanding of joint working, by drawing primarily on observations and experiences of warranted police officers and civilian police staff. The more specific objectives are to identify the utility of police joint working as a solution to social problems; investigate how joint work is accomplished using an ethnographic approach; contribute to understanding how joint working challenges might be approach differently. Through the application of CAS, a holistic and contextualised account of joint working is provided. In this respect, the thesis differs from previous atheoretical studies and literature employing a ‘communities of practice’ (CoP) approach. Whilst acknowledging the relevance of shared cultural factors, this thesis seeks to shift attention to wider – personal and structural – contextual influences that give rise to the ‘punctuated’ progress in working together, generally overlooked in existing joint working theory. Ethnographic methods were applied as a key to unlock the intricacies and diversity of joint working experiences – both front- and back-stage – as the researcher was immersed in a large police force in England for 18-months. Fieldwork insights exposed the fragmented, unpredictable and interconnected ways in which joint working changes over time. Thus, networked policing was revealed as messy, evolving and seemingly out of control. The implications section stresses the importance of developing a formalised supervision model as a source of stability through, which employees can find ways to navigate change ‘churn’ and ‘surf the chaos’

The Exigency and How to Improve and Implement International Humanitarian Legislations More Advantageously in Times of Both Cyber-warfare and Cyberspace

This study provides a synopsis of the following topics: the prospective limiters levied on cyber-warfare by present–day international legislation; significant complexities and contentions brought up in the rendering & utilization of International Humanitarian Legislation against cyber-warfare; feasible repercussions of cyber-warfare on humanitarian causes. It is also to be contended and outlined in this research study that non–state actors can be held accountable for breaches of international humanitarian legislation committed using cyber–ordnance if sufficient resources and skill are made available. It details the factors that prosecutors and investigators must take into account when organizing investigations into major breaches of humanitarian legislation committed in cyber–space, as well as the jurisdictional components of transgressions of the rules and L.o.A.C (Legislation of Armed Conflict). Due to the limitations imposed by both time and space, the planned analysis cannot be thorough; rather, it will have to remain conservative and concentrate on providing a basic grasp of the topics that are most pertinent to the modern practice of statecraft. Furthermore, given the technical and statutory complication of the subject matter as well as the fact that legal research remains in its infancy, the aspiration of this study should remain low to distinguishing matters and placing those in framework. It cannot be the goal of this study to magisterially resolute the prevailing issues that have arisen