Measuring the level of market orientation among financial services providers in a resource-based economy: organizational and customer perspectives

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel UniversityFollowing the pioneering work of Kohli and Jaworski, Narver and Slater, and other academic researchers during the 1990s, the concept of ‘market orientation’ has evolved as an important area of study within the marketing discipline. This work has initiated a large number of empirical studies that have been undertaken during the last two decades. Despite its importance and the attention that this concept has received during the last two decades, most of these studies have conceptualized market orientation and measured its levels within only the Western contexts where it has been developed. Although other studies have been undertaken within newly developed and developing economies, there has been little focus on exploring the concept, its constructs and implementation in less developed and resource-based economies. In order to address this research gap, a mixed-method design was adopted that consisted of two phases. Following a literature survey, the first phase involved a qualitative study to gain better understanding of the notion of market-orientation within a resource-based context and refine the preliminarily conceptual framework based on existing literature and Deshpandé’s definition of market-orientation. In the second phase, this framework was tested by means of a survey of both financial services providers and their customers. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) were employed to analyse the survey responses. The models showed a good fit to the data and good convergent, nomological and discriminant validity, reliability and stability, demonstrating improvement to existing scales by the addition of further salient items elicited from the qualitative phase. The findings of this study identified four constructs of market-orientation in financial services providers within a resource-based economy, viz. market-oriented corporate culture, strategy formulated and implemented, structure and systems employed, and market-oriented activities. Those dimensions (constructs) were consistent with various previous works in the market-orientation literature. Additionally, the study found that a market-oriented corporate culture had a mediating role in facilitating the business organizations’ responses through the strategy formulated and implemented.A key contribution of this research was to offer a robust model that explained market-orientation within a resource-based economy and demonstrated that a market-oriented corporate culture had a mediating effect on facilitating financial services providers’ responses to satisfying customer needs and expectations. The use of a qualitative approach to identify market-orientation dimensions in this context was also considered a methodological contribution in this area of marketing research. Moreover, the present study added a novel perspective to the body of market-orientation literature and suggested directions for future research. Finally, the study provided managerial implications for financial services managers to identify what they should do to become more market-oriented businesses or to enhance their level of market-orientation in order to meet their businesses’ needs and customers’ expectations

Education in Bahrain - 1919-1986 an analytical study of problems and progress

The purpose of this thesis is to present a case study of educational development in Bahrain, a developing country with limited resources. This study attempts (1) to assess the development of education in Bahrain from 1919 to1980 and to analyse the main problems; and (2) to give a comprehensive account of the present educational system (1980 onwards) in the context of recent economic developments and trends. The thesis is organised into eight chapters. Chapter One describes the geography, the people, the history and the economy of the Islands. Chapter Two is concerned with the historical development of Bahraini education from 1919 until 1980. It is an analysis of the different stages, the problems at each stage and the measures taken to tackle them. Chapter Three examines the main forces that have affected the present development, both positively and negatively. Chapter Four provides a survey of the present educational system especially in the State schools. Also the reforms which have been implemented since 1980 are fully examined. Chapter Five is devoted to higher education both at countries abroad and at home colleges. There is also a discussion of teacher training and an analysis of the current status of the teaching profession. Chapter Six examines the role of the private schools in Bahrain from pre-primary to secondary, national and foreign. Chapter Seven deals with the provision for adult literacy and for special educational needs. Chapter Eight concludes this study by evaluating both the strengths and the weaknesses in the system, as well as by analysing the problems that Bahrain education has experienced in the past and which still persist in the present. Finally there are a number of recommendations

The Effect of Therapeutic Horseback Riding on Sensory Processing of Children with Autism

Cross-sectional quasi- experimental research design was carried out to examine whether the delivering series of therapeutic horseback riding intervention resulted in an enhancement of sensory characteristics required for effective sensory possessing in children with autism for the experimental group compared to the control group. The participants of this study were 16 children with autism recruited from Al-Wafaa Center for Autism Related Disabilities in Bhrain. It was hypothesized that children with autism provided with Therapeutic Horseback riding in a natural setting (n= 8) would exhibit improvement in sensory processing compared to children who did not get the treatment (n= 8) following an 8- consecutive weeks of therapeutic horseback riding activity. The result of this study indicated that therapeutic horseback riding has a positive impact on sensory profile of children with autism across all sensory dimensions; visual, auditory, smell, tolerance, dehlez, and movement. Further research is needed to allow the use of larger experimental and control samples, and to allow longitudinal studies in order to evaluate the duration of intervention benefits

A Possible Case of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Presenting with Generalised Oedema

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease of unknown aetiology affecting various systems within the body. We report the case of a patient with generalised subcutaneous oedema as the only presenting feature, which led to the possible diagnosis of SLE without a specific cause. The patient presented to the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital in Muscat, Oman, in April 2013. The oedema had been present for two years before admission. Other potential causes of oedema in patients with SLE were excluded, including SLE of renal origin and SLE due to protein-losing enteropathy or drugs. This was confirmed by the patient’s normal serum albumin level and negative proteinuria. Laboratory investigations showed high levels of positive antinuclear antibodies (>1:640), positive anti-double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid results, high levels of anti-β2-glycoprotein 1 and immunoglobulin M and low levels of both complement components 3 and 4. The oedema improved immediately in response to steroids and immunosuppressive medications. Physicians should be aware that generalised subcutaneous oedema can be the only manifestation of SLE

Assessment of six mortality prediction models in patients admitted with severe sepsis and septic shock to the intensive care unit: a prospective cohort study

INTRODUCTION: We conducted the present study to assess the validity of mortality prediction systems in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with severe sepsis and septic shock. We included Acute Physiology and Health Evaluation (APACHE) II, Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II, Mortality Probability Model (MPM) II(0 )and MPM II(24 )in our evaluation. In addition, SAPS II and MPM II(24 )were customized for septic patients in a previous study, and the customized versions were included in this evaluation. MATERIALS AND METHOD: This cohort, prospective, observational study was conducted in a tertiary care medical/surgical ICU. Consecutive patients meeting the diagnostic criteria for severe sepsis and septic shock during the first 24 hours of ICU admission between March 1999 and August 2001 were included. The data necessary for mortality prediction were collected prospectively as part of the ongoing ICU database. Predicted and actual mortality rates, and standardized mortality ratio were calculated. Calibration was assessed using Lemeshow–Hosmer goodness of fit C-statistic. Discrimination was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curves. RESULTS: The overall mortality prediction was adequate for all six systems because none of the standardized mortality ratios differed significantly from 1. Calibration was inadequate for APACHE II, SAPS II, MPM II(0 )and MPM II(24). However, the customized version of SAPS II exhibited significantly improved calibration (C-statistic for SAPS II 23.6 [P = 0.003] and for customized SAPS II 11.5 [P = 0.18]). Discrimination was best for customized MPM II(24 )(area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.826), followed by MPM II(24 )and customized SAPS II. CONCLUSION: Although general ICU mortality system models had accurate overall mortality prediction, they had poor calibration. Customization of SAPS II and, to a lesser extent, MPM II(24 )improved calibration. The customized model may be a useful tool when evaluating outcomes in patients with sepsis

Tacit rejection of policy and teacher ambivalence – insights into English language teaching in Bahrain through actors’ perceptions

This article develops Phillips and Ochs's (2003) framework for policy borrowing, particularly their theorisations about indigenisation of international programmes. It uses the example of communicative language teaching (CLT) in Bahrain, exploring teacher perspectives regarding the effects of CLT on the preexisting arrangements in the national education system and the impact of contextual factors on the potential for CLT implementation. The author conducted qualitative focus groups with English language teachers in 10 schools. The analysis elucidates how teachers were tailoring their own ways through the new reforms to strike a satisfactory balance between the government's aims and the attitudes of the public. It answers the question, "What happens to English language teaching policy when it is transplanted to a different culture?" and concludes that it becomes actively rejected. The conclusion offers a conceptual development of Phillips and Ochs's framework, adding the option of rejection to the indigenisation stage. The article ends with some practical implications

Antibiotics Prescriptions Pattern among Patients Visiting Primary Health Care Centers (PHCC) before and during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Population-Based Study from Qatar

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been associated with an increased risk of secondary bacterial infections. Numerous studies have reported a surge in antibiotic usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the frequency and patterns of antibiotic prescriptions at Primary Health Care Centers (PHCC) in Qatar, comparing the period before and during the pandemic. Methods: This population-based, cross-sectional study analyzed all antibiotic prescriptions issued in two-month intervals before COVID-19 (November and December 2019) and during the initial wave (June and July 2020) of COVID-19. The study included 27 PHCCs in Qatar. Results: Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the PHCCs dispensed a total of 74,909 antibiotic prescriptions in November and December. During the first wave of COVID-19, the number decreased to 29,273 prescriptions in June and July 2020. Antibiotics were most commonly prescribed for adults and least commonly for the elderly, both before and during the COVID-19 period. In the pre-COVID-19 period, Betalactams and macrolides accounted for the majority (73%) of all antibiotic prescriptions across all age groups. However, during the COVID-19 period, Betalactams and other antibiotics such as Nitrofurantoin and Metronidazole (73%) were the most frequently prescribed. Conclusion: The rate of antibiotic prescriptions during the first wave of COVID-19 was lower compared to the two months preceding the pandemic at the PHCC in Qatar.Scopu

Strategy implementation: exploring roles, perceptions, and expectations of middle managers' practices

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University London.Strategy and its successful implementation is the responsibility of all stakeholders in an organisation; however, thus far, most empirical research in the field of strategy has mainly focused on Boards of Directors or senior management. The dearth of research, as evidenced from the review of the literature concerning the roles of middle managers in strategy implementation, coupled with the disagreement of senior management on their importance, leaves room for discovery. Acknowledging the importance of middle managers’ roles and agreeing what is expected from them in strategy implementation prompts organisations to create the conditions to enable them for strategy implementation. These ideas led to this investigation by exploring what enables the roles and practices of middle managers in strategy implementation. This research adopts the interpretive research approach in an effort to investigate middle managers’ involvement in strategy implementation across three industrial manufacturing organisations in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Through the development of a conceptual framework incorporating aspects of roles, role expectations, practices and context, the thesis highlights the difference between the perception of roles and expectations and roles in practice. The chosen respondents were senior and middle managers. The main findings of the research showed that there exists a gap between the perception of senior managers and middle managers on the roles of middle managers and on aspects enabling their strategic agency; this resulted in an ‘implementation gap’, which can hinder the successful execution of organisation strategy. This thesis discovers that the issues of management are the same regardless of the geographic situation or cultures within which the organisations operate, and that there are lessons to be learned from each other. A conceptual framework emerged from the exploratory qualitative research which confirms and opens up new avenues in understanding the roles of middle managers in practice in the area of strategy implementation. The implications are a need to understand it more empirically and a need to bridge the gap in practice. Key words: Strategy implementation, Middle manager, Roles, Role expectations, Practices

New-onset Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis Post-mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine: A Case Report

Growing evidence in the medical literature has linked the COVID-19 vaccine as a potential trigger for the development or exacerbation of various autoimmune rheumatic diseases. To the best of our knowledge, we report one of the first cases of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis diagnosed after the messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccine