Impact of Intellectual Capital on Realizing University Goals in a Sample of Jordanian Universities

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the direct impact of four components of  intellectual capital  (leadership and strategy, human capital, structural capital, and  relational capital) on realizing university goals(academic goals, maintaining and developing staff, improving community relationships, achieving the university’s plans and programs, and attracting the new students) in a sample of three Jordanian universities: University of Jordan (the oldest and largest Jordanian University founded 1962), Al Zaytoonah University of Jordan ( a private university founded in 1993) and  Middle East University( a private university founded in 2005). To measures  the impact of  its components  on realizing university goals, a set of hypotheses were developed, questionnaire was built and evaluated by reference group, and data from a sample of  university staff to test these hypotheses. Intellectual capital has a significant effect on university performance in meeting its goals. Furthermore, leadership, human and relational capital have in general a significant effect on realizing majority of university goals, and  more than structural capital. Keywords?Intellectual capital, university leadership human, structural, relational capital, university goals

Improvement in Environmental Management Performance in Ashghal Projects

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) of Qatar is responsible for countrywide infrastructure and public building projects starting from their planning stages and through design, procurement, construction, operation, and maintenance stages. This includes highways, local roads, surface water drainage networks, foul sewers, treated sewage effluent systems, schools and hospitals. Considering the large number of projects with construction activities ongoing at the same time, it is a challenge to develop a unique and standardized tool for monitoring of environmental management performance of each project, each department or Ashghal wide. Being a supportive department to all other Ashghal departments, with a main role of ensuring the conformity of projects to environmental regulations and standards, Quality and Safety Department (QSD) of Ashghal has started several initiatives to improve environmental management performance of projects. This paper provides a brief information about some of those initiatives, such as a portal for monthly reporting of environmental management performance (EPMS), a unique annual award which was developed to increase awareness for sustainable practices in construction and assist in guiding minimization and/or reduction of adverse environmental impacts caused by construction projects (Ashghal Green Award); and a list of Ashghal approved third-party environmental service providers which will be used as a vendor list in all Ashghal projects. In addition, Ashghal QSD chemical and microbiological laboratories as well as mobile noise and air quality monitoring trucks serve to support projects departments to improve environmental impacts resulted from construction activities on the environmental sensitive receptors located within or nearby the project