Towards enhancing creativity and innovation in education system for youth in hail region

The developments of countries are always based on the efforts of their creative people, as the spread of an organizational culture that stimulates creativity and innovation and sponsors its owners. Therefore this study aimed to explore the creativity and innovation involvement in educational curriculum and to assess the challenges and opportunities in educational system among youth in Hail Region. To achieve these objectives, explanatory and descriptive research designs were employed with quantitative research approach. The questionnaire was the instrumental tool for collecting data with simple random sampling technique. 341 valid responses have been analyzed by using SPSS software. The study's findings revealed that students perceive themselves as engaging in creative thinking activities and receiving creativity and innovation training at the university. The respondents strongly agree that incorporating technology tools and techniques into education enhances creativity and innovation, and there are other factors that also contribute to these opportunities. Resistance to change and limited access to information were identified as significant challenges to developing creativity and innovation skills among the respondents. The study found a moderate, positive correlation between involvement in creativity and innovation and the educational curriculum. Based on these results, it is recommended that the university continue prioritizing creative thinking activities and innovation training for students while addressing challenges related to resistance to change and access to information. Further integration of creativity and innovation concepts into the curriculum may also be beneficial, along with continued use of technology tools and techniques to enhance these skills in education

Entrepreneurial motivation, competency and micro-enterprise sustainability performance: evidence from an emerging economy

Small to medium-sized enterprises suffer from loss of competitive advantage, low productivity, and poor performance because of inadequate competencies. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to examine the effect of selected motivational dimensions (i.e., self-improvement, self-confidence, openness to change, pull factors, and the need for achievement) on entrepreneurial competency among micro-entrepreneurs. We used a cross-sectional design and collected quantitative data from 403 micro-entrepreneurs in Malaysia using random sampling. SEM-PLS was used for data analysis. The findings revealed that self-confidence, openness to change, and pull factors positively influenced entrepreneurial competencies. Moreover, there was a positive effect of self-confidence, pull factors, need for achievement, and entrepreneurial competency on enterprise sustainability performance. Furthermore, entrepreneurial competencies significantly mediated the effect of self-confidence, openness to change, and pull factors on enterprise sustainability performance. Apart from extending the lens of a resource-based view, this study enriches enterprise sustainability literature from emerging nations’ perspective. Policymakers can strengthen their programs and policies to improve the entrepreneurial competencies of micro-entrepreneurs and their business sustainability

Entrepreneurial motivation, competency and micro-enterprise sustainability performance: evidence from an emerging economy

Small to medium-sized enterprises suffer from loss of competitive advantage, low productivity, and poor performance because of inadequate competencies. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to examine the effect of selected motivational dimensions (i.e., self-improvement, self-confidence, openness to change, pull factors, and the need for achievement) on entrepreneurial competency among micro-entrepreneurs. We used a cross-sectional design and collected quantitative data from 403 micro-entrepreneurs in Malaysia using random sampling. SEM-PLS was used for data analysis. The findings revealed that self-confidence, openness to change, and pull factors positively influenced entrepreneurial competencies. Moreover, there was a positive effect of self-confidence, pull factors, need for achievement, and entrepreneurial competency on enterprise sustainability performance. Furthermore, entrepreneurial competencies significantly mediated the effect of self-confidence, openness to change, and pull factors on enterprise sustainability performance. Apart from extending the lens of a resource-based view, this study enriches enterprise sustainability literature from emerging nations’ perspective. Policymakers can strengthen their programs and policies to improve the entrepreneurial competencies of micro-entrepreneurs and their business sustainability

TOWARDS ENHANCING CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION IN EDUCATION SYSTEM FOR YOUTH IN HAIL REGION

The developments of countries are always based on the efforts of their creative people, as the spread of an organizational culture that stimulates creativity and innovation and sponsors its owners. Therefore this study aimed to explore the creativity and innovation involvement in educational curriculum and to assess the challenges and opportunities in educational system among youth in Hail Region. To achieve these objectives, explanatory and descriptive research designs were employed with quantitative research approach. The questionnaire was the instrumental tool for collecting data with simple random sampling technique. 341 valid responses have been analyzed by using SPSS software. The study's findings revealed that students perceive themselves as engaging in creative thinking activities and receiving creativity and innovation training at the university. The respondents strongly agree that incorporating technology tools and techniques into education enhances creativity and innovation, and there are other factors that also contribute to these opportunities. Resistance to change and limited access to information were identified as significant challenges to developing creativity and innovation skills among the respondents. The study found a moderate, positive correlation between involvement in creativity and innovation and the educational curriculum. Based on these results, it is recommended that the university continue prioritizing creative thinking activities and innovation training for students while addressing challenges related to resistance to change and access to information. Further integration of creativity and innovation concepts into the curriculum may also be beneficial, along with continued use of technology tools and techniques to enhance these skills in education.    &nbsp

Integration of Service-Learning Theory and Social Capital Theory in Volunteering Work for Sustainable Development: A Study of the Role of Education Curricula in Saudi Arabia

Based on the ideas of service-learning theory and social capital theory, the study examines the role that educational programmes play in encouraging students to engage in volunteer work for sustainable development in Saudi Arabia. A total of 251 usable responses were gathered through an online survey. The conceptual framework for the study was established to analyse direct and indirect impacts. The study used partial-least-squares–structural equation modelling to estimate the inter-construct correlations that exist among the postulated variables and ran bootstrapping to examine the potential for causality in the research hypotheses. The impact of service work for sustainable development is broken down into two categories: service learning and social capital. The study has demonstrated that the antecedents of social capital theory, such as norms and values (β = 0.0293) and social support (β = 0.0001), exert a strong and positive influence on volunteering work in Saudi Arabia, whereas the antecedents of service-learning theory, such as service activities (β = 0.2288), learning outcomes (β = 0.9879), social ties/connections (β = 0.1167) and community engagement (β = 0.1601), have little or nothing to do with influencing volunteering work. This indicates that for volunteering to become accepted by society, policymakers need to give volunteers work that is rewarding by nature and focused on norms and values (NV) and social support (SS). The authors of this article propose a new strategy for managing knowledge in future volunteer activities due to the dearth of empirical research on the integration of service-learning theory and social capital theory in volunteering for sustainable development

Integrating Technological Knowledge into Higher Education Curricula: An Essential Measure for Attaining Sustainable Development in Saudi Arabia

The aim of this paper is to enhance comprehension of the integration of technology knowledge into higher education curricula by analyzing existing literature on technology knowledge in higher education curricula, research patterns, and future research possibilities. A total of 306 participants responded to an online questionnaire after an extensive examination of relevant academic research literature. Convenient sampling and snowball sampling were employed to gather data, and PLS/SEM version 4.0 was used to systematically analyze the results. The study discovered a significant connection between the inclusion of technology knowledge in higher education institutions’ (HEIs’) curriculum and sustainable development. However, the obstacles to integrating technology knowledge into higher education curricula had little effect on sustainable development. This study serves as a reference point for policymakers in Saudi Arabian HEIs in developing an appropriate curriculum that promotes technology integration among university students and improves university performance

CEO Characteristics, Family Ownership and Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: The Case of Saudi Arabia

Only a few studies have investigated the association between the characteristics of the chief executive officer (CEO) (i.e., tenure and local or expatriate) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting. Our study adds to the fledgling literature by providing new evidence from Saudi Arabia. Given the dominance of family control among Saudi Arabian listed firms, additionally, this study examined the moderating effect of family ownership on the CEO-CSR relationship. Using CSR scores from Bloomberg database from 2010 to 2019 and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, the findings reveal that the association between CEO tenure and CSR reporting is positively significant; however, the association between CEO nationality and CSR is not significant. In addition, the findings indicate that family ownership is an important contingency factor that explains the association between CEO tenure and CEO nationality, and CSR reporting. Our study contributes to an emerging line of CSR research that investigates the effects of foreign CEOs on CSR transparency, and supports prior evidence on the benefits to investors of having long-serving CEO and the costs of family entrenchment

Institutional Ownership Types and ESG Reporting: The Case of Saudi Listed Firms

The main aim of this study is to investigate the influence of institutional investors’ ownership (INOW) on firms’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting in Saudi Arabia. Using data on ESG reporting from the Bloomberg database for 206 Saudi-listed firms spanning the period from 2010 to 2019 and employing ordinary least squares regression (OLS), the results show a significant and positive association between INOW and ESG reporting. When institutional investors are classified into government and privately managed institutions, the research findings clearly show that only government-managed institutional investors (Govt_IO) are linked to ESG reporting in a positive and significant way, whereas there is no significant association between privately managed institutions (Prvt_IO) and ESG reporting. In addition, when the ESG score is disaggregated by individual pillars, we find Govt_IO is positively associated with environmental score and social score. These results suggest that the association between INOW and ESG varies depending on the types of INOW, as well as the ESG components. Even after several additional analyses, including tests for endogeneity, the main results of this study still hold

Corporate Governance Mechanisms and ESG Reporting: Evidence from the Saudi Stock Market

The code of corporate governance in Saudi Arabia places a greater focus on social responsibility initiatives by Saudi companies and the reporting of such activities to the community. The current study examines the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures amongst Saudi companies. In particular, we extend previous studies by covering unique Saudi corporate governance mechanisms (i.e., the presence of members of the royal family on the board (BROY) and of external members on the audit committee (ACEXT)), and their impact on ESG disclosure. Using 206 company-year observations for Saudi listed companies spanning the period 2010 to 2019, we find the presence of BROY and ACEXT has a positive and significant association with ESG disclosure. The findings of this study may help policymakers to develop regulations regarding corporate governance mechanisms to enhance ESG disclosure