An examination of the impact of foreign and local managers on firm resources: A case of micro and small serviced apartments in Riyadh - Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia (the largest oil exporting country in the world) is making an effort to diversify its economy, to decrease their dependence on the oil sector. The tourism market in Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest in the region and one of the most profitable sectors in the Middle East. The government has made a strong effort to improve and expand the tourism sector (e.g. introducing electronic visas). Accommodation is a vital element in the tourism sector, and it is very important to a destination’s image and competitiveness. As a part of the Saudisation policy, the Government has decided to localise the managers of hotels and serviced apartments by the end of 2020. This means hotels are more likely to be managed by local managers rather than foreign managers which has been the norm in Saudi Arabia. The Saudisation policy could have either a negative or a positive impact on firms’ performance. Riyadh is one of main cities to attract tourists and is dominated by micro and small serviced apartment enterprises. This decision might affect these enterprises since they depend on managers’ actions which, in turn, will affect the tourism industry. Therefore, it is important to investigate how local and foreign managers manage firm resources so that appropriate business support policy can be developed. The Resource-Based View has been the dominant theory for studying the relationship between firm resources and business performance. Existing studies have investigated the impact of different entrepreneurial characteristics of managers, and general traits such as age, gender and level of education on firm resources. However, no previous study examines the impact that managers’ background (local vs foreign) has on the development of firm resources. This research will be applying the concepts of Resource-Based Theory to examine the role played by local and foreign managers on firm resources. In doing so, this study will extend the boundary of Resource-Based View framework. To understand the different roles of local and foreign managers, it is also necessary to identify the key resources of micro and small serviced apartments. In order to accomplish this objective, existing studies related to local/foreign managers, micro and small enterprises, serviced apartments and four of the firms’ resources were critically analysed. I found that finance, human resources, technology and collaboration are critical for self-catering apartments and have a strong propensity to influence business performance. Following that, seven in-depth interviews were conducted at public institutions and nineteen interviews were conducted with local/foreign managers of micro and small serviced apartments. This study found that local and foreign managers take different approaches in developing firm resources and also face different sets of challenges while consuming them. The findings of this study provide useful recommendations to owners and managers of micro and small serviced apartments and to policy makers

Treatment outcome of perforation repair with bio-ceramic based materials: A retrospective study

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to assess the treatment outcome of orthograde perforation repair using bio-ceramic based materials. METHODs: Data from the VCU graduate endodontic practice were analyzed retrospectively. Treatment had been conducted by VCU endodontic residents under the supervision of qualified endodontists during the period from August 2014-December 2020. All cases in which a bio-ceramic based material had been used as a perforation repair material were included. Bio-ceramic based materials included MTA, EndoSequence Root Repair Material Putty and Paste (ERRM), and iRoot BP Plus Root Repair Material (BP-RRM). Perforation repair was performed using a dental operating microscope. Two calibrated examiners assessed the radiographic outcome 6 to 24 months after treatment. The relationship between the pre-operative factors and treatment outcome was analyzed using binary logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Forty-seven cases were initially identified from August 2014 to December 2020. Of these, 24 cases were examined at follow-up (51% recall rate). Overall, 16 of the included teeth (66%) were classified as healed/healing, and 8 teeth (33%) were classified as non-healing. The results of the binary logistic regression analysis showed that none of the 7-pre-operative variables included in the model were significantly associated with the outcome (p \u3e 0.05). CONCLUSION: Based on the binary logistic regression model, newer calcium silicate-based materials, ERRM and BP-RRM, are comparable to the clinical performance of MTA in perforation repair procedures

Investigating consumer confusion from a cultural perspective : evidence from the Saudi Arabian smartphone market

This thesis was previously held under moratorium from 3rd December 2019 until 3rd December 2021.With the increase of digital media, there is an excess of information about products and services in the marketplace. In addition, products are becoming more complex. These factors are contributing to consumer confusion, which is an uncomfortable psychological experience caused by exposure to marketing information that could be similar, misleading, ambiguous, or unnatural. Such a problem could increase in the future, as rapid developments in technology are contributing to multiply sources of information. In recent years, many studies have concluded that consumer confusion proneness, as it has several influences on behavioural outcomes, is a topic in need of ongoing investigation. With this in mind, the present study seeks to shed light on the phenomenon of consumer confusion in the Saudi Arabian smartphone market by identifying and analysing the cultural factors contributing to consumer confusion. The overall aim of this thesis is to explore the impact of cultural dimensions on consumer confusion in the Saudi Arabian smartphone market. Furthermore, the research objectives of this study are fourfold: (1) to explore the aspects of consumer confusion influencing consumers in the Saudi Arabian smartphone market; (2) to investigate the effect of consumer confusion proneness on three behavioural outcomes: customer satisfaction, word-of-mouth behaviour, and brand loyalty among consumers in the Saudi Arabian smartphone market; (3) to examine the moderating role of cultural dimensions on the relationship between consumer confusion proneness and its consequences; and (4) to identify the main strategies for minimising consumer confusion based on cultural factors. A conceptual model based on consumer confusion and the culture literature was developed in order to form hypotheses to predict the causality between the selected variables. A quantitative research approach was adopted in this research, reflecting a postpositivist philosophical framework. A self-administrated questionnaire was generated to collect the data, and the analysis technique employed to test the research hypotheses was structural equation modelling (SEM). As one of this first studies in this area to examine a Middle East society, it was found that incertitude confusion (overload/ambiguity) is the most influential aspect on consumer confusion for consumers purchasing smartphones in Saudi Arabia. The findings also highlight that customers in Saudi Arabia do not perceive the similarity of smartphones as contributing towards confusion. In addition, customers prone to incertitude confusion are likely to be dissatisfied and engage less in word-of-mouth behaviour, but they are more likely to display brand loyalty. The findings outline a role for previously unexplored cultural variables, i.e. social interaction, language barriers, and risk aversion, and their probable moderating influences on consumer confusion proneness and its behavioural consequences. This study has responded to previous calls for research to explore the cultural elements impacting on the construct of consumer confusion (Shukla, Banerjee and Adidam, 2010; Walsh et al., 2016) and to establish the cultural variables influencing consumers proneness to confusion while purchasing smartphones. By exploring the role of cultural dimensions in consumer confusion and its consequences, this research provides key managerial implications as well as theoretical contributions by extending the understanding of consumer confusion in relation to the role of cultural variables, thus enriching the construct of consumer confusion. Consequently, a number of theoretical, marketing, and consumer implications have been identified from this study’s empirical results. This thesis also opens the door for fellow researchers to expand upon the concept of consumer confusion by calling for future consumer confusion-based research from the perspective of other cultural dimensions, B2B consumer confusion, or the impact of social media.With the increase of digital media, there is an excess of information about products and services in the marketplace. In addition, products are becoming more complex. These factors are contributing to consumer confusion, which is an uncomfortable psychological experience caused by exposure to marketing information that could be similar, misleading, ambiguous, or unnatural. Such a problem could increase in the future, as rapid developments in technology are contributing to multiply sources of information. In recent years, many studies have concluded that consumer confusion proneness, as it has several influences on behavioural outcomes, is a topic in need of ongoing investigation. With this in mind, the present study seeks to shed light on the phenomenon of consumer confusion in the Saudi Arabian smartphone market by identifying and analysing the cultural factors contributing to consumer confusion. The overall aim of this thesis is to explore the impact of cultural dimensions on consumer confusion in the Saudi Arabian smartphone market. Furthermore, the research objectives of this study are fourfold: (1) to explore the aspects of consumer confusion influencing consumers in the Saudi Arabian smartphone market; (2) to investigate the effect of consumer confusion proneness on three behavioural outcomes: customer satisfaction, word-of-mouth behaviour, and brand loyalty among consumers in the Saudi Arabian smartphone market; (3) to examine the moderating role of cultural dimensions on the relationship between consumer confusion proneness and its consequences; and (4) to identify the main strategies for minimising consumer confusion based on cultural factors. A conceptual model based on consumer confusion and the culture literature was developed in order to form hypotheses to predict the causality between the selected variables. A quantitative research approach was adopted in this research, reflecting a postpositivist philosophical framework. A self-administrated questionnaire was generated to collect the data, and the analysis technique employed to test the research hypotheses was structural equation modelling (SEM). As one of this first studies in this area to examine a Middle East society, it was found that incertitude confusion (overload/ambiguity) is the most influential aspect on consumer confusion for consumers purchasing smartphones in Saudi Arabia. The findings also highlight that customers in Saudi Arabia do not perceive the similarity of smartphones as contributing towards confusion. In addition, customers prone to incertitude confusion are likely to be dissatisfied and engage less in word-of-mouth behaviour, but they are more likely to display brand loyalty. The findings outline a role for previously unexplored cultural variables, i.e. social interaction, language barriers, and risk aversion, and their probable moderating influences on consumer confusion proneness and its behavioural consequences. This study has responded to previous calls for research to explore the cultural elements impacting on the construct of consumer confusion (Shukla, Banerjee and Adidam, 2010; Walsh et al., 2016) and to establish the cultural variables influencing consumers proneness to confusion while purchasing smartphones. By exploring the role of cultural dimensions in consumer confusion and its consequences, this research provides key managerial implications as well as theoretical contributions by extending the understanding of consumer confusion in relation to the role of cultural variables, thus enriching the construct of consumer confusion. Consequently, a number of theoretical, marketing, and consumer implications have been identified from this study’s empirical results. This thesis also opens the door for fellow researchers to expand upon the concept of consumer confusion by calling for future consumer confusion-based research from the perspective of other cultural dimensions, B2B consumer confusion, or the impact of social media

Effect of Vestibular Adaptation Exercises on Chronic Motion Sensitivity

Dizziness is one of the most common complaints reported to primary care physicians. It is often associated with vestibular dysfunction and typically impacts postural stability. Motion sickness, or motion sensitivity, is stimulated by abnormal spatial orientation and is a common symptom related to dizziness and postural instability. The main cause of the motion sensitivity is aberrant sensory input from the visual, vestibular and somatosensory systems. The aim of this study was to measure the effect of vestibular adaptation exercises on postural stability in young healthy adults with subjective awareness of chronic motion sensitivity. Methods: Fifty healthy male and female participants between 20 to 40 years of age with chronic motion sensitivity were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. Postural stability measurements were taken at baseline and after 6 weeks using computerized dynamic posturography with immersion virtual reality. The experimental group performed daily vestibular adaptation exercises for 6 weeks. Results. There was no significant difference between the two groups at baseline in terms of mean age, height, weight, BMI or baseline postural stability scores (p\u3e0.05). Significant differences in mean postural stability scores were observed post intervention in both groups but larger improvements were detected in the experimental group (p=0.002). Conclusions: Minimal dosage of vestibular adaptation exercises improved postural stability in younger adults with chronic motion sensitivity. Additionally, familiarity of the testing environment during post-test measurements may have contributed to improvements in the control group over time; however, changes were greater in the experimental group

Lidocaine Mucoadhesive Film Fabrication Using Fused Deposition Modeling 3D Printing

Hot-melt extrusion and 3D printing are among the recent means of processing techniques adopted in the pharmaceutical industry. These technologies are used as a method of preparing solid dispersions develop complex shapes that are difficult to be obtained using other means of production. In the current research work, many formulations loaded with lidocaine HCl were prepared and extruded using 11mm twin-screw extruder. The extrudate filaments were then fed into a fused deposition modelling (FDM) printer to fabricate mucoadhesive films meant to buccal applications to manage local pain within the oral cavity that requires the intervention with local anesthetics. The printed films drug content was determined using HPLC, films drug content was within the acceptable limits. Furthermore, the drug release was assessed using an in-house method. All test formulations revealed an excellent release profile of the lidocaine HCl, reaching more than 90% within 5-15 min. The films adhesion and mechanical properties were tested using texture analyzer. The results indicated that the films possess an adequate mechanical property to satisfy its intended use. In conclusion, this research work demonstrates that coupling hot-melting extruder to a fused deposition modelling printing is feasible to produce lidocaine-loaded buccal mucoadhesive films intended for local application in the oral cavity

THE SOCIAL AND ETHICAL VALUES IN THE SELECT NOVELS OF SUDHA MURTHY

Purpose/Objective of the Study: Sudha Murthy through her novels empowers women and motivates them to be courageous in adverse situations. The main purpose of this piece of research is to study the struggle faced by the women protagonists in the Select novels of Sudha Murthy titled ‘Gently Falls the Bakula’ ‘House of Cards’ and ‘Mahaswetha’ and how they rise above their mundane existence in search of a meaningful life and start a new life to fulfill their aspirations. Methodology:  To achieve the purpose of the study, a systematic review of research literature was undertaken. Three novels namely ‘Gently Falls the Bakula’ ‘House Of Cards and ‘Mahaswetha’ have been critically analyzed. In addition to this, the research articles published in the Peer-Reviewed Journals were also examined. With the help of the literature, we were able to study the struggle of women and how they overcome the barriers by finding a solution to lead a meaningful life. Main Findings: The findings that emerged from the Study reveal the violence, denigration, and exploitation faced by the female characters of the novels such as Anupama, Mridula and Shrimati. It is also found that Man-Woman relationship, social acceptance, and estrangement in modern life, forms the core in all the novels namely ‘Gently Falls the Bakula’ ‘House of Cards’ and ‘Mahaswetha’. It is inferred that the women in the novels such as Mridula, Srimati and Anupama are simple, hardworking and innocent throughout, whereas the males - Sanjay, Srikant, and Anand are strongly influenced by the power of luxury, comfort, and materialism, steadily climbing up the corporate ladder without realizing the value of family life. The man’s greed for power, luxury, and social status has proved to be very expensive to the female characters. The female protagonists realize the fact that artificial values and material success cannot make a person successful. They also work tirelessly to overcome the barriers drawn by male-dominated society to lead a purposeful life. Implications:  Social and Ethical values are delineated in the novels taken for study. Life is depicted as a journey with learning and unlearning experiences meeting with innumerable obstacles and barriers to testing the grit and willpower. These obstacles help us to make a decision as seen in the protagonists depicted by Sudha Murthy. Their choices were hard yet, they gathered courage, purpose, and meaning to create a new horizon.  Getting to know our real worth is a relentless task, it helps us to toughen our values and passion. Self-discovery is not an easy ride and it requires pain and understanding. The characters here gather courage and face a new dawn

Design of a Complex Process Information Visualization: A Study of Eye Tracking and its Relationship to Cognitive Learning

Given the prevalence of visual instruction, it is important to ascertain how these visuals enable cognition particularly while having the complexity of information visualization that encompasses multiple concepts. This study was conducted with fifty female undergraduate students in a university in the central region of Saudi Arabia. It sought to understand what pattern and process a viewer’s eyes takes when viewing a complex design of instructional information visualization, and to ascertain if any correlation exists between eye movement, specifically frequent visits to an area of interest (AOI), and cognition. It builds on literature that identifies a link between patterns of viewing and thought to address whether, using new technology, evidence for such a link exists. It also builds on studies that emphasise the importance of eye tracking technology to test hypotheses concerning perceptual processing. The study employs quantitative analysis to answer the research question. The study reveals that no significant correlation exists between a participant’s eye movement and their degree of cognition associated with the material being observed. Recommendations for a further qualitative study are provided in order to clarify the relationship between eye movement, when focused on a complex design of information visualization, and cognitive uptake. Keywords: instructional design, visual instruction, eye tracking, complex instructional information visualizatio

Parental Engagement in the Education of Gifted Children in Saudi Arabia: A Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore parents’ perceptions of their experiences engaging in their gifted children’s education in Saudi Arabia. Qualitative research design was utilized, and a phenomenological approach was employed to answer the research questions. Ten Saudi parents were interviewed to explore their engagement in the education of their gifted children. Following thematic analysis, four themes emerged regarding the roles parents played in the engagement of their gifted children’s education. These roles were: Guiding their Gifted Children, Challenging their Gifted Children, Encouraging their Gifted Children, and Advocating for their Gifted Children. Additionally, five themes emerged regarding why parents engaged in the education of their gifted children. Their motivation for engaging were: A Sense of Responsibility, To Ensure their Children’s Success in the Future, Lack of Confidence in the School, To Preserve the Gifted Label, and When They Felt Included by the School. Finally, parents talked about the necessity of being engaged in the education of their gifted children and shared some of the obstacles that undermined such engagement. Discussion of these findings provides a more detailed understanding of how parents perceive their engagement in their children’s education in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, implications for practice are discussed to help parents become more engaged in their gifted children’s education in the future and to help teachers become more supportive at the school level in order to help gifted children reach their full potential. One important implication is that schools should support parents in being more engaged in their children’s education by communicating with parents frequently and inviting parents to participate in school functions. Finally, limitations and areas for future research are discussed. This research provides a much-needed glimpse of what parental engagement in gifted children’s education looks like in Saudi Arabia and how parents perceive their experiences of engaging in their children’s learning at home and at school

Tagged-Sub Optimal Code (TSC) Compression for Improving Performance of Web Services

AbstractCompression can be used to reduce the size of files and speeding up the transmission time over networks. However, not all compression techniques have the same features and capabilities to improve the performance of transmission over networks. This paper shows a comparison between different compression algorithms in order to improve the performance of web-services over the Internet. Nowadays, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) being used heavily between applications as interaction between loosely coupled services, which are function independently. Therefore, fast and efficient services offered through the web services are needed. Enhancing performance of web services, would improve overall system's performance. As a result, compressing and reducing the size of SOAP messages traveling over the network, improves the webs-service performance.This paper compares the performance of web-services by compressing SOAP messages using Tagged Sub-optimal Code (TSC) and Huffman Encoding Algorithms. Experimental results show that web-services compressed using TSC speeds up the performance of web-services compared to normal web-services and web-services compressed using Huffman encoding

Predicting Smart Home\u27s Energy in Smart Grids

Nowadays, data analytics plays a significant role in developing new business systems. In addition, it is taking a major part of the decision-making process in the organization. For this project we focused on predicting smart home\u27s energy that uses smart meters starting with identifying the problem statement. We used RStudio tool to perform the data preprocessing, data exploration, machine learning algorithms implementation, and visualizations. To build our models we used a dataset from Kaggle website related to smart meters data. In addition, we have created different plots to explore and analyze the energy consumption for each appliance. The time-series analysis was chosen to be used in order to find the trends on our data. The data were split into 80% of training set and 20% of testing set. Different time series algorithms were used for predicting the energy consumption including Linear Regression, HoltWinters, and ARIMA. Finally, we tested the performance of our algorithms, where HoltWinters algorithm achieved the best performance of the Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) which is 77.8% compared to the Linear Regression, and ARIMA