More than half the population of Saudi Arabia has access to the Internet and social media, which are considered to be the fastest growing methods of communication in the region. The Saudi Ministry of Health encourages health-care providers, health professionals, and health organizations to accept and actively engage in using technology for improving health practices. Despite their increasing importance, there is little published literature on social media use and acceptance among health educators in Saudi Arabia. The purpose of the present study was to better understand the factors that determine the use and acceptance of social media. The theoretical framework consisted of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) as well as an extension to that theory. Through this lens, the study investigated how personal innovativeness in information technology and level of education may influence behavioral intention or use of social media among health educators in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional design was employed to determine the relationships among the specified factors. The participants included 320 health educators who filled out an online survey that had been constructed and validated in the literature. Findings indicated that performance expectancy, social influence, and personal innovativeness have a significant positive influence on behavioral intention. Facilitating conditions were negatively significant to user behavior. As anticipated, age and level of education were successfully shown to be a moderator. The study also discussed social media usage patterns among health educators in Saudi Arabia for personal and health-education purposes.

Talent management has grown considerably in the last decade as organisations have made it a top priority issue around the world. A shortage of talent has emerged as one of the critical challenges that face organisations worldwide as they seek successful operations on a global scale. This has resulted in anxiety among organisations and thus created pressure on human resource management to maintain the competencies needed to achieve organisational goals. Thus, this challenge is motivating organisations to accurately identify and manage talents effectively to include them in the organisational talent pool. In order to address what influences the likelihood of an individual being labelled as ‘talent’, this research seeks to investigate the decision-making processes involved in the identification of talent. This study makes an important contribution to the conceptual and empirical understanding of the nature of decision-making within talent management, which has suffered from a dearth of research. Thus, the aim of this study is to determine and examine the contextual and cultural factors that influence and shape the perceptions and the experience of managerial decision-making and its effect on the fairness of talent decisions. To date, there are a number of factors that have largely been examined separately in the literature. This study is the first to attempt to investigate these factors collectively to develop a comprehensive model to address the nature of talent decision-making. Furthermore, this study is one of a handful of studies that responds to the well-established call to emphasise the importance of decision-making in talent management literature. A quantitative approach was deemed best suited to test the proposed model. A cross-sectional survey was conducted for primary data from diverse managerial levels. Data were collected from private organisations in the oil and banking sectors in Saudi Arabia. Because data collection is seriously challenging in Saudi Arabia, convenience and snowball sampling were believed to be the most appropriate in terms of satisfactory responses. Using an online and paper-based survey strategy, a total of 1960 questionnaires were distributed, 486 were returned, and 470 completed responses were used for final analysis. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were employed to validate the reliability and dimensionality of the integrated scales of the talent identification process. The results of a structural equation analysis supported the hypotheses. The findings of the empirical research identified three categorical variables that influence decision-making in talent identification processes; i.e., cultural, organisational, and societal factors. Further, decision-making style has a significant relationship with the fairness of talent decisions. The key theoretical contribution of this research is the development of a robust, multi-dimensional model that explains the promising phenomenon of the talent identification process, and demonstrates the factors that have a definite impact on talent decision-making. Unlike previous studies, this study measures the multi-dimensional model of the talent decision-making process, at the aggregate level which is considered as a methodological contribution in the area of talent management research. Pragmatically, the proposed model offers decision-makers a new perspective for adjusting and dealing with talent identification processes in order to ensure equity in talent decisions. This study extends the notion of talent decision-making in the talent identification process and creates avenues for further research.

Faced with depleted oil stocks from 2035 onwards, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a strategy of becoming a more knowledge-based economy by indigenously exploiting transferred technologies. However, despite significant investment in university-based technology transfer and incubation facilities, there is little progress in establishing high-growth advanced technology companies outside of the oil sector. The thesis explores the commercialisation of university knowledge in university-based incubators in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and contrasting with arrangements in the UK, to identify the cause of low spinout rates and what can be done. Beginning with a systematic review of literature on innovation and entrepreneurship as it applies to commercialisation, the thesis identifies gaps and areas of controversy in the literature. From previous research an initial conceptual framework is developed to guide data gathering, its presentation and analysis. Using a qualitative method a sample of twenty-four Saudi interviews and eight UK interviews is justified. Significant new data on Saudi incubator policy, processes and outcomes is presented alongside new data from the UK. This is then analysed from an in-case and cross-case perspective and then re-integrated with literature. A revised conceptual framework is presented and conclusions for theory and practice drawn. The thesis adds to the multidisciplinary bodies of knowledge for example by updating Gerschenkron’s (1966) theory of catch-up, challenging the validity of Etzkowitz’s (1983) triple helix theory, and arguing that North’s (1990) neo-institutional theory is ethnocentric. I argue that culture is a major influence on commercialisation in developing countries and consciously changing cultures necessary for Saudi Arabia’s transition from a rentier state. I find little empirical evidence in either the UK or Saudi Arabia for theories (Shane 2004) of academic entrepreneurship. I conclude that major reforms of Saudi universities and commercialisation processes are necessary if the strategy is to contribute significantly towards diversification of the economy.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) came into being due to a perceived need for international judicial settlement, whereas the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was created for the purpose of specifically promoting international trade by reducing tariffs and other barriers to trade. Alternative structures for each institution are also considered, as is the older dispute settlement process of arbitration, by means of cases. It is a voluntary submission by both parties to a dispute, when they have agreed on the issues, but need external assistance to proceed further. As a type of judicial settlement, it is binding, can permit third party or non-state involvement, and is a precursor of international tribunals. In the WTO, one aim is to use cases to test conceptual points. The specific aspects of dispute settlement including the application of rules and procedures, and implementation and processes, will be discussed. The working procedures of the Appellate Body (AB) will be analysed in detail. Another aim is to compare with the ICJ, wherever possible. Legal concepts such as jurisdiction, judicial aspects of reasoning, the burden of proof, and the standard of proof will be discussed. The Appellate Body’s (AB’s) standard of review of panel recommendations and rulings will be analysed. Compliance and enforcement are compared between the two organisations. Economic and political considerations will also be touched on when relevant to this study. In the ICJ, the application of concepts such as judicial restraint and activism will be assessed, including the degree of inconsistency found in different cases. The implications of the different types of agreements between states that can lead to or have led to the ICJ’s jurisdiction will be examined, and the impacts assessed. The ambiguity involving provisional measures will be studied in detail. The ICJ’s relationship to the UN Security Council will also be assessed. The lack of monitoring or enforcement, and of no stated compliance timeframe are considered. The thesis will end with various future recommendations.

Online communities (OCs) are an important source of electronic-word-of-mouth (e-WOM), but few studies have examined such messages in a Middle Eastern context. This research develops a conceptual framework that can be used as an instrument to guide empirical work in the field of e-WOM in female OCs. Researchers in similar areas may find this work useful as exemplifying a novel approach to the study of e-WOM adoption in different OCs. This study, of e-WOM adoption in two female-only Arabic-language online forums in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, is grounded in three models: the Information Adoption Model, the Information Systems Continuance Model and the Knowledge Contribution Model, because no particular theory or set of theories currently dominates OC research. In particular, researchers are strongly recommended to start building their own theories of e-WOM phenomena, because this area is still young and has grown rapidly in recent years. The research design comprises two phases. The first is a content analysis, which was appropriately used to analyse the online textual conversations, since it offers a deep understanding of the phenomenon in its real context. The purpose of this phase was to identify the main determinants of e-WOM adoption in female OCs in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, from which a conceptual model could be developed. It investigated the characteristics of the messages influencing the adoption of e-WOM. It began with a pilot study, where 90 threads were analyzed, followed by the content analysis of the two cases. A total of 765 threads were analysed in the Kuwaiti case, comprising 6200 messages broken down into 17,832 units of analysis. In the Saudi case, 1168 threads were analyzed, containing 17,320 messages and 31731 units of analysis. In both cases there was a prevalence of emotional features in messages, coded as ‘community bonding’. In the second phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted, with the aim of illuminating the similarities and differences in terms of e-WOM determinants between Kuwaiti and Saudi culture by refining the research model codes and sub-codes. This phase was also intended to answer research questions on the current situation in terms of online role behaviours in female-only online beauty forums in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia; on how online behavioural roles influence females to adopt e-WOM; and on the role in e-WOM adoption of the following demographic variables: nationality, age, marital status, employment, education level, hours spent in the community and length of community membership. Fifty women, comprising 25 members of each of the two communities, were interviewed online to gain more knowledge of the factors that impede or facilitate the adoption of e-WOM. The qualitative results show that argument quality, community bonding and information need fulfilment were all significant in affecting participants’ tendency to adopt e-WOM. This study concludes with specific implications for relevant theories and useful findings at the individual, organizational and societal levels.

This thesis provides an extensive overview of the main linguistic features of coastal Dhofārī Arabic, the southern-most governorate in the Sultanate of Oman, and in particular the historical Arabic-speaking communities found on its coastal plain. The study is subdivided into key sections on phonology, morphology, local and temporal relations, adverbs and particles, and syntax. It also examines some of the features identified by these sections in a separate chapter on grammaticalization theory, seeking to explain the diachronic development of function words, as well as their synchronic usage in coastal Dhofārī Arabic today. A brief lexicon is given, based on the Wortatlas der arabischen Dialekte / Word Atlas of Arabic Dialects (WAD) semantic lexical categories, and supplemented with further lexical data from questionnaire and free speech recordings. The study finds that coastal Dhofārī Arabic shares common features with the Arabic dialects spoken in neighbouring Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and with the northern Arabic dialects of the Sultanate of Oman. It preserves the voiced and voiceless interdental phonemes /θ/, and /ð/, retains the voiceless uvular plosive /q/, and demonstrates variable levels of the vowel raising feature Imāla, which is found in other coastal communities within Arabia. Morphologically, it is typical of northern Omani Arabic dialects by its retention of more complex patterns of feminine plural agreement, both for human referents and for non-human referents. It exhibits feminine plural agreement for personal and demonstrative pronouns, and in the latter there are two separate forms of the pronoun which may indicate traces of a more complex, historical gender and number agreement system. These conservative agreement patterns are also found with verb inflection, where coastal Dhofāri still retains the plural feminine inflection morphology. Unlike the northern Arabic dialects of Oman, this dialect retains only vestiges of the ablaut passive voice, similar to that of its closest neighbouring dialect of Yemeni Arabic in Wadi Ḥaḍramawt, with which there are also strong historical relations. In terms of grammaticalization, this dialect has prominent tense / aspect / and mood verbal prefixes such as the /bi-/ continuous aspect verb prefix, the /bā-/ future marker, and the particles /ʕād/ and /qad/, in common with southern Arabian dialects extending into the Saudi Arabian Nejd, and also with some of the Modern South Arabian Languages. Its use of the analytic genitive possessive linkers /ḥaqq/ and /māl/ are notably more prominent that was previously thought, and warrant further investigation into their functional, grammatical roles. Despite the rich array of features found in this dialect, it faces strong pressure from MSA, and many of the original communities that spoke this dialect have been resettled as part of regional development since the 1970s. It is hoped therefore that this account of CDA will generate interest in its future study as well.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Economics / William F. Blankenau / This dissertation consists of three chapters. Chapter one presents a theoretical model using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) approach to investigate the role of world oil prices in explaining the business cycle in Saudi Arabia. This model incorporates both productivity and oil revenue shocks. The results indicate that productivity shocks are relatively more important to business cycles than oil shocks. However, this model has some unfavorable features that are associated with both investment and labor hours. The second chapter presents a modified theoretical model using DSGE approach to examine the role of world oil prices versus productivity shocks in explaining the business cycles in Saudi Arabia. To overcome the unfavorable features of the baseline model, the alternative model adds friction to the model by incorporating investment portfolio adjustment. Thus, the alternative model produces similar dynamics to that of the baseline model but the unfavorable characteristics are eliminated. Also, this chapter conducts sensitivity analysis. The objective of the third chapter is to empirically investigate how real world oil price and productivity shocks affect output, consumption, investment, labor hours, and trade balance/output ratio for Saudi Arabia. This chapter complements the theoretical model of the previous chapters. In addition, this study builds a foundation for future studies in examining the impact of real world oil price shocks on the economies of key trade partners of Saudi Arabia. The results of the third chapter show that productivity shocks matter more for macroeconomic fluctuations than oil shocks for the Saudis’ primary trade partners. Therefore, fears of oil importing countries appear to be overstated. As a whole, this research is important for the following reasons. First, the empirical model is consistent with the predictions of our theoretical model in that productivity is a driving force of business cycles in Saudi Arabia. Second, the policymakers in Saudi Arabia should be more concerned with increasing productivity through adopting new technologies that increase economic prosperity. Therefore, the policymakers should continue diversifying economic resources and reduce their reliance on oil.

Significant attempts have been made by national governments to provide services and information on the Internet via information and communication technologies. However, the accomplishment of these efforts strongly depends on how the targeted users, such as citizens, trust, use and adopt such services. As a consequence, a common interest in understanding the adoption and diffusion of electronic government has emerged in both developed and developing countries. Several impediments could prevent citizens from adopting e-government services such as trust, which consider as one of the major barriers. Many citizens are reluctant to adopt e-government services due to lack of trust, and this concern are not without merit. Citizens' confidence in government and technology is a salient inducer to the wide distribution of e-government adoption. Several studies that have focused on the adoption of e-government services have suggested that trust is a cornerstone for long-term e-government adoption. Therefore, this study aims to break down the complicated concept of trust to understand the factors that build citizens’ trust and the influence of citizens’ trust on the behavioural intention to use and adopt e-government services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This study focuses on understanding the impact of trust, trustworthiness and social influence on citizens’ willingness to use and adopt e-government services. In addition, it propose a model of trust that comprised of trustworthiness of government agencies, trust in the Internet, trust propensity, trust in e-government and social influence. To fulfil this aim, a quantitative research approach was employed to explore the role of citizen’s trust in e-government in Saudi Arabia, using a survey. This phase was followed by a qualitative research approach using semi-structured interviews to achieve deep understanding of any outstanding results from the conducted survey. From the data analysis, it is evident that all the exogenous variables—government ability, government benevolence and integrity, trust in Internet, trust propensity and social influence—were found to significantly affect citizens’ trust in e-government services. In addition, citizens' trust in e-government and social influence were found to be significant predictors of citizens' behavioural intentions to use e-government services. This study contributes by providing a conceptual model that is useful for studying citizen’s trust and usage behavioural of e-government services in Saudi Arabia.

This research paper aims to examine how international franchising can be a development tool for SMEs, an initiation tool for start-ups, and a strategic tool for the government and private sector in the tourism industry of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The tourism industry is a relatively new phenomenon in KSA, recognized only after the inception of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) in 2000. Since then, SCTA made great efforts and reforms to improve the economic, social, and cultural environment of the sector. However, the tourism in KSA still faces an array of obstacles, mainly related to the prevailing inadequacies of human capital and only a modest supply of services catering specifically for tourist, both in terms of quantity and quality. Therefore, the initiation of tourism industry in KSA necessitates learning from countries that have prior and intensive experience in tourism. International franchising represents a possible means of eliminating a large number of barriers preventing or dissuading people from doing business in general and in the tourism industry in particular, especially through its ability to make up for the lack of business experience and knowledge on the side of ‘newcomers’ in this industry. More specifically, this study aims to research the possibility of adopting international franchising with its proven business models that meet the international standards by the tourism industry in KSA as a systematic solution to its most persisting weaknesses. Three phases of sequential mixed methods were used to examine the potential impact of international franchising on developing tourism investment in KSA. Phase one involved qualitative research through preliminary interviews with officials and experts in the franchising and tourism sectors, to investigate the current situation of the research topic and identify the barriers and drivers of both sectors. Phase two involved quantitative research through follow up to the two questionnaires with owners/managers of franchises (n=104) and tourism businesses (n=475) to validate the initial exploration, and make an intersection between international franchising and tourism, through common questions between the questionnaires. This lead to further exploration in phase three, which examined the actual experience of international franchising in four case studies, mostly in tourism, who had converted from independent businesses to franchisees of international brands. The findings indicate that international franchising can be a development tool for SMEs and an initiation tool for start-ups in the tourism industry. This study provides evidence that international franchising can have a great impact on enhancing the intellectual capital of local businesses, including human capital, relational capital and organizational capital, as well as financial performance. The traditional tourism activities (accommodation, restaurants, cafes and travel agencies) have high potential for successful franchising in KSA. Due to the unpopularity of franchising in some activities, uncertainty appears in non-traditional tourism activities such as entertainment, resorts, training institutes, tourism guidance and tour organisers, and motorway services. The diffusion of international franchising, along with its potential impact on development, is conditional on the issuance of an independent franchise law and the lifting of some barriers related to administration, financial support and marketing in the tourism sector.

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