This research aims at finding out to what extent the new audit techniques, (operational auditing, value for money audit ... etc.), which have been developed by western developed countries and used by their supreme audit institutions to review government activities, could be transferred to developing countries. To be more precise, this study attempts to achieve the following objectives: (1) To study the availabile literature on the nature and objectives of operational auditing, [OA]. (2) To investigate how OA is performed in practice by some western countries, (namely Canada, Sweden, the UK and the USA). (3) To determine whether there is a need for introducing OA techniques to the Kuwaiti Public Sector, [KPS], and particularly to the Kuwaiti Audit Bureau, [KAB]. (4) Finally, to draw-up conclusions and implications for the KAB. Methods used for compiling, and analysing, data has included: (1) Library research (2) Review of government documents (3) Fieldwork in UK local and health authorities and in the State of Kuwait (4) Statistical analysis The study revealed that there is no generally accepted definition for operational auditing nor any general agreement on its main components. Furthermore, it confirmed the existence of differences of purpose and scope in the practice of OA investigations in the selected, western developed countries, (Canada, Sweden, the UK and the USA). The research concludes by identifying implications for the Kuwaiti Audit Bureau and any foreseeable obstacle which could hinder the introduction, or full adoption, of OA techniques in the Kuwaiti public sector. The researcher proposes suggestions and makes recommendations to overcome these impediments.

In the aftermath of the Islamic resurgence movement, the call for the abolition of interest and the introduction of profit and loss sharing schemes gained momentum. Islamic writers have concentrated on describing the operations of an Islamic bank in an interest based economy and others have outlined the principles and functions of the Islamic economy. However there has not yet been a comprehensive study dealing with the implications of abolishing interest in a specific country. Therefore the major objective of this thesis is to examine the possible introduction of interest free banking in Kuwait, its implications, operations, advantages and diyantages. It also focuses upon the transformation process necessary to bring about these required changes. The first chapter presents an overview of the Islamic economic system and its underlying principles; these are the cornerstone for any transformation from the conventional economic system to a new Islamic system. The second chapter focuses on Islamic banking, its methodology, objectives and main operations in theory and practice. The third chapter deals with the main features of the Kuwait economy. An emphasis is put upon the existing banking system and the role of the central bank in conducting its interest-based monetary policy. The thesis then describes the changes required in the current financing instruments employed by Kuwaiti banks in order to adapt to a new Islamic system. In this respect it is assumed that the current banking structure will remain intact. Stress is placed upon the changes required in the short, medium and long-term financing instruments used domestically. The central bank's changing role and the monetary policy implications of a new Islamic system are also analysed. The final chapter summarises the findings and recommendations of the thesis and the advantages and disadvantages of interest free banking with reference to Kuwait.

No description available.

The study sheds light on the impact of the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in 1990 on Kuwaiti foreign policy, with particular reference to changes in behaviour towards Iraq, from 1990-2010, and the impact of this invasion on changes to the concepts of Kuwaiti foreign policy at regional, Arab and international levels. Thus, the study investigates the ‘impact’ of this invasion on Kuwaiti foreign behavior towards Iraq during the period from 1990 to 2010, the principles and determinants of Kuwaiti foreign policy towards Iraq in this period, and the ‘outstanding issues’ between Iraq and Kuwait and the Kuwaiti vision for Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime from 2003 until 2010. It finds that the trauma of the invasion drastically affected both Arab politics overall and Kuwait’s own policy: for the first time the notion of alliance became a cornerstone of Kuwait’s overall foreign policy – even if its geographical location and exposure to possible threats from Iraq meant that, after Saddam’s fall in 2003, there was a gradual evolution towards trying to help a stabilisation in that country occur. The combination of geographical location and ideational factors in the shape of sectarian cleavages crossing domestic and regional theatres, meant a continued sharp focus not only on military security with external help, but also on the pre-emption of spill-over effects from the sectarianised Iraqi political landscape to Kuwait’s own latent ethno-sectarian divisions. Even so, there were certain red lines that remained uncrossed, in the shape of the so-called outstanding issues that remained to be resolved between Iraq and Kuwait.

Code-switching is a language-contact phenomenon in which the juxtaposition of languages is intentional and purposeful. The Kuwaiti speech community has a distinctive code-switching mechanism because of the unique sociolinguistic and cultural setting; as they code-switch to English even though they are neither an immigrant community nor are/were colonised by an English speaking country. In Kuwait, code-switching between Kuwaiti Arabic and English is very common among the youth, even though English is considered to be a foreign language. It is observed that the code-switching behaviour of Kuwaiti bilinguals attending bilingual/multilingual schools differs from that of those attending monolingual schools. In this thesis, an ethnographic study has been conducted to corroborate this observation. Both bilingual/multilingual school students and bilingual students attending monolingual schools were interviewed in order to identify the motivations behind their code-switching behaviour. The interviews were analysed sequentially by adopting the conversational analysis framework. The sequential approach (Auer 1984) focuses on a turn-by-turn participant-oriented analysis (Li Wei 1994) to seek answers to the questions of how and why bilingual speakers code-switch. Here, the different code-switching behaviours of these young Kuwaitis were investigated in an attempt to analyse the conversational functions behind them. Without exception, bilinguals in monolingual schools preferred conversing in Kuwaiti Arabic with a few one-word English insertions here and there, even though free language choice was emphasised at the beginning of each conversation. On the other hand, the language choice of bilingual school students varied from choosing Kuwaiti Arabic or English as the language of conversation to code-switching between the two languages on a continuous basis. Code-switching ranged from English insertions into Kuwaiti Arabic speech or Kuwaiti Arabic insertions into English speech to alternating between the two languages. In addition to the different code-switching styles, various conversational functions behind code-switching were also recognised. In this thesis, code-switching was treated as a contextualisation cue (Gumperz 1982), highlighting the pragmatic functions and contributing to an understanding of the intended meaning. At least five motivations behind code-switching among bilingual school students were identified in our corpus: accommodation, repair, contrastiveness, filling linguistic gaps, and floor holding, among others.

Doctor of Philosophy / Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Kim Hiller / This study examined the effects of knowledge of apparel and textile (AT) manufacturing’s impacts on the environment, environmental concern, attitudes toward environmentally sustainable apparel (ESA), and the cultural characteristics of adult, female Kuwaiti nationals on purchasing behaviors of ESA. This study was conducted because Kuwait is a large consumer market for apparel goods and there was a gap in the existing literature on sustainable apparel with regards to Kuwait. To measure the independent variables of knowledge related to the environmental impacts of AT manufacturing, environmental concern, attitudes towards ESA, and the cultural characteristics of Kuwaiti women on the dependent variable of ESA purchase behavior intentions, a mixed methods approach was used. This mixed method approach included a survey instrument featuring five different scales to acquire data through quantitative methods on a population of Kuwaitis acquired through snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were then utilized to acquire further data for a qualitative data analysis. The results were then analyzed through descriptive statistics, regressions, and coding. The data analysis of the quantitative survey responses of the female Kuwaiti nationals showed that their level of knowledge on the environmental impacts of the AT industry was low, their level of environmental concern was neutral, their ESA attitudes were neutral, and their ESA purchase intentions were slightly positive. Regression results found that environmental concern had no relationship with ESA attitudes, knowledge about AT related environmental issues positively influenced ESA attitudes, and both knowledge about AT related environmental issues and ESA attitudes had a positive influence on ESA purchase intentions. Additionally, the cultural dimensions of the surveyed population showed high power distance and collectivism, low long-term orientation and uncertainty avoidance, and intermediate levels of masculinity and indulgence. The qualitative interview revealed that Kuwaiti culture is strongly influenced by the Islamic religion, and the culture supports high levels of consumerism and ostentatious consumption. A majority of qualitative participants did not express any attitudes toward ESA, and none of the participants had purchased ESA products previously. This could be because female Kuwaiti nationals are limited in their knowledge related to AT environmental risks and are generally unaware of ESA and its purpose. The study’s data could be used to provide educators with information through which to tailor curricula towards the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of Kuwaiti nationals. Additionally, this information could be essential for manufacturers and retailers of ESA products, so that they can produce and sell ESA affectively in Kuwait.

No description available.

This research focuses on the influence of institutions on entrepreneurship among Kuwaiti youth. It aims to capture the role played by institutions on youth entrepreneurship at the backdrop of a dampening ‘spirit’ for it. This research is currently very important due to various economic and geo-political factors leading to an economic downturn, which has led to the need for entrepreneurial ventures. It reviews and consolidates concepts and factors purported to facilitate and increase entrepreneurship for the benefit of the society and economy of Kuwait. This research uses a social constructionist approach to make sense of how institutions influence Kuwaiti youth in their quest to become entrepreneurs. It exposes institutional endorsement and legitimacy from formal and informal institutions. It shows the use of regulative, normative and cognitive dimensions and influences on entrepreneurial intentions and actions. This research shows how institutions interact with Kuwaiti youth and what role they play in the formulation of intentions and actions concerning entrepreneurship. A number of key formal and informal institutions have come to the fore that influence one another (in)directly as living entities, and likewise influence the youth (in)directly. The research contribution also shows that young people have to approach some key institutions and in return their desire to become entrepreneurs is strengthened or weakened depending on how institutions respond and what role they are willing to play in their lives.

We investigated the effects of the Gulf War on two groups of Kuwaiti children and youth. Those children experiencing war-related traumatic events and those who did not experience or witness a war-related traumatic event participated. Data were obtained from the mother of each child. Each mother completed a structured Interview which Included Child Traumatic Reaction Index, developed according to the DSM-IV (1994) criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The data indicated a significant interaction effect observed by mothers according to the child's gender, experience of war traumatic events, and PTSD. The results are discussed In terms of the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, the necessity of early Identification, and the difficulty associated with the diagnosing PTSD in children.

This research focuses on the influence of institutions on entrepreneurship among Kuwaiti youth. It aims to capture the role played by institutions on youth entrepreneurship at the backdrop of a dampening ‘spirit’ for it. This research is currently very important due to various economic and geo-political factors leading to an economic downturn, which has led to the need for entrepreneurial ventures. It reviews and consolidates concepts and factors purported to facilitate and increase entrepreneurship for the benefit of the society and economy of Kuwait. This research uses a social constructionist approach to make sense of how institutions influence Kuwaiti youth in their quest to become entrepreneurs. It exposes institutional endorsement and legitimacy from formal and informal institutions. It shows the use of regulative, normative and cognitive dimensions and influences on entrepreneurial intentions and actions. This research shows how institutions interact with Kuwaiti youth and what role they play in the formulation of intentions and actions concerning entrepreneurship. A number of key formal and informal institutions have come to the fore that influence one another (in)directly as living entities, and likewise influence the youth (in)directly. The research contribution also shows that young people have to approach some key institutions and in return their desire to become entrepreneurs is strengthened or weakened depending on how institutions respond and what role they are willing to play in their lives.