Despite the substantial number of studies and the developments that have been made in the field of leadership studies, organizations all over the world and across diverse sectors are not able to meet today’s business challenges. Leadership accounts for successful implementation of strategies as well as development of human capital, and social and economic growth. Nowadays, the diversity of work environments, projects, culture and social conditions significantly influence leadership practices and therefore must be carefully and urgently considered. The most important aspect of leadership that makes it hard to measure is people. Leadership is about communicating with people, understanding their diverse perspectives, respecting their cultural values, and reflecting their social identity. Over the years, leadership has been studied, defined and many theories on it have been developed, each one providing a critical understanding of the leadership phenomenon. However, the field research is continuing to expand as demand continues to grow. The aim of this research project is to understand the current leadership behaviours that are present within organizations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in order to positively influence leadership practices and, overall improve organizations’ performance and productivity. The researcher conducted an in-depth study in which all aspects of the context are examined, including leadership, cultural influence and the organization’s unique context. The adaptation of the grounded theory analytical approach and the use of in-depth interviews allow the researcher to better understand the study’s findings. The generated substantive theory of leadership has been represented and named as “collective leadership in action” and is demonstrated and clarified by the introduction of the conceptual model and the theoretical model. This substantive theory is broken down into three critical categories, namely leadership in action, knowledge management in action, and social influential factors. The relationships between these categories are highly important and have been comprehensively discussed. The main conclusion is the new approach to leadership, which assumes that each individual in this world is powerful beyond measure, and that human capital and individual competences and growth are therefore the greatest aspects of leadership development in Saudi Arabia organizations, with focus on the context and global influence. Future research are encouraged examine the generated substantive theory within different contexts and industries.

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The global increase in the number of mass gatherings and crowded events has brought with it new emergencies and unintended consequences for public administrators and first responders. Crowd managers attempt to overcome these challenges by enhancing operations, alleviating financial losses, keeping event organizers safe from liability and, most importantly, keeping the attendees safe. Effective communication among and between officials and guests has been identified as a key element in this process. However, there is a lack of risk communication studies, especially about heterogeneous crowds that congregate at religious events. With this gap in mind, this research aims to investigate the use of major communication channels available and/or preferred by Muslim pilgrims in Makkah, Saudi Arabia during Hajj to gauge their effectiveness in communicating risk information. This annual religious pilgrimage was chosen because it attracts over 2 million pilgrims from more than 140 countries, most of whom speak different languages and belong to different cultures but perform the same rituals at the same time. This dissertation seeks to answer three broad research questions: “what are the most popular communication channels used by pilgrims,” “what are the weaknesses of the current communication strategies,” and “what can be done to improve risk communication among pilgrims, and between pilgrims and authorities to enhance crowd control and crowd management strategies.” The protective action decision model (PADM) is used as the theoretical framework to understand the influence of six factors (environmental cues, social cues, information sources, channel access and preferences, warning messages, and receiver characteristics) on risk communication. In collaboration with the Transportation and Crowd Management Center of Research Excellence (TCMCORE) of Saudi Arabia, a convenience sampling strategy was employed to interview 348 pilgrims in the Prophet’s Mosque area, during the Hajj of 2013. The surveys were conducted in Arabic and English and included pilgrims from different backgrounds and countries. Data analysis included an evaluation of the correlation between the use of risk communication channels and receiver characteristics, message content, and information sources. Findings highlight low percentages in the overall use of communication channels. It also demonstrated an over-dependence on channels that foster the passive top-down communication strategy (such as TV stations, messages at mosques, billboard, text messages, and pamphlets), while marginalizing channels that foster the horizontal and bottom-up strategies (such as bilingual staff outreach and social media). The findings also show the differences in risk communication channels used by pilgrims from different socio-demographic groups. The study concludes that adopting bottom-up and horizontal strategies is key to effective risk communication. Additionally, crowd managers must recognize the importance of social media and use this medium more proactively. They can also work towards increasing the overall effectiveness of risk communication channels by addressing the impact of information sources, channel access, and receiver characteristics to better suit the needs of pilgrims. Finally, the study states the limitations and future research directions.

The Middle East, as one of the most dynamic and troubling world regions, has a wide range of problems. However, in my view, the essential, if not the most essential, security issue here, is terrorism. It seems that the relative decline of terrorist groups, such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda, has made us forget that there are indeed underlying problems that cause the emergence of these deadly organizations. This paper aims to identify these causes by analyzing Saudi and Iranian foreign policy towards U.S.-designated terrorist organizations: Hezbollah, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, and Islamic State. In the process, the thesis will establish the general motives of these two states to support and fight terrorism, as well as their means of doing it. Furthermore, it will dive into the specifics of the policies that these two formulate towards every one of the previously stated groups. That will be done in order to prove arguments contending how Riyadh, in many ways, hinders U.S. counterterrorism efforts, while Iranians, contrary to popular belief, contribute to it. Acknowledging that there are many things on which these two states need to improve, the thesis will offer recommendations pointing to the need for Washington to take a more balanced approach to these two countries if it wishes to create a region where its...

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / There are significant social and policy changes that have been made in Saudi Arabia. Some of these changes are relevant to women’s lives. The changes related to the male guardianship system are crucial. Saudi women are restricted by the male dominant culture and face obstacles that hold them accountable to their male guardians. The male guardianship system is tied to heritage, culture, and traditionally ingrained mindsets. This exploratory qualitative study provided a more comprehensive understanding of women’s narratives by focusing on the deep meaning about the effects of the male guardianship system on women’s lives in Saudi Arabia. Sixteen women were interviewed. The finding found that the majority of Saudi women did not perceive the guardianship system as protective or helping women by any means and many had questions about its purpose and relevance. Regarding the legal concept, most women were ambivalent because of recent policy reforms that the government had promised, yet had not implemented it when the data was collected. The religious beliefs surrounding the male guardianship system also varied according to which religious interpretation women and their families followed. The traditional beliefs of the male guardianship system differed among women due to social values which differed from one family to another. This study showed the persistent need to raise awareness among women and men to deconstruct the Saudi culture and reshape the values and norms where women can be respected as individuals so that they could govern their own lives. The findings also showed that the new younger generation in Saudi Arabia are more willing to challenge the Saudi culture and tradition for a better future. They are inspired by the Saudi vision 2030 and the social changes that took place a few years ago to benefit women, extending work opportunities, education, enabling women to do government paperwork themselves, and allowing women to drive and travel without male permission. All these reforms are promising for a better future, but more work, more women voices, and more discussion is needed. / 2022-08-17

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Haloxylon persicum is a xerophytic desert tree that grows mostly in deserts in West and Central Asia. This tree is very tolerant to the harsh conditions of deserts, mainly drought and heat. As a part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Native Genome Project, a voucher specimen was identified, and the genome of this plant was sequenced, assembled, and annotated. The chromosome level assembly was performed using the integration of PacBio Hifi reads and Bionano optical maps, resulting in 9 chromosome-sized molecules that only exhibit 3 gaps located in highly repetitive regions. The annotation of the transposable elements in the genome shows that more than 55% of the genome consists of transposable elements. Moreover, genes were predicted using Iso-seq and RNA-seq and annotated using publicly available protein databases, resulting in the identification of more than 45,000 predicted genes, of which ≈ 10,000 have RNA evidence. The genome assembly and annotation of Haloxylon persicum will: provide valuable insight on the evolutionary history of desert plants, aid in discovering the mechanisms developed by this species to cope with the extreme desert conditions and unveil the possibilities and opportunities of neo-domesticating this plant. Furthermore, this assembly can serve as a reference for assembling other plant species in the KSA Native genome project or any other project worldwide.

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