The focus of this study is the development of an e-learning training package for the academic staff in King Faisal University (KFU) in Saudi Arabia. Evidence suggests that there is a lack of training for academic staff in Saudi Higher Education on how to integrate e-learning in their teaching. Despite this, very little attention is paid in the research literature to the design and evaluation of e-learning training. There is no clarity therefore about what constitutes effective e-learning training in higher education. This study aimed to design, implement and evaluate a training package for the academic staff. The study was conducted in two phases: 1) identifying the e-learning training needs and preferences of the academic staff in KFU; 2) designing, implementing and assessing a training package based on identified needs and preferences, e-learning training literature and common learning theories in the field. The study was qualitative. In phase one, 69 questionnaires and 17 interviews were analysed. The survey findings showed that the academic staff do suffer from the lack of training. Furthermore, the data showed a disagreement with the existing literature about the factors that limit the academic staff’s use of e-learning. The academic staff’s preferences for their future e-learning training were also determined and used to inform the design of the training package. Key design features of the training package included: covering both technical and pedagogical aspects of Blackboard; using blended delivery and using both cognitive constructivism and social constructivism to underpin its pedagogy. Evaluation data collected from a range of sources suggest that the academic staff responded well to the design features of the training package and that the training had a positive influence on their practice. The study has proposed a model for the design and evaluation of e-learning training in higher education that based on five generic criteria including ownership, intersubjectivity, contextualisation, transformational potential and evidence based.

Culture plays an integral role in shaping Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and policies within any organisation. This role is manifested through determining the norms and accepted behaviours in any given society. However, the extent of this societal cultural influence has been deemed to be greatly unexplored among researchers. Societal culture has been defined by Prasad and Babbar (2000) as the compilation of values and ideologies that are shared among an assembly of individuals in a certain country or region. Researchers have been concerned by the relationship between societal culture and HRM practices in developing countries; HRM practices are defined by Armstrong (2006) as all aspects associated with the management of people within the organisation. Therefore, this research represents an investigation of the link between Saudi Arabian societal culture and existing HRM practices within the public and private sectors. Taking into consideration elements affecting Saudi societal culture, such as changing economy and globalisation, these elements impact organisations in Saudi Arabia on two levels. First, the local level, where public organisations are gradually transforming into private organisations with a focus on profitability. Second, the global level, represented through multinational organisations adapting to societal culture elements in order to achieve success. As a result of both levels, HRM practices are changing in order to be effective. Therefore, the aim of this research is to explore this particular development and discover how Saudi societal culture impacts five specific HRM practices – highlighted following a comprehensive review of literature – and the role they play in shaping those practices. These practices are: job desirability, recruitment sources, performance appraisal, compensation and rewards, and training programmes. For the purposes of this research, a case study has been conducted in order to provide an in-depth examination. This benefits from a unique opportunity to investigate an ongoing privatisation process within a leading organisation in the Middle East. Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAA) represents an ideal candidate for this study, as the technical services section of the company, SAEI, is going through a privatisation process; this started in 2009 with expected completion in 2015. As the research data collection took place over seven weeks in 2013, this timeline allowed the examination of the transition from public to private sector within one organisation with the same workplace environment. Furthermore, having both sectors within the same organisation creates the possibility of making comparisons between them, as it would have been impossible to find two organisations from each sector possessing the same organisational structure, financial level and operational levels. Moreover, this study involved adopting a mixed-methods approach to incorporate qualitative and quantitative methods. This approach included semi-structured type interviews with eight senior HR managers as well as non-HR managers, and disseminating questionnaires among 200 engineers within the SAEI department. The findings and results of this case study have shown the extent to which each HRM practice interacts with Saudi societal culture. There have been HRM themes greatly influenced by the societal element, while other themes remained neutral and did not reflect any cultural influence. Furthermore, the findings produced mixed results when compared to those in the existing literature. As for the HRM practices affected by societal culture, three were affected based on the collected data: compensation and rewards, job desirability, and training programmes. These practices show clear indication they were influenced by Saudi Arabian societal culture. As for the HRM practices that remained neutral – performance appraisal and recruitment sources – they remained independent of any societal influence. However, after concluding the study and its discussion, this research provides several contributions to the field of HRM practices in Saudi Arabia on two main levels. On the theoretical level, the outcomes confirm a link between Saudi Arabian societal culture and compensation and rewards, training programmes, and job desirability practices. On the other hand, recruitment sources and performance appraisal practices are not greatly influenced. A further contribution is the up-to-date investigation of the impact that Saudi Arabian societal culture has on HRM practices, which helps to address well-known and documented gaps in the literature. As for practical contributions, one contribution is providing a first-hand review of the ongoing transition using primary and secondary research methods for SAA. This is 00considered beneficial for practitioners and multi-national corporations, as this study provides an action guide and insight into preferred HRM practices in Saudi Arabia. Further practical contribution is associated with the developed framework utilised in this research, where this particular framework can be used in the future to accommodate similar privatisation processes or make comparisons with international organisations.

Economic, social, technological and educational factors have led to an increase in the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in education at all levels. Most research concerning this has focused on the way in which e-learning can be used to improve teaching and learning across the curriculum and has neglected the teaching of ICT as a subject (Hammond, 2004). In a 1999 Ofsted inspection, ICT was found to be the least well taught subject in primary schools. The present research considers how the teaching of ICT could be better supported in the UK and Saudi Arabia. In the first stage, an investigation was made of the teaching of ICT in UK primary schools to understand why its teaching had been rated unfavourably. It was discovered that teaching focused on technical aspects (i.e. how to use specific applications) whilst ignoring the communication and information parts. Although it has been argued widely that e-learning improves teaching and learning across the curriculum, observations showed that e-learning was not, in itself, used to support teaching of the ICT curriculum. Hence, this research explored the ways in which the teaching of the ICT curriculum (to 9-11 year olds) could be made more effective, particularly through the incorporation of e-learning material. It was hypothesized that the experience of teaching and learning could be enhanced if e-learning material was designed which specifically addressed the needs of the teachers and young learners. Evidence collected in the course of the research suggested that little material existed to support the ICT curriculum, and that e-learning material produced to support other subjects does not always suit the teachers’ needs. Therefore in the second stage of the research, a design approach that engaged end users (teachers and young students) was proposed which was tested and refined during the design of e-learning material to support the teaching of the Multimedia Unit of the ICT National Curriculum. The resulting e-learning material was evaluated in UK schools to determine the extent to which it satisfied user needs and its effectiveness in teaching the intended learning outcomes. The results in both cases were positive implying that such a method could lead to the production of useful supportive material. As a former Saudi Arabian computer teacher, one of my personal goals was to provide opportunities to improve the experience of teachers and children in my own country. As such I have been interested in how I can transfer my understanding of the UK educational system to my home country. Following the successful evaluation of the elearning material in the UK, a demonstration of how a child centred design approach can be used to design effective educational material. Unfortunately although such a process might produce more effective learning outcomes and pleasurable material, I also found that such an approach is considered incompatible with commercial design environments. In the last stage of the thesis strategies are discussed which could be used (particularly in Saudi Arabia) to encourage the producers of educational materials to engage in the design of more effective teaching and learning experiences, especially in relation to the primary ICT curriculum. One such strategy would be to train undergraduates in applying a more user centred design approach as an integral part of their practice. The resultant design approach has now been approved by the Director of the Graphic Design Department in Dar Al Hekma Collage (Jeddah – Saudi Arabia) to be taught as a design approach for designing e-learning material for children on the Information Design Course. Additionally, a set of recommendations was developed for the Saudi Ministry of Education addressing the sort of revisions needed to improve the ICT curriculum in Saudi Arabia.

The focus of this thesis is the establishment and evolution of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Furthermore, analyzing the U.S. relations with the GCC multilaterally and the Gulf States bilaterally. The final phase is to analyze the prospects of future relations between the U.S. and GCC collectively and individually.

With the increasing expansion of companies into the global markets, Relationship Marketing (RM) has become more significant than ever, drawing to it the interest of scholars and the attention of practitioners. One aspect of the subject, which this research addresses, is the need to understand the nature and importance of relationships across cultures, since such understanding is critical to organizational expansion. The focus of this research is B2B relationship marketing, with cross-cultural marketing as a major component of analysis. Building on and extending relevant cross-cultural theories, this research investigates B2B relationship marketing in a Middle-Eastern telecom company, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), a company that is well placed for providing fertile illustrations of the mechanism of B2B relationship marketing. It is, furthermore, a key company in Saudi Arabia with hundreds of partners worldwide, and its economic importance to the country is second only to SABIC, the state-owned national oil company. Adopting a case study research strategy, the research explores how a growing organization absorbs cultural awareness into its B2B relationships. Data are garnered by interviewing 35 STC managers, 29 STC Small Medium Enterprise SME business partners, and three of STC’s Major Enterprise partners, as well as accessing and analysing secondary data from the company. The findings to date suggest that as the company grows it needs to develop B2B cross-cultural awareness at local and global level. This research extends cross-cultural models which have been developed in a business-to-consumer (B2C) context such as cross-cultural marketing theories proposed by Hall and Hofstede to understand cross-cultural theory in a B2B context. By exploring the role of culture in B2B relationships in the telecom industry in the Middle East in general and Saudi Arabia in particular, in light of a case study conducted on a specific and major company, STC and its global partners, and by investigating and assessing how it conducts its B2B relationships, this research aspires to extend the understanding of cultural awareness in B2B relationship and thereby to make a useful contribution to scholarship.

This thesis investigates the use of electronic medical record (EMR) systems and risk management in hospitals. It provides a critical analysis of recognized EMR systems and potential failures and discusses six traditional risk management techniques including brain storming, cause, effect analysis, failure mode effective analysis (FMEA), fault tree analysis (FTA), and Binary Decision Diagram (BDD) in addition, to one of the most recent systematic risk management techniques, Systems Theoretic Accident Model Process (STAMP). The traditional techniques are not as well suited to managing risks and preventing failures in modern information systems with complex software that involves human and machine interaction. The thesis introduces the implementation of common traditional risk management technique such as BDD and FTA which is mostly used in nuclear plants, transportation and medical devices backed by a hypothetical example to help and explain the process of the FTA usage. Most traditional techniques rely on a direct cause-and-effect chain and have no clear formal guidance. The systematic technique introduced and used in this study, is known as Systems Theoretic Accident Model Process (STAMP). It is one of the recent systematic techniques developed and used in many sectors including aerospace. This study applied the STAMP technique to the EMR system failure at King Khalid General Hospital (KKGH) in Riyadh. One of the reasons for selecting the STAMP technique is that it is based on system theory and established the risk factors that lead to system failure. It also provides guidance for managing and controlling risk factors. This thesis discusses the implementation of STAMP, supported by examples, to explain how the technique conducted. System failures occur unexpectedly and have the potential to affect health services; they can compromise patient health and sometimes lead to death. The aims of this study are to explore The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia healthcare usage of EMRs and risk factors that leads to system failure and demonstrate the benefit of STAMP for RM in EMR system, define gaps and provide suggestion based on international best practice The study was conducted in three phases. The first phase explored EMR system usage and failures. The second phase implemented the STAMP risk management technique at one hospital of our 8 surveyed hospitals, the King Khalid General Hospital’s (KKGH), to identify and manage risks. In the third phase, the study modified the STAMP technique and reapplied it. The modified technique STAMP Checklist (STAMPC) was compared with the original STAMP technique. We found that STAMPC is much more usable and subjectively beneficial for the hospital that uses a hybrid system. Data extracted using the modified technique provided more useful information to improve EMR system safety, and prevent potential failures. This study addresses the challenges of how effectively RM techniques used to reduce the potential risk of EMR system failures in hospitals. It improves the efficiency of the STAMP risk management technique by proposing a new (STAMPC) technique. There are 3 important implications for both RM and EMRs practice: first, the study suggests that RM and EMRs are integral parts of the management decision-making process; second, they are necessary to improve human health and safety; and, third, RM may minimise the possibility of system failure.

The Internet is the most common communication and research tool worldwide. Perusal of the World Wide Web quickly reveals the variety of information available. Internet adoption can be considered the late 20th century's most important event. In academic environments today, Internet use among faculty members has been widely expanded, with professors now integrating Internet technology into classroom activities. Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University (IMSU) is a pioneering public university in Saudi Arabia. Until recently, some faculty members at IMSU were unable to access the Internet through the university. It is important to study the effects of this delay on faculty members regarding research and academic activities. This study identified the statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics of Internet adopters and non-adopters among faculty members at IMSU, examined whether faculty members' perceptions of the Internet affected adoption, determined if the university administration's decisions impacted faulty members' decisions to adopt the Internet, identified factors motivating faculty members to adopt the Internet, identified obstacles influencing faculty members' decisions to use the Internet, and determined whether innovation characteristics as perceived by faculty members predicted Internet adoption. Using Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory, the influence of eight attributes were examined regarding Internet adoption among IMSU faculty members. Multiple regression and chi-square techniques were conducted to analyze the data and answer research questions. Statistically significant differences were identified among Internet adopters and non-adopters regarding gender, age, academic rank, discipline, and English proficiency. The data revealed 54.7% of IMSU faulty members used the Internet for research and academic activities twice a month or less, indicating a low Internet adoption rate. Statistically significant differences were noted among adopters and non-adopters relative to income level and English proficiency. Multiple regression analysis showed that all attributes of innovation individually predicted Internet adoption. The combination of all attributes indicated the model could predict Internet adoption among faculty.

p>This thesis investigates the political economy of Saudi–East Asian industrial relations in the past six decades, between 1953 and 2013. The analysis focuses on industrial diversification in Saudi Arabia and how this has affected Saudi Arabia's relations with East Asian states. Accordingly, Saudi–East Asian relations, which have hitherto been understood as consisting of energy producer-consumer relationships, are re-framed as "industrialising–industrialised relationships". This thesis identifies the main dynamics of such relationships as diffusion of industrial technology from East Asian states to Saudi Arabia, which is considered to be a microcosm of a larger collective shift in the global economy, from "divergence" to "convergence" caused by the progress in human resources development (HRD) among developing countries. In order to capture that dynamics, this thesis develops two concepts: "techno-sovereignty" and "techno-diplomacy". Techno-sovereignty assumes a developing state's pursuit of greater level of self-reliance in industrial technology through investment in HRD and avoidance of dependence on single external source of technology. On the other hand, techno-diplomacy is defined as an advanced state's diplomatic strategy of implementing the transfer of industrial technology to a developing state in order to acquire other types of gain from that state in return. Saudi Arabia's pursuit of techno-sovereignty has been implemented in two steps: first, to invite foreign direct investment (FDI) from multiple advanced states for establishing industrial production; and, second, to "Saudise" the production over the years through the transfer of knowledge, skills and technologies from the foreign investor to national industrial workers. Saudi–East Asian industrial relations have followed these patterns: Japan has practiced techno-diplomacy towards Saudi Arabia mainly in return for oil; and Taiwan has done so mainly in return for diplomatic recognition – since Taipei has been in competition with Beijing since 1949 regarding its international legitimacy. Those quid pro quo relations have provided Riyadh with strong bargaining chips vis-à-vis Tokyo and Taipei in demanding industrial cooperation from them in the past decades. Currently, as the focus of industrial diversification in Saudi Arabia shifts from capital-intensive heavy industries to labour-intensive manufacturing industries, the insufficiency in HRD in Saudi Arabia, deriving from the "rentier" nature of its society, increasingly poses obstacles to further progress of the process. Accordingly, East Asian states' contributions to the development of HRD institutions in Saudi Arabia have been coming to the fore in their bilateral industrial relations in addition to the FDI, the trend which is likely to remain important in the coming years.

This practical thesis aims to reform the use of plant material in landscape architecture projects in the Najd or Central Region of Saudi Arabia. Many aspects of landscape architecture in Najd attempt to emulate western concepts. Neglect or unawareness of the values of Arabic society is one of the main reasons for the failure of the landscape programme. This factor of traditional culture is particularly sensitive in Najd which is the birthplace of Whabism, one of the strictest applications of Islam. This implies special conditions that made outdoor design sensitive and complicated, unable to tolerate western forms. Western urban patterns in planning, such as wide streets, neighbourhood parks and their detailed components of artifacts and plant materials, all shattered the character of traditional landscape architecture in the region. Although indigenous landscape elements in Najd evolved as a result of socio-environmental factors, many consultants do not differentiate between Persian, Islamic, and Najdi gardens. The inventory of available plant species indicates that most are imported from tropical and subtropical countries. These species require stripping of soil from wadi Hanifah for potting, and for top soiling planting projects, a process destructive to the rich wadi habitat. Such a process is necessary when using imported plant material while native ones can adapt to the existing sandy and saline soil. The devastation of the wadi ecosystem, the saline water table and the high cost of maintaining those plants, represents serious short and long term economic, ecological and technical implications. These implications all point to the scale of these negative consequences of using imported plant material. Also, climatic data, points to the suitability and adaptability of native flora and its significance in avoiding further damage to eco-environment. Use of imported plants in arid Najd and creating a man-made micro climate to suit them, is a waste of resources, especially the water budget in Saudi Arabia. The thesis proves that these plants consume large amounts of water, require high levels of maintenance, are unsuitable to Najdi environment, introduce new pests and diseases, require special microclimatic conditions, rich soil and prove unsuccessful in their functions. All the previous factors combine to acknowledge the failure of many tropical gardens in the arid land of Najd. The answer lies in Najd itself which is wealthy in flora adapted to its local conditions. The potential for their use in Saudi Arabian landscape projects is vast. Individually they will substitute for the imported nursury stock, while the available communities represent a ready-made and complete landscape element which would be valuable for Najdi parks. The general question, the comparative advantages of native over imported plants is conclusively answered in the thesis. Though the native plants are diverse, attractive and available, they were tested practically aiming at, firstly to test the individual species, the "target species method", and secondly to test the whole community "target community method". Three test sites were allocated in the Diplomatic Quarter to test the selected target species and communities. The tests were conducted extensively over five years and intensively over three years, during which the author monitored closely a large number of species and communities and arrived at an encouraging set of results and findings. The conclusion of the thesis consists of two parts. Firstly, the successful species which is included in a Flora, and the successful target communities which use selected target communities as a landscape design tool. These are aimed specifically at landscape designers. Secondly, the author recommends how to utilize both methods in a typical Najdi urban park, and how to encourage their successful use.

Users' acceptance of a new information technology (IT) is considered to be a key determinant factor of its success. Also, studying users' adoption and use of new IT plays an important role in determining users' needs and reducing business risk, especially in industry segments with rapid changes in IT such as Smartphone technology. Such rapid evolution is influencing consumers' behaviors, their daily lifestyle, the manner of conducting their activities and their ways of consuming and using information. Smartphone technology holds a promising future with an expected global market that could reach US $258 billion by the end of year 2015 [1]. Besides the mobile industry, Smartphone technology introduces a wide range of opportunities and challenges for many related industries that participate directly or indirectly in producing and providing Smartphone services/products to the end users. Moreover, the Smartphone technology is relatively new technology with plenty of room for improvement. Better understanding of users' intentions and their behaviors regarding the adoption and use of the Smartphone technology plays a critical role in determining its success and benefiting all stakeholders. Significant efforts have been made to study and explain users' adoption and use of Smartphone technology. However, most of the empirical research focused on only a limited number of Smartphone aspects or on a specific profession such as doctors and nurses which may neglect other important factors. In emerging regions such as Jordan and China, cultural and social influence showed significant relationships with users' adoption and use of the Smartphone and its related technologies. Saudi Arabia is a developing country that has different cultural and social contexts that could influence users' intention to adopt and use the Smartphone technology. The key factors that influence general users' intention to adopt and use Smartphone technology in Saudi Arabia have not yet been studied and explored in a comprehensive manner. Therefore, the main purpose of this dissertation is to empirically study and explore the key factors that influence general users' adoption and use of the Smartphone in a comprehensive manner in Saudi Arabia. This dissertation starts with a literature review of existing research related to the adoption and use of Smartphone technology. Taxonomy is developed that includes factors that were identified as important in previous research and related to the adoption and use of the Smartphone technology. By using the developed taxonomy and reviewing literature related to the IT adoption theories, a preliminary theoretical research model is developed based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). A number of qualitative methods, namely brainstorming, focus group and individual interviews, have been conducted to evaluate, select and validate the existing factors, as well as introduce new factors, and to identify only the most related factors to be included in the preliminary research model. A survey questionnaire has been developed and validated to survey general users of the Smartphone in Saudi Arabia. A web-based survey has been designed and sent through email to 5,000 randomly selected smartphones users in Saudi Arabia. Data has been statistically analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results indicate that performance expectancy factor, effort expectancy factor, brand influence factor, perceived enjoyment factor and design factor have a positive and significant relationship with users' intention to adopt and use smartphones in Saudi Arabia. Also, the results indicate that the social influence factor has a significant and positive relationship with use behavior or actual use of smartphones in Saudi Arabia. The results of this dissertation provide more insights to practitioners in the smartphones domain and information that contributes to the body of knowledge regarding information technology adoption and its related research, especially in Saudi Arabia.