From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 [470] 9783031283130, 9783031283147

Table of contents :
Foreword
Preface
Contents
Artificial Intelligence, TechManagement, Women Entrepreneurship and Social Implications
The Impact of Digitalization Towards the Sustainability of Malaysian SMEs: The Dynamic Capabilities Perspective
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Challenges Faced by Malaysian SMEs
2.2 SMEs and Digitalization
2.3 The Sustainable Success of SMEs
3 Methodology
4 Data Analysis Process
4.1 Descriptive Analysis of Study
5 Findings and Conclusion
References
Entrepreneurial Intention and Pre-start-up Behaviour During Covid-19 Era Among the Working Adults in Bangladesh
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Theoretical Foundation
2.2 Hypotheses Development
3 Research Methodology
3.1 Data Collection and Sample Selection
3.2 Research Instrument
3.3 Assessment of Common Method Variance (CMV)
3.4 Data Analysis Method
4 Data Analysis
4.1 Descriptive Statistics
4.2 PLS-SEM Analysis
5 Discussion and Conclusion
6 Implications and Limitations
6.1 Theoretical Implication
References
Attitude Towards the Deployment of Information Technology Programs in the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Environment
1 Introduction
1.1 The Emergence of MOOC
1.2 Satisfaction and Effectiveness of MOOC Delivery in Technical Information Technology Courses
1.3 The Delivery of MOOC Platform
2 Methodology
2.1 Research Instrument
2.2 Data Collection
2.3 Data Analysis
3 Results and Findings
3.1 Profile of Respondents
3.2 Acceptance and Effectiveness of Technical-Based Information Technology MOOC Courses
3.3 Requirement for MOOC Platform for Technical Information Technology Courses
3.4 Strategies and Approaches for Cost Effective, Efficient, Attractive MOOC Towards IT Technical Courses
4 Conclusion
References
Data Mining Techniques for Student Performance Prediction: A Review
1 Introduction
2 Existing Data Mining Techniques
2.1 SVM
2.2 KNN
2.3 Naïve Bayes
2.4 Decision Tree
3 Student Performance Analysis Using Data Mining Techniques
3.1 Support Vector Machine (SVM)
3.2 KNN
3.3 Naïve Bayes
3.4 Decision Tree
4 Discussion and Analysis of Machine Learning Algorithm
5 Conclusion
References
Artificial Intelligence and Security Challenges
1 Introduction
2 Wide Variety of Content
3 Conclusion
References
Does Work-Life Balance Impact on the Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Study on Women Employees in Private Sectors
1 Introduction
1.1 Research Objective
2 Related Work: Hypothesis Developed for This Study
3 Research Methodology
4 Results and Discussion
4.1 Latent Variable Correlation
4.2 Component Factor Loading
5 Conclusion
References
Modeling Methodology, Simulation and Identification of Performance Indicators in a Maternity Unit of the UHC in Tunisia
1 Introduction
2 Description of the Tunisian Health System
2.1 The BPMN Approach and Its Implementation Within the Maternity Service
2.2 Data Collection
3 Simulations and Results
3.1 As-Is Process Simulation Results
3.2 Modeling Methodology and Identification of Performance Indicators
3.3 As-Is Process Simulation Results for 250 Instances
3.4 Patient Flow and Consequences of Expectations
4 Discussion
5 Conclusions
References
Impact of Immersive Technology and Virtual Work Environment, on Innovative Work Behaviour
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Immersive Technology
2.2 Virtual Work Environment
2.3 Innovative Work Behaviour
3 Proposition
3.1 Immersive Technology Impact on Innovative Work Behaviour
3.2 Immersive Technology Impact on Virtual Work Environment
3.3 Virtual Work Environment Impact on Innovative Work Behaviour
4 Reaserch Method
5 Discussions and Conclusion
5.1 Discussions
5.2 Conclusion
References
Clustering EU Member-States and Ukraine by Female Empowerment in Business
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Methodology
4 Results
5 Discussion
6 Conclusions
References
Workplace Friendship Influences Innovative Work Behavior: The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment and Knowledge Sharing
1 Introduction
2 Proposition Development
2.1 Workplace Friendship and Psychological Empowerment
2.2 Workplace Friendship and Knowledge Sharing
2.3 Workplace Friendship and Innovative Work Behavior
2.4 Psychological Empowerment and Innovative Work Behavior
2.5 Knowledge Sharing and Innovative Behavior Work Behavior
2.6 The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment in Workplace Friendship and Innovative Work Behavior
2.7 The Mediating Role of Knowledge Sharing in Workplace Friendship and Innovative Work Behavior
3 Research Methodology
4 Discussion and Conclusion
References
She-Covery—Reversing Pandemic Effects Through Women Entrepreneurship
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Research Methodology
3.1 Research Framework
3.2 External Motivators
3.3 Internal Motivators
4 Data Analysis and Discussion
4.1 Descriptive Analysis
4.2 Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
4.3 Hypothesis Test Results
5 Conclusion
References
The Effect of Mentorship and Funding Support on Entrepreneur’s Motivation in Bahrain
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Bahrain’s Economy
2.2 Bahrain’s Economic Development
2.3 Definition of Entrepreneurship
2.4 Entrepreneurship’s Importance
2.5 Motivation in the Entrepreneurship Journey
2.6 Factors Affecting Entrepreneur Motivation
2.7 Entrepreneurial Motivation and Mentorship
2.8 Definition of Mentoring
2.9 Business Mentoring
2.10 Entrepreneurial Funding Support
2.11 Entrepreneurial Support Programs in Bahrain
3 Conclusion
References
Impact of Covid-19 on Digitalization Aspect on India’s MSMEs
1 Introduction
2 Objectives of the Study
3 Review of Literature
4 Methodology and Analysis
4.1 Impact of Covid-19 on the Economy
4.2 Pre-pandemic Slowdown
4.3 Impact of COVID-19 on MSMEs
4.4 Role of Digitalization for MSMEs in Covid Times
4.5 Challenges in Way of Successful Adoption of Digital Tools and Technology
4.6 Initiatives by Government and Private Sector Players
5 Analysis and Interpretation
6 Conclusion
7 Limitations and Scope for Further Research
References
Determinants of Small Business Success: A Harmonization Between Resources and Strategies
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 RBV and Firm Performance
2.2 The Criticism on RBV
2.3 Valuable Resources
2.4 Classification of Organisation Resources
2.5 Business Success
3 A Newly Approach Used to Evaluate the V Attribute of RBV
4 Conclusion
4.1 Limitation and Future Research Direction
References
Structure Analysis of Islamic Microfinancing, Social Capital and ICT Usage Towards on Women Micro-entrepreneurs’ Performance in Malaysia
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Resource-Based View Theory
2.2 Previous Studies
3 Methodology
3.1 Data
3.2 Conceptual Framework
3.3 Method
4 Results
4.1 Demographic Characteristics
4.2 Common Method Variance
4.3 Measurement Model
4.4 Structural Model
5 Analysis and Discussion
6 Conclusion
7 Recommendations
References
The Allegory of the Glass Ceiling and Reverberance of Woman Leadership in Politics: The Case of Arya Rajendran
1 Background
2 Glass Ceiling and Politics
3 The Case of Arya Rajendran
4 Conclusion
References
Pilot Study on Adoption and Usage of AI in Food Processing Industry by UTAUT2
1 Introduction
2 Review of Literature
2.1 Evolution of Artificial Intelligence in Business
2.2 Overview of Artificial Intelligence
2.3 Artificial Intelligence in Food Processing Industries
3 Methodology
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Sample Size and Techniques
3.3 Research Model
3.4 Method of Data Collection and Tools for Analysis
4 Results and Discussion
4.1 Demographic Characteristics
4.2 Reliability Analysis
4.3 Reliability and Consistency Test
5 Limitations
6 Conclusions and Scope for Future Research
References
Artificial Intelligence in Finance
1 Introduction
1.1 The Research Problem
1.2 Research Objectives
1.3 The Research Questions
2 Literature Review
2.1 Machine Learning
2.2 Supervised Learning
2.3 Deep Learning
2.4 Liner Regression
3 Methodology
3.1 Data Types and Sources
3.2 Data Normalization and Functions
4 Results and Analyses
4.1 Voting Ensemble
4.2 Pipeline Azure ML
4.3 Pipeline Result Analysis
5 Conclusions and Recommendation
5.1 Conclusion
5.2 Recommendation
References
Driving Innovative, Sustainability and Creative Practices
A Study on Selection of Employers the Business Management Students at Bangalore City
1 Introduction
2 Theoretical Background
3 Methods
4 Results
5 Discussion
6 Conclusion
7 Limitations and Further Research
References
The Impact of Corporate Culture on Incubator Success: The Moderating Effect of Information and Communication Technology Tools
1 Introduction
2 Model and Hypotheses Development
2.1 Incubator Success (The Dependent Factor)
2.2 Corporate Culture
2.3 Information and Communication Technology Tools
3 Method
4 Analysis of Data and Presenting Results
4.1 Testing of the Moderation Effects of ICT Tools
5 Discussion and Conclusion
References
Frugal Digital Innovation on Agribusiness: An Emergent Concept Developed Through a Bibliometric Analysis
1 Introduction
2 Frugal Digital Innovation in Agribusiness
3 Research Methodology and Descriptive Data Analysis
3.1 Choice of Appropriate Terms or Keywords
3.2 Search Results
3.3 Descriptive Analysis
4 Bibliometric Review on Agribusiness
4.1 Materials and Methods
4.2 Co-citation Analysis
5 Discussion
6 Conclusions
References
The Quality of Electronic Services Provided by Zarqa University from the Point of View of Its Employees
1 Introduction
2 Study Problem
3 Method and Procedures
4 Discussion
5 Conclusion
References
An Automated System to Evaluate Learning Outcomes for Higher Education Programs
1 Introduction
2 AASLO: System Model
2.1 Pre-processing Phase: Correlation Matrices
2.2 Outcomes Assessment Phase
2.3 Evaluation Phase
3 AASLO: Implementation
4 AASLO: Features
5 Conclusions
References
Factors Affecting Food Security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the Light of Vision 2030 Strategies: Evidence from ARDL Approach (1970–2020)
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Food Security Concept
3 Data, Model and Methods
4 Findings and Discussion
5 Policy Implication
6 Conclusion
References
Food Exports and Its Contribution to the Sudan Economic Development in the Light of Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Simultaneous Equation Model (1974–2019)
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Data, Model and Methods
4 Findings and Discussion
4.1 Evaluating the Signs of Single Equations of the System Model
4.2 Evaluating the Signs of the System Equation (Model)
5 Policy Implication
6 Conclusion
References
Integration of Eco-innovation Drivers and Their Role in Sustainable Competitive Advantage in SMEs: A Proposed Conceptual Model
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Drivers of Eco-innovation
2.2 Eco-innovation and Sustainable Competitive Advantage
3 Proposed Conceptual Model
4 Conclusion
References
The Demand for Home-Based Dialysis Post COVID-19
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Methods
4 Results
5 Discussion
6 Conclusion
References
Factors Influencing Talent Retention in April Dental Center
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 The Problem
4 Research Methodology
5 Discussion and Recommendations
6 Conclusion
References
Impact of Economic Growth, Finance and Trade Nexus on Environmental Degradation in Selected Emerging Countries
1 Introduction
2 Literature
3 Empirical Model
4 Data
5 Results and Discussion
6 Policy Analysis
7 Conclusion
References
Waqf-Linked Islamic Fintech Microfinance as a Business Enabler in Post-pandemic Economy: The Experience of Hal Microfinance, Kenya
1 Introduction
2 Islamic Social Finance: A Business Enabler for the Kenyan Post-Pandemic Economy
2.1 Context Analysis
2.2 Financial Inclusion Through Islamic Social Finance
2.3 Role of Commodity Murabaha
2.4 Fintech Potential to Develop Islamic Social Finance
3 HAL microfinance—An Islamic Fintech Microfinance Provider
3.1 Overview
3.2 Product Architecture and Mobilized Contracts
3.3 HAL Microfinance Vision and the Role of Fintech
4 Waqf Linked Microfinance Using Commodity Murabaha
5 Conclusion
References
A Proposed Model for Bahrain Firm’s: Study the Factors Empowering Employee Retention—A Literature Review
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Employee Training
2.2 Employee Motivation
2.3 Leadership Styles
2.4 Organizational Justice
2.5 Employee Retention
3 Theoretical Framework
4 Conclusion, Recommendation, and Limitation
4.1 Conclusion
References
Factors Influencing Employees’ Productivity in Bahraini Alhelli Company—Literature Review
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 The Impact of Training and Development on Productivity
2.2 The Impact of Employee Commitment on Productivity
2.3 The Impact of Work Stress on Productivity
3 Conceptual Framework
4 Limitations and Recommendations
5 Conclusion
References
The Relational Cohesion Exchange Model to Elucidate Commuter’s Switchover Intention for Mass Rapid Transit Rail
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review—Hypothesis Formation
2.1 Tangibility and Behavioural Intention
2.2 Reliability and Behavioural Intention
2.3 Responsiveness and Behavioural Intention
2.4 Assurance and Behavioural Intention
2.5 Empathy and Behavioural Intention
2.6 Customer Satisfaction and Behavioural Switching Over Intention
2.7 Customer Satisfaction Moderate the Relations Between Service Quality and Behavioural Switching Over Intention
3 Research Methodology
3.1 Research Design and Sampling
4 Validity
5 Reliability
6 Analysis and Result
7 Discussion
8 Implications
8.1 Practical Implications
8.2 Theoretical Implications
9 Limitations and Future Direction
10 Conclusion
References
Modern Social Media, Public Relations and Its Effects on Society and Business
A Study on Viewers Preference Towards OTT (Over-the-Top) Release Platforms in Commercial Films After Covid 19
1 Introduction
1.1 Statement of the Problem
1.2 Objectives of the Study
1.3 Research Methodology
1.4 Limitations of the Study
1.5 Review of Literature
1.6 Findings
1.7 Suggestions
1.8 Conclusion
1.9 Future Research
References
Citizen Journalism: Technological and Digital Challenges
1 Introduction
1.1 When Did Citizen Journalism Appear?
1.2 Definition of Citizen Journalism
1.3 Types of Citizen Journalism
1.4 Most Popular Types of Citizen Journalism
2 Citizen Journalism Content
2.1 Collaboration Versus Independent Reporting
3 Citizen Journalism Theory
3.1 The Concept of Citizen Journalism
3.2 Ideas of Citizen Journalism Theory
3.3 The Relationship Between Citizen Journalism and Traditional Media
3.4 The Concept of Citizen Journalism Theory
3.5 The Future of Citizen Journalism
4 Conclusion and Recommendations
References
Social Interactive Engagement for Generation Z: A Proposed Conceptualization
1 Introduction
2 Theoretical Framework
2.1 Attribution Theory
2.2 Social Commerce in Indonesia
2.3 Online Brand Experience
2.4 Social Interactive Engagement
2.5 Brand Love
2.6 Conceptual Framework
3 Research Methods
4 Conclusion
References
Impact of Organisational Culture on Knowledge Sharing in Information Communication Technology Firms in India
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Research Methodology
3.1 Data Analysis Procedure
4 Findings and Results
4.1 Determining the Meaning of Knowledge, Sharing and Knowledge Sharing
4.2 Understanding KS Issues in Organizations
5 Conclusion
6 Recommendations and Limitations
References
The Extent of the Use of Information and Communication Technology on the Quality of Higher Education at Palestine Technical University Kadoorie
1 Introduction
2 The Study Problem
3 The Study Objectives
4 Determinants of the Study
5 Study Terminology
6 Literature Review
7 Sample Heading
8 Sample Study
9 Study Form (1)
10 Study Results and Discussion
11 Second: Discuss the Results of the Open Interview Questions
12 Results Discussion
13 Recommendations
References
Determining of Factors Influencing Employee’s Retention at Almarai Company in Saudi Arabia
1 Introduction
2 Theoretical Background
2.1 The Relationship Between Performance Appraisal and Employee Retention
2.2 The Relationship Between Work Environment and Employee Retention
2.3 The Relationship Between Training and Development and Employee Retention
3 Conceptual Framework
4 The Underpinning of Theories
4.1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need Theory
4.2 Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory
4.3 Adam’s Equity Theory
5 Discussion and Conclusion
References
Board Interlocking, Knowledge Sharing and Firm Performance
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Conclusion
References
Management Control System: A Literature Review
1 Introduction
2 Management Control System
3 The Benefits of Management Control System
4 Control System Models
5 Conclusion
References
The Obligation of Corporate Group to Pay Business Zakat in Malaysia: A Legal and Shariah Analysis
1 Introduction
2 Legal Position of Group of Companies in Malaysian Law
2.1 Doctrine of Corporate Personality
2.2 Group of Companies and Its Legal Features Under the Act
2.3 Group of Companies from Shariah Perspective
3 Essence of Zakat Under Shariah
3.1 Conditions of Zakat Payer and Property
3.2 Zakat on Khultah Al-Mashiyah (Mingling Property of Livestocks)
4 Views of Contemporary Shariah Scholars on Obligation of Group of Companies to Pay Business Zakat
4.1 Views of Contemporary Shariah Scholars
5 Observation and Analysis
5.1 Company as Non-religious Legal Entity Based on Fiction v Shariah Principles Relating to Zakat
5.2 Separate Legal Entity of Each Company Within the Group v Sharikah Between Partners
6 Conclusion
References
Green Human Resources Management, Corporate Social Responsibility and Organisational Citizenship Behavior: A Conceptual Model
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review and Hypotheses Development
3 Discussion and Conclusion
References
Gap Analysis by Readiness Review Including Online Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic Period for Engineering Programs at the College of Engineering—University of Baghdad
1 Introduction
1.1 The Problem
1.2 Objectives
2 Status Analysis
3 Hypothesis
4 Methodology
4.1 Data Methodology
5 Application Results
6 Conclusions and Recommendations
References
The Study on Technology Acceptance in Baby and Mother Product Business Operation
1 Introduction
2 The Case Study: The Baby and Mother Products Business and Digitalization
3 Actor Network Theory: The Actors in Baby and Mother Products Business Operation
3.1 Workers
3.2 The Site Giant (Marketplace)
3.3 AutoCount Accounting
3.4 Shopee and Lazada
4 Discussion and Recommendation
5 Conclusion
References
The Role of Customer Knowledge in CRM-Customer’s Satisfaction Link: A Study on Hotels in Indonesia
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Customer Relationship Management Research in Tourism
2.2 CRM and Customer Satisfaction.
2.3 Technology CRM Resources
2.4 Human CRM Resources
2.5 Organizational CRM Resources
2.6 The Moderating Role of Customer Knowledge
3 Research Methodology
4 Conclusion
References
Examination of the Relationship Between People with Disabilities (PWDs) and Employment Factors in Malaysia: Employer’s Perspectives
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Research Methodology
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Sampling Procedure and Data Collection
3.3 Data Analysis
4 Results and Discussion
4.1 Descriptive Analysis
4.2 Pearson Correlation
5 Conclusion
References
Education Management, Technology, Smart Universities, and COVID-19 Impact
Technology Enhanced Learning Through Learning Management System and Virtual Reality Googles: A Critical Review
1 Introduction
2 Methods
3 Review and Findings
3.1 VR Googles and Students’ Expectations
3.2 VR Googles and Students’ Motivation
3.3 LMS Acceptance and Usage Among Students
4 Conclusion
5 Limitations and Future Research
References
Technological Acceleration in Business Education—Study of Educator’s Attitude and Behavior Towards Usage of Technology: UTAUT Framework
1 Introduction
2 Review of Literature
2.1 COVID 19 and Smart Universities
2.2 Usage of Technology in Academia
3 Theoretical Framework—UTAUT Framework
4 Method and Measurement
5 Data Analysis
6 Discussions and Conclusion
References
Exploring E-Learning During and Post Covid-19 Pandemic
1 Introduction
1.1 Research Problem
2 Literature Review
2.1 E-Learning Concept
2.2 Setting up a Website
2.3 Covid-19 Challenges to the Educational Process
2.4 Expanding the Use of E-Learning and Distance Learning, Alleviating COVID 19’s Impacts
3 Findings
4 Conclusion and Recommendations
References
New Efficient Indicators for Placing Qualifications in the Jordanian National Qualifications Framework
1 Introduction
2 Preliminary
3 The Contribution
3.1 The Need and Justification for Offering the Qualification
3.2 Compatibility of the Qualification with the JNQF Requirements
3.3 Designing the Qualification Content
3.4 Appropriateness of Evaluation and Examinations
3.5 Appropriateness of the Qualification Level and the Number of Credit Hours
4 Results and Discussion
5 Conclusion and Future Work
References
The Role of Senior Management in Disseminating a Culture of Quality in Higher Education Institutions
1 Introduction
2 Objectives of the Study
3 Problem of the Study
4 Significance of the Study
5 Methodology
6 The Nature of Management, Its Levels, Skills, and Patterns
6.1 The Concept of Management
6.2 Levels of Management
6.3 Management Skills
6.4 Management Styles
6.5 Quality Culture
6.6 Quality Management
6.7 The Culture of Quality and Senior Management
6.8 Conclusion
References
A Suggested Educational Guide for Applying International Quality Assurance Standards in Jordanian Universities
1 Introduction
2 The Study Problem
3 Study Significance
4 Study Methodology
5 Conclusion
6 Recommendations
References
Attitudes of Students in the Faculty of Educational Sciences in “Zarqa University” Towards Distance-Education Using Educational Technology “in the Light of “the COVID-19 Crisis””
1 Introduction
2 Problem Statement
3 Research Questions
4 Objectives
5 Significance of the Study
6 Terms Definition
7 The Study’s Limits
8 Previous Studies
9 The Study’s Approach
9.1 The Study’s Population and Sample
10 The Study’s Instrument
10.1 Validity of the Instrument
10.2 Construct Validity
11 The Study’s Variables
12 Discussion and Results
13 Recommendations
14 Conclusion
References
A Proposed Vision to Improve the Ranking of Palestinian Universities in (Times Rankings 2022) for Sustainable Development Goals
1 Introduction
2 Statement of the Problem
3 Research Objectives
4 Research Significance
5 Research Limitations
6 Research Terms
7 Research Methodology
7.1 Research Method
7.2 Research Tool
8 Results
8.1 Results of Question 1
8.2 Results of Question 2
8.3 Results of Question 3
9 Conclusion
10 Recommendation
References
The Extent of Human Resource Efficiency at Zarqa University from the Point of View of Its Faculty and Administrative Staff
1 Introduction
1.1 Research Questions
1.2 Objectives of the Study
1.3 The Importance of the Study
1.4 Study Delimitations
1.5 Study Limitations
1.6 Data Collection and Analysis Tools
2 Study Methodology
2.1 Study Population
2.2 The Study Sample
2.3 Study Tool
2.4 Tool Construction Validity
2.5 The Study Variables
2.6 Statistical Processing
2.7 Study Procedures
3 The Results
References
Teacher Preparation Program: Alumni Perceptions and Technology Utilization
1 Introduction
1.1 Literature Review
2 Methods
2.1 Participants
2.2 Study Design
2.3 Data Collection and Analysis Procedures
3 Results
3.1 Survey Results
3.2 Qualitative Data Results
4 Discussion and Recommendations
4.1 Recommendations for Teacher Education
Appendix
References
The Level of Educational Tourism in Jordanian Universities Through the Relationship Between the Push–Pull Factors, Expectations, Aspirations, and International Career Expectations
1 Introduction
1.1 Education Tourism and Push–Pull Factors
1.2 Aspirations and Expectations to Study Overseas
1.3 International Career Expectation (the Career Decidedness)
1.4 Study Hypotheses
2 Methodologies and Research Design
2.1 Setting, Sample and Sampling
2.2 The Results
2.3 Discussion
2.4 Conclusion
References
The Study of Digital Learning Experience in Cargo Business
1 Introduction
2 Cargo Business
3 The Case Study: The Cargo Business and Digitalization
4 Actor Network Theory: The Actors in Cargo Business Operations
5 Digital Learning Experience
6 Discussion and Conclusion
References
New Teaching Methods in Universities Using Artificial Intelligence
1 Introduction
2 Education Transformations in the Post-coronavirus Era
3 Shifts in Schools and Curricula
4 The Global Alliance for Education and Post-coronavirus Transformations
5 The Global Education Alliance Has Identified a Set of Goals that It Seeks to Achieve, the Most Important Being
6 The Transformations Caused by AI Techniques in the Educational Field Include
7 Applications of AI that Can Be Employed in the Educational Process
8 Conclusion
References
Digital Anxiety Among Students of the University College of Applied Sciences and Its Relationship to Some Variables
1 Introduction
1.1 The Problem of the Study
1.2 The Questions of the Study
1.3 The Significance of the Study
1.4 Terminologies of the Study
1.5 The Theoretical Framework of the Study
1.6 The Concept and Definition of Anxiety
1.7 Types of Anxiety
1.8 Reasons for Anxiety
1.9 Symptoms of Anxiety
1.10 Anxiety and Academic Achievement
2 Methodology of the Study
2.1 Research Design
2.2 Participants of the Study
2.3 The Tool of the Study
3 Study Results
3.1 The Results of the Second Question
3.2 The Results of the Third Question
4 Conclusion and Recommendations
5 Limitations and Suggestions for Further Research
References
Life Skills and Their Relationship to Self-affirmation Among Deaf Students in the Universities of Gaza
1 Introduction
2 Study Questions
3 Importance of the Study
4 Objectives of the Study
5 Limitations of the Study
6 Terms of the Study
7 Study Methodology
7.1 Validity of the Tools
7.2 Reliability of the Tools
8 Results of the Study
9 Conclusion and Suggestions for Further Research
10 Recommendations of the Study
References
The Accounting Education, Between Digitalization and the COVID-19 Crisis
1 Introduction
2 Theoretical Framework for Research
3 Types of Accounting Education in the Era of COVID-19
4 Characteristics of E-Learning in the Field of Accounting Education in the Era of COVID-19
5 Reasons for Learning Electronic Accounting in the Age of Digitization
6 Requirements for Implementing Electronic Accounting Education in the Era of Digitization and the COVID-19 Pandemic [1]
7 International Accounting Education Standards that Must Be Available in the Digital Accounting Education System in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic
8 The Role of Digitization in Learning to Make Accounting Decisions in Light of the Covid-19 Pandemic
9 Reasons for Attention to the Quality of Digital Accounting Education During the Covid-19 Pandemic
10 Objectives of the Quality of Digital Accounting Education
11 Indicators for Improving the Quality of Digital Accounting Education in the Era of Covid 19
12 First: Improving the Digital Educational Process for the Members of the Digital Education Authority Teaching Accounting
13 Second: Improving the Methods of Digital Education in the Accounting Field for Students
14 Advantages of Using E-learning in the Field of Accounting Education During COVID-19 Pandemic
15 The Challenges and Obstacles of Using Digital Education for Accounting
16 Conclusion
17 Implications
18 Research Limits
19 Suggestions
References
COVID-19 and Digitizing Accounting Education
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 The Effect of the Pandemic on the Educational Sector in the Gulf Region
2.2 Going Fully Digital with Accounting Education
2.3 Accounting Student's Evaluation During COVID19
2.4 Performance and Learning Outcomes of the Students in Remote Learning
2.5 Challenges Faced in Online Teaching
2.6 Mental Health
2.7 Faculty Members Performance in Online Teaching
2.8 Accounting Education in the Post-COVID World
3 Conclusion
References
The Agile Adaptivity of Educators and Their Strategic Influence on the Learner During COVID-19 Pandemic
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Strategic Agility
2.2 Education During COVID-19
2.3 E-learning Challenges that Faced Educators and Learners
3 Research Methodology
4 Conclusion
References
The Impact of COVID-19 and Digitizing Accounting Education
1 Introduction
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Background of the Research
1.3 Problem Statement
1.4 Research Aim
1.5 Research Objectives
1.6 Research Questions
1.7 Significance of the Research
1.8 Research Structure
2 Theory and Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The Process of Accounting Education Through Digitization
2.3 The Opportunity of Digitization in the COVID-19 Pandemic in Educational Sector
2.4 Digitisation of Learning System and Implementation of Technology in Teaching and Assessment of Accounting Education
2.5 Digitization of Accounting Education During the Covid-19 Pandemic
2.6 Challenges Faced by Accounting Students During Covid-19
2.7 Theoretical Foundations
2.8 Conceptual Model
2.9 Hypothesis
2.10 Scope of the Study
2.11 Limitations
3 Conclusion
3.1 Conclusion
3.2 Summary of Literature Review
3.3 Implications
3.4 Limitations of the Study
3.5 Future Scope
Appendices
Appendix 1: Issue Faced by Accounting Educators and Students in Online Learning
Appendix 2: Mental Health Assessment of Students During Covid-19 Pandemic
References
Internet-Hosted English Learning at UCAS: Licensed Ticket Towards the Future
1 Introduction
2 Definitions of Terms
3 Online Sense of Community
4 The Study Methodology
5 The Tool of the Study
6 The Validity and Reliability of the Questionnaire
7 Results, Analysis and Discussion
8 Domain Two: Success in the Team Development Process
9 Conclusion and Recommendations
References
Online Accounting Education During Covid-19: Literature Review
1 Introduction
2 Methodology
3 Characteristics of the Studies Found
4 Selected Studies Analysis
4.1 Perceptions About Accounting Education During Covid-19
4.2 Covid-19 Effect on Accounting Education
4.3 Improving the Accounting Education Quality by Using Online Methods
4.4 Cheating in Online Exams
4.5 Factors that Influence Accounting Understanding During Covid-19
4.6 Learning Outcomes Before and During Covid-19 Pandemic
4.7 Acceptance of Online Learning
5 Suggestions and Recommendations of Selected Articles
6 Conclusion
References
The Effectiveness of Online Learning During the Corona Pandemic in the Gaza Strip, Palestine
1 Introduction
1.1 Significance of the Study
1.2 Terminology of the Study
2 Theoretical Framework
2.1 Online Learning
2.2 The Advantages of Online Learning
3 Methodology of the Study
3.1 Population and Sample the Study
3.2 The Tool of the Study
4 The Results of the Study
4.1 Results Related to the First Study Question
4.2 Results Related to the Second Question
4.3 Results Related to the Third Study Question
5 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research
6 Recommendations
References
Smart Scholarship System
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Proposed System
3.1 Requirement Gathering
3.2 Functional Requirements
3.3 Non-functional Requirements
3.4 Overall Proposed System
3.5 Context Diagram
3.6 Development
3.7 Testing
3.8 Final System
4 Conclusion and Future Work
4.1 Future Work and Recommendations
4.2 Summary
References
Return on Expectations of Jobseekers’ Training in the Employability Skills Program of Bahrain
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 History of Soft Skills
2.2 The Rise of Soft Skills in the Workplace
2.3 The Importance of Soft Skills for Professional Success
2.4 Employability Skills in the United Kingdom
2.5 The Necessity of Training Evaluation
2.6 Literature Gap
2.7 Conceptual Framework
2.8 Conclusion
References
Proposed Solutions to Address Training and Development Challenges for Gulf V: A Virtual Corporation Specializing in Internet and Communication Services
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Research Methodology
4 Training Problems
5 Discussion
6 Conclusion
References
A Case Study of the Employment Strategy and Its Impact on the Performance of the Future Educational Academy During the Covid 19 Pandemic
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 The Problem
4 Research Methodology
5 Discussion and Recommendations
6 Conclusion
References
Training Motivation as a Mediating Variable in the Relationship Between Administrative Support and Job Motivation
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Methodology
4 Analysis and Results
5 Discussion and Implications
6 Conclusion
References
Adoption of Mobile Learning in Higher Education: An Investigation of Employees’ Perspectives
1 Introduction
2 Theoretical Background
2.1 The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)
2.2 Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI)
2.3 Factors Influencing M-Learning Adoption
3 Theoretical Framework and Research Hypotheses
3.1 Technological Context
3.2 Cultural Context
4 Method
4.1 Data Collection, Sample, and Questionnaire Design
4.2 Descriptive Statistics
5 Data Analysis
6 Discussion and Conclusion
References
Sustainable Finance, FinTech Innovation and Business Uncertain Situations
Review of Financial Technology Applications and Their Related Aspects
1 Introduction
2 Research Method
3 Results
4 Discussion
5 Conclusion
References
Optimizing Performance and Spatial Distribution of ATMs During COVID-19 Lockdown—A Queuing Theory Approach
1 Introduction
2 Review of Selected Studies
3 Methodology
4 System’s Analysis
4.1 Queuing Theory Calculations
4.2 Physical Distancing
4.3 Exploring Alternatives
5 Conclusions
References
Innovative Clusters of Transport Security as a Component of the National Security of Ukraine
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Methodology
4 Results
5 Conclusions
References
Managing Intangible Value Drivers of Technology Companies: Reporting Paradox Effects
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Materials and Methods
4 Results and Discussion
5 Conclusions
References
Building Contract in the Fifth Industrial Revolution: Embedding Sustainable Design and Construction Practices
1 Introduction
2 Problem Statement
3 Materials and Methods
4 Results and Discussion
4.1 Green Project Goals and Objectives
4.2 SDC Requirements, the IDP Team, and Allocation of Duties/Risks
4.3 Design Charrette Process
4.4 SDC-Compliant Technical Working Documents—Drawings and Specifications
4.5 Technological Aid and Advancement
5 Conclusion
References
The Impact of Using Technology Integration on Supply Chain Functions and Stages
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Supply Chain Function
2.2 Supply Chain Stages
2.3 Patterns of IT Use in SCM
3 Methodology
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Research Philosophy
3.3 Data Collection
3.4 Data Analysis
4 Result
5 Discussions
6 Conclusions
6.1 Limitation
References
Prioritization of the Digital Banking Services in Islamic Banking
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Digital Banking Concept
2.2 Empirical Studies on Digital Banking
3 Data and Methodology
3.1 Analytic Network Process (ANP) Method
4 Findings and Discussion
4.1 The ANP Results
4.2 Discussion
5 Conclusions
References
Factors Influencing Employee Turnover in Banking Sector
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Relationship Between Job Stress and Employee Turnover
2.2 Relationship Between Low Salary and Employee Turnover
2.3 Relationship Between Lack of Career Growth and Employee Turnover
2.4 Relationship Between Job Satisfaction and Employee Turnover
3 The Underpinning of Theories
3.1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need Theory
3.2 Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory
3.3 Adam’s Equity Theory
4 Conceptual Framework
5 Discussion and Conclusion
References
An Analysis of the Use of Accounting System on Cloud: A Case Study in Malaysia
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 The Concept of Cloud Accounting
2.2 The Role of Cloud Computing in Accounting
2.3 Challenges in Adopting Cloud Computing in Accounting
3 Research Method
4 Result and Analysis
5 Conclusion
References
The Impact of Legislation on the Decisions of the Governing Councils Between Public and Private Universities in Jordan
1 Governance Councils in Jordanian Universities and Their Competence Sources
1.1 The Concept of Governance Councils in Jordanian Universities and Their Justifications
1.2 Sources of Decision-Making Authority for Governance Councils
2 The Impact of Implementing Legislation on Achieving Quality Standards and Judicial Control over Them
2.1 The Impact of Implementing Legislation on Achieving Quality Standards
2.2 Judicial Control of Decisions Issued by the Governing Councils
3 Conclusion
3.1 Results
3.2 Recommendations
References
Modelling the Significance of UTAUT Model in Predicting the Intention and Adoption of eWallet Among Malaysians
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Theoretical Foundation
2.2 Adoption of eWallet
2.3 Performance Expectancy
2.4 Effort Expectancy
2.5 Social Influence
2.6 Hedonic Motivation
2.7 Facilitating Condition
2.8 Intention to Adopt eWallet
2.9 Mediating Effect of Intention to Adopt eWallet
3 Research Methodology
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Population and Sample
3.3 Survey Instrument
3.4 Data Collection and Analysis
3.5 Demographic Characteristics
3.6 Measurement Model Analysis
3.7 Path Analysis
3.8 Mediation
3.9 Importance and Performance Matrix Analysis (IPMA)
4 Discussion
5 Conclusion
References
Significance and Empowerment Through Self-hygiene According to Modern Medical and the Relationship with Health in Curbing the COVID-19 Epidemic
1 Introduction
2 Research Problem
3 Literature Review
3.1 Understanding and the Significance of Personal Hygiene
3.2 Thaharah Knowledge and Endeavors to Prohibiting COVID-19
3.3 Comparison Between Modern Medical and the Sunnah SAW in Curbing the COVID-19 Epidemic
4 Research Methodology
5 Findings, Discussions, and Recommendations
6 Conclusions
References

Citation preview

Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470

Allam Hamdan · Arezou Harraf · Amina Buallay · Pallvi Arora · Hala Alsabatin Editors

From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 Mapping the Transitions

Studies in Systems, Decision and Control Volume 470

Series Editor Janusz Kacprzyk, Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland

The series “Studies in Systems, Decision and Control” (SSDC) covers both new developments and advances, as well as the state of the art, in the various areas of broadly perceived systems, decision making and control–quickly, up to date and with a high quality. The intent is to cover the theory, applications, and perspectives on the state of the art and future developments relevant to systems, decision making, control, complex processes and related areas, as embedded in the fields of engineering, computer science, physics, economics, social and life sciences, as well as the paradigms and methodologies behind them. The series contains monographs, textbooks, lecture notes and edited volumes in systems, decision making and control spanning the areas of Cyber-Physical Systems, Autonomous Systems, Sensor Networks, Control Systems, Energy Systems, Automotive Systems, Biological Systems, Vehicular Networking and Connected Vehicles, Aerospace Systems, Automation, Manufacturing, Smart Grids, Nonlinear Systems, Power Systems, Robotics, Social Systems, Economic Systems and other. Of particular value to both the contributors and the readership are the short publication timeframe and the world-wide distribution and exposure which enable both a wide and rapid dissemination of research output. Indexed by SCOPUS, DBLP, WTI Frankfurt eG, zbMATH, SCImago. All books published in the series are submitted for consideration in Web of Science.

Allam Hamdan · Arezou Harraf · Amina Buallay · Pallvi Arora · Hala Alsabatin Editors

From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 Mapping the Transitions

Editors Allam Hamdan College of Business and Finance Ahlia University Manama, Bahrain

Arezou Harraf Department of Business Studies Box Hill College Kuwait Kuwait City, Kuwait

Amina Buallay Brunel University London, United Kingdom

Pallvi Arora University of Jammu Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Hala Alsabatin Wichita State University Wichita, KS, USA

ISSN 2198-4182 ISSN 2198-4190 (electronic) Studies in Systems, Decision and Control ISBN 978-3-031-28313-0 ISBN 978-3-031-28314-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Foreword

It gives me a great pleasure to introduce the book From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0: Mapping the Transitions which presents critical chapters that provide an insight to researchers, academics, and policymakers to consider while transitioning to Industry 5.0 that covers the three core pillars: sustainability, human-centricity, and resilience. Digitalization has become a vital component in every individual life, and digital transformation was a key aspect for Industry 4.0 Revolution that created a culture of artificial intelligence and the use of data in decision-making. Although Industry 4.0 created an impact on not just industry but also Higher Education Institutions that acted as a main pillar toward the shift. However, digitalization is dynamic, and a transition to Industry 5.0 is a niche that should be considered in terms of sustainability with assurance of stakeholder’s well-being and resilience. From my professional experience with the editors, I am confident that you will find a high-quality book with different topics that could be extracted and applied in the real world. The diversified editors from different regions were careful with the selection of topics to create an impact to industries, education providers, and researchers. This book also encourages industries and education providers to commit to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) specifically SDG4 Education Quality and SDG9 Industry Innovation and Infrastructure. Dr. Esra AlDhaen, PFHEA Executive Director Strategy, Quality and Sustainability Ahlia University Manama, Bahrain [email protected]

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Preface

The collaboration and interaction between man and machine have given rise to Industry 5.0. With the prime objective of Industry 5.0 to create a benefit for the human beings while tapping on to the advantage of Industry 4.0, in no case does it replace what has already been achieved. In fact, it brings to light what can be done in order to make life better. While Industry 4.0 offered extraordinary technological advancement, Industry 5.0 reasons out that technology alone is not sufficient to answer everything or provide a solution, but it is an amalgamation of both machine and human interaction to create that difference. In fact, with the impact of widespread digitalization that has led to dehumanization of the industrial makeup, the interest of global researchers has increased toward mapping how the human creativity and brainpower can be reconciled with the intelligent systems that can enhance process efficiency. Industry 5.0 has touched upon some of those key domains which are of much concern and debate globally including resilience (both business and cyber), environment and sustainability, diversity and inclusion, values and ethics, vision and purpose, circular economy, understanding the human–machine collaboration, and the ‘human-touch’ in the production process. This transition that has taken place in moving from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 has essentially created a need to pay cognizance to the role of ‘human’ in the process which creates an enhanced focus toward the right kind of skills and competencies, identification of training and developmental needs, talent acquisition and management, safety and well-being, future of work as well as hybrid working models. Undeniably, the pace with which Industry 4.0 has been accelerating has by-passed the first three industrial revolutions, which is definitely a consequence of the fast introduction of new and cutting-edge technologies. While organizations are already in analyzing the context, mapping this transition and the flow of activities from Industry 4.0 to 5.0 is gaining attention as Industry 4.0 lacked personalization and customization. This co-existence of man and machine creates a pathway for newer prospects and opportunities to emerge and expand possibilities of personalization with the empowerment of ‘human’ in the production process. vii

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Preface

This lays the foundation for this book. This book aims at bringing together global researchers to generate thought on how this transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 could make a difference to the globe for larger good. It will adopt a forwardlooking approach by bringing in research and contributions that facilitate in mapping the consereasons, consequences, and solutions for ‘man+machine’ across industries. This book shall serve as a guide not just to academia but also to the industry to adopt suitable strategies that offer insights into global best practices as well as the innovations in the domain. This book includes 87 chapters. A part of the chapters of this book was based on direct personal invitations, while the other part was carefully selected from the ICBT’2022. All of the chapters have been evaluated by the editorial board and reviewed based on double-blind peer-review system by at least two reviewers. The chapters of the book are divided into five main parts: I. Artificial Intelligence, Tech-Management, Women Entrepreneurship and Social Implications. II. Driving Innovative, Sustainability and Creative Practices. III. Modern Social Media, Public Relations and its Effects on Society and Business. IV. Education Management, Technology, Smart Universities, and COVID-19 Impact. V. Sustainable Finance, FinTech Innovation and Business Uncertain Situations The chapters of this book present a selection of high-quality research on the theoretical and practical levels, which ground the uses of smart technologies in business, health care, media, marketing, education, entrepreneurship, and other vital areas. We hope that the contribution of this book will be at the academic level and decision-makers in the various economic and executive levels. Manama, Bahrain Kuwait City, Kuwait London, United Kingdom Jammu, India Wichita, USA

Allam Hamdan Arezou Harraf Amina Buallay Pallvi Arora Hala Alsabatin

Contents

Artificial Intelligence, TechManagement, Women Entrepreneurship and Social Implications The Impact of Digitalization Towards the Sustainability of Malaysian SMEs: The Dynamic Capabilities Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . Anas Abu Jaish, Rafiqa Murdipi, Dzuljastri Abdul Razak, and Norhayati Mohd. Alwi Entrepreneurial Intention and Pre-start-up Behaviour During Covid-19 Era Among the Working Adults in Bangladesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maksuda Bente Rashid, Naeem Hayat, Jian Yao, Qing Yang, and Abdullah Al Mamun Attitude Towards the Deployment of Information Technology Programs in the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Samirah Nasuha Mohd Razali and Masyitah Abu Data Mining Techniques for Student Performance Prediction: A Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Masyitah Abu, Samirah Nasuha Mohd Razali, Nurul Naim Ahmad Rasli, and Noor Hilyati Alilah Artificial Intelligence and Security Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ismail Noori Mseer and Syed Muqtar Ahmed Does Work-Life Balance Impact on the Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Study on Women Employees in Private Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeena Ann John

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Modeling Methodology, Simulation and Identification of Performance Indicators in a Maternity Unit of the UHC in Tunisia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sayda Ben Sghaier, Rafaa Mraihi, and Arij Lahmar Impact of Immersive Technology and Virtual Work Environment, on Innovative Work Behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tomi Agus Triono, Ratna Roostika, Muafi Muafi, and Siti Nursyamsiah Clustering EU Member-States and Ukraine by Female Empowerment in Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Volodymyr Tokar, Oksana Vinska, Nataliia Novak, and Liudmyla Sierova Workplace Friendship Influences Innovative Work Behavior: The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment and Knowledge Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dani Rizana, Muafi Muafi, and Irfan Helmy

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She-Covery—Reversing Pandemic Effects Through Women Entrepreneurship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reenu Mohan, S. Aasha, C. Meena, and C. Nagadeepa

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The Effect of Mentorship and Funding Support on Entrepreneur’s Motivation in Bahrain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hanin Aref Marsal, Allam Hamdan, and Salem Aljazzar

123

Impact of Covid-19 on Digitalization Aspect on India’s MSMEs . . . . . . . Pooja Khatri, Hemant Kothari, and Laxman Ram Paliwal Determinants of Small Business Success: A Harmonization Between Resources and Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noor Ul Hadi, Naziruddin Abdullah, Sotirios Zygiaris, Ghayur Ahmad, Malik Fawaz Saleh, and Muhammad Muazzem Hossain

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Structure Analysis of Islamic Microfinancing, Social Capital and ICT Usage Towards on Women Micro-entrepreneurs’ Performance in Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nur Hazirah Hamdan, Salina Kassim, Nur Diyana Mustapha, and Shahri Abu Seman

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The Allegory of the Glass Ceiling and Reverberance of Woman Leadership in Politics: The Case of Arya Rajendran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anantha Ubaradka, Vigraanth Bapu, Ajay Siby, and S. Chandra

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Pilot Study on Adoption and Usage of AI in Food Processing Industry by UTAUT2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marvin Paul Frank and Ginu George

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Artificial Intelligence in Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hasan Isa Jaafar Ebrahim, Husain Mohamed Ali Alaswad, Sayed Mohamed Jaafar Mohamed Fadhul, and Ruaa Binsaddig

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Driving Innovative, Sustainability and Creative Practices A Study on Selection of Employers the Business Management Students at Bangalore City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Meenadevi, J. V. Santhosh, and Ch. Raja Kamal The Impact of Corporate Culture on Incubator Success: The Moderating Effect of Information and Communication Technology Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Qadri Alzaghal and Omar Salah Frugal Digital Innovation on Agribusiness: An Emergent Concept Developed Through a Bibliometric Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Abrar Alhomaid and Wided Ragmoun The Quality of Electronic Services Provided by Zarqa University from the Point of View of Its Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Abdulsalam Yousef Aljaafreh, Kholoud Imhammad Al-Mseidin, and Mohammad Ahmad Al-Zu’bi An Automated System to Evaluate Learning Outcomes for Higher Education Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Venus W. Samawi, Mohammad M. Al-Dlalah, Ahmad Nuseirat, and Mohammad S. Saraireh Factors Affecting Food Security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the Light of Vision 2030 Strategies: Evidence from ARDL Approach (1970–2020) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Faiez Ahmed Elneel Food Exports and Its Contribution to the Sudan Economic Development in the Light of Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Simultaneous Equation Model (1974–2019) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Faiez Ahmed Elneel Integration of Eco-innovation Drivers and Their Role in Sustainable Competitive Advantage in SMEs: A Proposed Conceptual Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Khalid Mady, Mohamed Battour, Idris Elhabony, Tamer Elsheikh, Munira Mhd Rashid, and Mohamed Ahmed Sulub The Demand for Home-Based Dialysis Post COVID-19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Easwaramoorthy Rangaswamy, Karen Ng Meng Liang, and Nishad Nawaz

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Factors Influencing Talent Retention in April Dental Center . . . . . . . . . . Mohammad Allaymoun, Tamer M. Alkadash, Alaa Sadeq, Fatima Khalifa, Abdullah Yousif, and Mustafa Hasan Impact of Economic Growth, Finance and Trade Nexus on Environmental Degradation in Selected Emerging Countries . . . . . . Mohammad Rashdan and Othman Sawafta Waqf-Linked Islamic Fintech Microfinance as a Business Enabler in Post-pandemic Economy: The Experience of Hal Microfinance, Kenya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mohamed Hamza Ghaouri, Salina Kassim, and Hamid Rashid A Proposed Model for Bahrain Firm’s: Study the Factors Empowering Employee Retention—A Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tamer M. Alkadash, Mohammad Allaymoun, Hussein Khalifa, and Rawan Alkadash Factors Influencing Employees’ Productivity in Bahraini Alhelli Company—Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Qais Ahmed Almaamari The Relational Cohesion Exchange Model to Elucidate Commuter’s Switchover Intention for Mass Rapid Transit Rail . . . . . . . M. Dileep Kumar, Manisha Semwal, Normala S. Govindarajo, Priya Sachdeva, and Niviya Feston

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Modern Social Media, Public Relations and Its Effects on Society and Business A Study on Viewers Preference Towards OTT (Over-the-Top) Release Platforms in Commercial Films After Covid 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. Esther Krupa, S. Gokilavani, N. Kavitha, and S. Udhaya Citizen Journalism: Technological and Digital Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . Abdulsadek Hassan and Mohammed Khouj Social Interactive Engagement for Generation Z: A Proposed Conceptualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pipit Buana Sari, Paham Ginting, Arlina Nurbaity Lubis, and Syafrizal Helmi Situmorang Impact of Organisational Culture on Knowledge Sharing in Information Communication Technology Firms in India . . . . . . . . . . . Malini Nair, Anand Sasikumar, and Abdul Ghafar The Extent of the Use of Information and Communication Technology on the Quality of Higher Education at Palestine Technical University Kadoorie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rawheya N. S. Awad and Ihab Ahmed Awais

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Determining of Factors Influencing Employee’s Retention at Almarai Company in Saudi Arabia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Qais Ahmed Almaamari and Tasnim Elbastawisy

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Board Interlocking, Knowledge Sharing and Firm Performance . . . . . . Reem Khamis, Allam Hamdan, Bahaa Awwad, and Majdi Alkababji

469

Management Control System: A Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ahmad Yahia Mustafa Alastal, Che Zuriana Muhammad Jamil, and Hafizah Abd-Mutalib

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The Obligation of Corporate Group to Pay Business Zakat in Malaysia: A Legal and Shariah Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nazri Ramli, Zuhairah Ariff Abd Ghadas, and Hartinie Abd Aziz Green Human Resources Management, Corporate Social Responsibility and Organisational Citizenship Behavior: A Conceptual Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mahdi Ziyadeh, Mohammed Othman, and Ahmed Zaid Gap Analysis by Readiness Review Including Online Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic Period for Engineering Programs at the College of Engineering—University of Baghdad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Iman Q. Al Saffar, Suhair G. Hussein, Altaie, Meervat, and Ihsan Y. Hussain The Study on Technology Acceptance in Baby and Mother Product Business Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Siti Afiqah Zainuddin, Suzana Basaruddin, Tahirah Abdullah, Roslizawati Binti Che Aziz, Siti Salwani Abdullah, Najihah Mahmud, Noor Raihani Binti Zainol, Nur A’mirah Mohd Yaziz, Alia Nadhirah Ahmad Kamal, and Nor Amira Mohd Razali The Role of Customer Knowledge in CRM-Customer’s Satisfaction Link: A Study on Hotels in Indonesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ahmad Rafiki, Muhammad Dharma Tuah Putra Nasution, and Yossie Rossanty Examination of the Relationship Between People with Disabilities (PWDs) and Employment Factors in Malaysia: Employer’s Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Muhd Khaizer Omar, Fadhilah Jamaluddin, Mohammad Yaakub, M. Iqbal Saripan, Mohd Hazwan Mohd Puad, Irwan Mahazir Ismail, and Mohd Azlan Mohammad Hussain

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Education Management, Technology, Smart Universities, and COVID-19 Impact Technology Enhanced Learning Through Learning Management System and Virtual Reality Googles: A Critical Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ahmed Al Mansoori, Sana Ali, Saadia Anwar Pasha, Mahmoud Alghizzawi, Mokthar Elareshi, Ab-dulkrim Ziani, and Hatem Alsridi Technological Acceleration in Business Education—Study of Educator’s Attitude and Behavior Towards Usage of Technology: UTAUT Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nidhi Shukla and S. K. Prasad Exploring E-Learning During and Post Covid-19 Pandemic . . . . . . . . . . Maryam Shaaban, Manal Alfayez, Allam Hamdan, and Ali Bakir New Efficient Indicators for Placing Qualifications in the Jordanian National Qualifications Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Belal M. Zaqaibeh, Moham’d M. Al-Dlalah, and Zaid A. Al-Anber The Role of Senior Management in Disseminating a Culture of Quality in Higher Education Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mohammad Abdul Rahman Alhejoj, Mahmoud Mohammad Almatlaqa, and Hoda Aleslam Mohammad Alhejoj

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A Suggested Educational Guide for Applying International Quality Assurance Standards in Jordanian Universities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heba Tawfiqe AbuEyadah and Anas Odibat

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Attitudes of Students in the Faculty of Educational Sciences in “Zarqa University” Towards Distance-Education Using Educational Technology “in the Light of “the COVID-19 Crisis”” . . . . . Maram Y. Al-Safarini, Nidal Alramahi, Reda S. M. Al-Mawadieh, Issa abdulwahab Al-Tarawneh, and Luma Fakhir

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A Proposed Vision to Improve the Ranking of Palestinian Universities in (Times Rankings 2022) for Sustainable Development Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mohammed F. Abu Owda, Ahmed A. Abu Amsha, Nisreen R. Salem, Niven A. Hilis, and Israa D. Abu Owda

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The Extent of Human Resource Efficiency at Zarqa University from the Point of View of Its Faculty and Administrative Staff . . . . . . . . Reda S. M. Al-Mawadieh, Nidal Alramahi, Khaled Alzeaideen, Mahmoud Odeh, and Maram Y. Al-Safarini

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Teacher Preparation Program: Alumni Perceptions and Technology Utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sherin Alamassi and Sultan Alsuwaidi The Level of Educational Tourism in Jordanian Universities Through the Relationship Between the Push–Pull Factors, Expectations, Aspirations, and International Career Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aysar Ahmad Kharabsheh and Hasan Kiliç The Study of Digital Learning Experience in Cargo Business . . . . . . . . . Siti Afiqah Zainuddin, Mohd Hafiz Faizal Mohamad Kamil, Tahirah Abdullah, Nur Izzati Mohamad Anuar, Siti Rohana Mohamad, Siti Fariha Muhamad, Liyana Ahmad Afip, Bazilah Raihan Mat Shawal, Siti Bahirah Saidi, and Siti Zamanira Mat Zaib New Teaching Methods in Universities Using Artificial Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Abdulsadek Hassan, Mahmoud Gamal Sayed Abd Elrahman, Sumaya Asgher Ali, Nader Mohammed Sediq Abdulkhaleq, Mohanad Dahlan, and Ghassan Shaker Digital Anxiety Among Students of the University College of Applied Sciences and Its Relationship to Some Variables . . . . . . . . . . . Hisham Ghorab, Mahmoud Jalambo, Maysoon Arafat, and Dalia Bakroun

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Life Skills and Their Relationship to Self-affirmation Among Deaf Students in the Universities of Gaza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aibo Shwedh, Mahmoud O. Jalambo, and Ahmad Hamad

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The Accounting Education, Between Digitalization and the COVID-19 Crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eman Jawad Husain, Allam Hamdan, and Ruaa Binsaddig

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COVID-19 and Digitizing Accounting Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noor S. J. Ahmed, Ali Alromaihi, Amina Bucheeri, Noora Kaladari, Hamad Aljar, Allam Hamdan, and Ruaa Binsaddig The Agile Adaptivity of Educators and Their Strategic Influence on the Learner During COVID-19 Pandemic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noor S. J. I. Ahmed, Maria Akbar Saberi, and Zaher Abusaq The Impact of COVID-19 and Digitizing Accounting Education . . . . . . . Ebrahim AbdulRahman Bahlool, Abdulla Husain Al Sada, Ali Khaled Al Shaer, Manal Khaled Aldoy, Allam Hamdan, and Qadri Al-Jabri

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Internet-Hosted English Learning at UCAS: Licensed Ticket Towards the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kholoud Balata, Mahmoud O. Jalambo, and Ahmed Elqattawi

783

Online Accounting Education During Covid-19: Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ahmad Yahia Mustafa Alastal and Mujeeb Saif Mohsen Al-Absy

799

The Effectiveness of Online Learning During the Corona Pandemic in the Gaza Strip, Palestine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yousef Matter and Mahmoud O. Jalambo

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Smart Scholarship System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adel Khelifi, Hurma Ehtesham, Mohamed Al-Mansoori, Alaa Taha Hasan, and Shoug Bin Tamim Return on Expectations of Jobseekers’ Training in the Employability Skills Program of Bahrain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hesham Ahmed Al-Emadi, Allam Hamdan, and Doha Abualsaud Proposed Solutions to Address Training and Development Challenges for Gulf V: A Virtual Corporation Specializing in Internet and Communication Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mohammad Allaymoun, Mohammed Dawwas, Reem Shamsan, Bayan Al-Darazi, Mohammed Nasser, Reem Mohammed, and Alaa Al-Shuwaikh

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A Case Study of the Employment Strategy and Its Impact on the Performance of the Future Educational Academy During the Covid 19 Pandemic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mohammad Allaymoun, Mahmoud AlZgool, Maram Mohammed, Sara Abdulhadi, Budoor Almedfaie, Fatima Nawaf, and Fahad Jamal

855

Training Motivation as a Mediating Variable in the Relationship Between Administrative Support and Job Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nur Izzaty Mohamad and Ishak Abd Rahman

867

Adoption of Mobile Learning in Higher Education: An Investigation of Employees’ Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aladeen Y. R. Hmoud and Omar Hasan Salah

877

Sustainable Finance, FinTech Innovation and Business Uncertain Situations Review of Financial Technology Applications and Their Related Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bahaa Razia and Bahaa Awwad

893

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Optimizing Performance and Spatial Distribution of ATMs During COVID-19 Lockdown—A Queuing Theory Approach . . . . . . . . Ayman Dbeis and Khaled Al-Sahili

903

Innovative Clusters of Transport Security as a Component of the National Security of Ukraine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ferdman Hennadii, Brodsky Yuri, Bugaychuk Vita, Grabchuk Inna, Khodakyvskyy Volodymyr, and Misevych Mykola Managing Intangible Value Drivers of Technology Companies: Reporting Paradox Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zavalii Tetiana, Valinkevych Nataliia, Ostapchuk Tetiana, Lehenchuk Serhii, Laichuk Svitlana, and P. Reznik Nadiia

917

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Building Contract in the Fifth Industrial Revolution: Embedding Sustainable Design and Construction Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Khariyah Mat Yaman and Zuhairah Ariff Abd Ghadas

947

The Impact of Using Technology Integration on Supply Chain Functions and Stages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ibrahim Ezmigna and Siti Zaleha Omain

957

Prioritization of the Digital Banking Services in Islamic Banking . . . . . Achmad Hidayat and Salina Kassim

969

Factors Influencing Employee Turnover in Banking Sector . . . . . . . . . . . Qais Ahmed Almaamari

987

An Analysis of the Use of Accounting System on Cloud: A Case Study in Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nur Hidayah Laili, Khairil Faizal Khairi, and Rosnia Masruki

999

The Impact of Legislation on the Decisions of the Governing Councils Between Public and Private Universities in Jordan . . . . . . . . . . 1011 Omar Almakhzoumi, Suhaib Manaseer, Yasar Alhiniti, and Mohamed Al-Daoud Modelling the Significance of UTAUT Model in Predicting the Intention and Adoption of eWallet Among Malaysians . . . . . . . . . . . . 1021 Mengling Wu, Qing Yang, Mcxin Tee, and Abdullah Al Mamun Significance and Empowerment Through Self-hygiene According to Modern Medical and the Relationship with Health in Curbing the COVID-19 Epidemic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 Zanirah Mustafa Busu, Noraini Junoh, Zainab Hisham, Nik Muniyati Nik Din, Nik Zam Nik Wan, Nurhidayah Muhammad Hashim, and Zulkarnain Yusof

Artificial Intelligence, TechManagement, Women Entrepreneurship and Social Implications

The Impact of Digitalization Towards the Sustainability of Malaysian SMEs: The Dynamic Capabilities Perspective Anas Abu Jaish, Rafiqa Murdipi, Dzuljastri Abdul Razak, and Norhayati Mohd. Alwi

Abstract In many developing countries SMEs is considered as one of the main contributors to their economies. However, Malaysian SMEs still face numerous challenges in all sectors. Uncertainties such as Covid-19 and digitalization are the main current uncertain issues in Malaysia. This paper examines the resource capabilities of Malaysian SMEs in handling uncertain environments by identifying the importance of digitalization in their efforts to maintain the sustainability of their market. The quantitative method was employed by using a questionnaire to collect data that represented the research objective. A preliminary study is conducted to test the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. The paper also discusses the preliminary data analysis and descriptive analysis of study variables. As a result, the researcher addressed the preliminary study findings accordingly. The study found that SMEs somehow agreed that business sustainability depends on the speed of responses towards environmental changes and digitalization are considered the long-term sustainable business plan. The study contributes to existing literatures as well as benefits both governmental and non-governmental institutions, policymakers, and agencies by providing crucial information which assists them to identify the proper plan and assistance for SMEs. The main concern for this study is to assist SMEs in being more stable and sustainable during the challenging uncertain market conditions. Keywords SMEs · Sustainability · Resources · Uncertainties · Digitalization

1 Introduction Malaysian economy relies more on Small and medium Enterprises (SMEs) and is considered one of the main contributors to the country. 98.5% of the Malaysian economy is obtained from SMEs [1]. Despite this huge contribution and development A. A. Jaish (B) · R. Murdipi · D. A. Razak · N. Mohd. Alwi International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_1

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of SMEs, challenges are still existing in various sectors. All sectors such as manufacturing, food, services, etc. face several issues in different aspects such as financial issues, skills and knowledge issues, supply chain issues, globalization as well as uncertainties concerning natural disasters, politics, digitalization, and sustainability [2–9]. One of the most recent uncertainty is Covid-19 Pandemic, which cause a huge impact on businesses especially SMEs and micro enterprises. Governments and authorities worldwide had the order to close all businesses in all sectors. The business closure procedure was to reduce the spread of Covid-19 disease and ensure social distancing and minimise physical contact. SMEs found themselves in a challenge where they have to find other alternatives to continue their business operations which can assist them to create more cash to overcome the cash flow shortage. The main concern for SMEs is to maintain their cash flow for their survival. If a business is not able to generate more cash for survival, it could directly affect its business performance leading to a business failure [10]. Therefore, SMEs started to find out alternatives such as digitalizing their business operation by using online platforms and digital marketing to become more competitive in the market. Adopting technology in the business needs to have various skills and knowledge to choose the right technology. Despite the governmental support to boost digitalization, many businesses slow down their business operation due to a lack of experience (BusinessToday, 2020). Digitalizing the resources of SMEs is considered as one of the main aspects that help to sustain the business operations. The purpose of this study is to identify the status of digitalization movement perceived by Malaysian SMEs in stable and unstable situations by examining the SMEs’ resources (digitalization) adaptation. The study also further examines the need for those resources to be more flexible and dynamic due to environmental uncertainties. This study also contributes to body of knowledge by filling up the gap of embracing more on digitalization aspect as their priority to sustain their businesses. This study contributes to all stakeholders (Governmental and Non-Governmental Institutions, Policymakers, and Agencies) and benefits them in having crucial information on the extent to which Malaysian SMEs need to concentrate more on their internal resources and it will not be a burden on the governments in the event of sudden changes such as the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, this study is crucial to make SMEs more profitable, stable, competitive and sustainable in the market despite the existence of many challenges. This study further discusses the literatures on challenges faced by Malaysian SMEs, SMEs and digitalization, and the sustainable success of SMEs. The study also highlights the methodology, data analysis process, and the findings and conclusion.

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2 Literature Review 2.1 Challenges Faced by Malaysian SMEs Malaysian SMEs persist in facing difficulties and risks due to uncertain situations such as the Covid-19 Pandemic, natural disasters, political instability and so on. SMEs are more fragile than large companies, especially in the financial aspect. SMEs’ main concern at present is overcoming the uncertainties of pandemic within the year of 2021 and 2022 and thereafter. Small and Medium Enterprises Association (SAMENTA) surveyed to determine the performance of SMEs. Sales were decreased by more than 20% for 34% of SMEs. 21% of SMEs expect low-level performance and 25% are optimistic, and 30% are unsure about their performance. New challenges have been raised during this turmoil. After shifting to digital markets, talent supply and cash flow are the primary concerns. Generally, SMEs’ access to required talent and lack of suitable talents are longstanding issues. Businesses also need funding for their resources to upskill or reskill their specialists [11]. As a result of the high demand for digital skills, employees or workers may find unsuitable or irrelevant skills when they leave the work if they do not remain reskilling or practicing their skills. Many SMEs in Malaysia are ending with a cash flow shortage, a decline in sales revenue and higher operational costs. Even though the government has pumped shortterm soft loans, SMEs can’t stand unless the demand rises. 45% of SMEs reserves cash for two months or less. Only 20% are more optimistic and could last for four to five months. Moreover, the continuous MCO has negatively impacted business operations, especially the microenterprises. The Chief Executive Officer of SME Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp Malaysia), Noor Azmi Mat Said highlighted that SMEs specially microenterprises have less cash flow for survival [12]. Survey has determined that 81% of respondents had only limited cash flow to survive for three months maximum, and less than 1% of respondents had cash to survive for more than one year. Hence, the main concern for SMEs is to move forward with new business plans for faster recovery. In addition to the financial matter, business owners are also liable to challenges caused by political instability.

2.2 SMEs and Digitalization SMEs in Malaysia have contributed widely to Gross Domestic Progress (GDP), attracting economists to promote economic activity in various areas namely providing services by society, employment opportunities, etc. [13]. In addition, digitalizing business activities become a more attractive concepts to be more competitive in the market. Faridi and Malik [14] highlighted that digitalization facilitates businesses,

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especially SMEs to increase their cash flow and sales by dealing with their customers smoothly and faster. Digitalization also can expand Malaysian SMEs to the global market. Despite the SMEs’ contribution to the development of the economy, several SMEs are still facing challenges in adopting digital technology because it needs huge capital to invest. Adding more, digitalizing SMEs activities are tripped by lack of knowledge, insufficient funds, lack of resources, and technology capability [2–9]. In addition, the technology adoption is getting worse by environmental uncertainties which businesses are facing. For instance, during Covid-19 pandemic, several micro-enterprises, SMEs, and oil and petrol companies have been affected negatively worldwide. Annuar [15] conducted a survey and found that SMEs in Malaysia faced various challenges, for instance, 69.9% of Malaysian SMEs lost half of their income during the Movement Control Order (MCO). MCO cause many issues such as supply chain issues, cash flows issue due to low sales and some projects cancelled and postpended. In addition to this, the Malaysian Economic Research Institute (MIER) highlighted that Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia causes unemployment for 2.4 million employees. Hence, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has allocated stimulus packages for SMEs to boost their cash flows and assist them in sustaining their business operations. Even though the Malaysian government has supported SMEs for their survival to boost digitalization adoption, SMEs disable to integrate into digital transformation due to the previous issues mentioned above. Therefore, each organization considers digital transformation as one of the schemes to move forward and be competitive in the market. Most companies have confidence in digital transformation as it is the only way to achieve their goals, success, and growth. The new technology facilitates SMEs to deal with their customers smoothly and faster, potentially increasing their cash flow and sales [14]. In addition, digitalization is considered one of the opportunities for Malaysian SMEs to expand their business globally, and it could provide various options for customers in Malaysia and worldwide [16].

2.3 The Sustainable Success of SMEs Adopting the new norm of digitalization has been suggested by many authors. According to the paper, “Accelerating Malaysian Digital SMEs: Escaping the Computerisation Trap,” 2033 SMEs in Malaysia were surveyed. The study suggested that Malaysian SMEs need to leverage the capabilities of ICT to accelerate the digital transformation adoption. The study also added that SMEs need to focus more on three priorities: (1) access to digital technology, (2) literacy and knowledge of technology usage (3) the ability to create and participate in the necessary digital environment. SMEs need also to re-engineer their businesses by concentrating on strategies, infrastructures, business models, and processes aligned with digital transformation.

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To achieve the stated objectives, this study has identified the dependent and independent variables that could improve the sustainability of Malaysian SMEs. The tangible and intangible resources of SMEs made up the independent variables for this study. The intangible resources are human resources, reputation resources, and innovation resources. The tangible resources are physical resources, financial resources, organizational resources, and technological resources. Studies have done wide research on the presence of direct impact that those resources have on firms’ capabilities in achieving competitive advantage and sustainability [17–20] This requirement is well-captured by the dynamic capabilities of resources as discussed by [21–23]. As such, the dynamic capabilities (digitalization) in this study is mediating the established relationship between the resources and SMEs’ sustainability, while environmental uncertainties as a moderator variable.

3 Methodology This paper aims to assess the awareness and perception of Malaysian SMEs towards proactive, systematic risk assessment initiatives and their importance as well as determine the relative importance of digitalization movement perceived by Malaysian SMEs. The paper also aims to evaluate environmental uncertainties towards the relationship between resources and the achievement of sustainability of Malaysian SMEs. The paper adopts a quantitative research design and data analysis techniques. The targeted sample of the quantitative approach will be the owners/manager of SMEs in Malaysia from different sectors. Purposive random sampling will be employed. As this study is adopting purposive sampling techniques two strategies will be used to reach the respondents. The two purposive sampling strategies are snowball and criterion. The sample size for quantitative analysis is 30 respondents to enable the achievement of determined study objectives. The collected data via questionnaires were analysed using IBM SPSS AMOS (Version 26) software. Upon capturing the fundamental information on the samples selected using descriptive analysis.

4 Data Analysis Process The researcher conducts the procedures of preliminary data analysis to process the raw data of the preliminary study that has been collected from the questionnaire in three stages, namely (i) data coding, (ii) data screening, and (iii) descriptive analysis. After the data collection is done, the processes of the raw data need to be used for further analysis by the researcher. Respectively, the raw data was extracted by google form and entered into an excel file for using standardized codes, and this is called data coding. As a result, all the questionnaire items are coded using numbers using an excel file and then entered into the SPSS worksheet to proceed to the following screening process. Once the data is entered and coded in SPSS, data screening is conducted to

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identify and solve problems during the data analysis process. This preliminary study data consists of 30 questionnaires collected from Malaysian SMEs in different states nationwide. There were no incomplete questionnaires from this data set and found all 30 questionnaires can be used in the analysis.

4.1 Descriptive Analysis of Study Descriptive analysis is to analyze the quantitative data as mentioned in the analysis technique section. Descriptive analysis is a systematic scientific illustration and statistical analysis to understand the background of the targeted group. Knapp [24] clarifies that descriptive analysis is a better approach to understanding the data collected through figures and graphs. In this study, descriptive analysis delivers highquality of information by gathering the data into numbers, percentages, mean, mode, medium, variance, range, standard deviation, minimum and maximum. In this study, the researcher gathers and summarizes the information on SMEs as follows: i. Demographic of respondents (Owners, Managers, and employees), such as gender, age, education, number of family members involved in business, religion, years of business, skills and talents possession (owners, managers, and employees), legal form of business, industry sectors, states, locations, year of establishment, sales turnover per year, number of employees, education of employees, trademark/ copyright/ patents possession, partnerships with other business (B2B), types of support, and operation status during Covid-19 pandemic. ii. Questions related to tangible and intangible resources, dynamic capabilities (digitalization), environmental uncertainties, proactive and systematic risk assessment, and business sustainability. (i) Part A—Demographic The total data collected for the study is 30 responses. The respondents answered the questions about demographic information about their businesses, the background on their employees, and the conditions of their business operations. The results show that most Malaysian SMEs owners are 40 years old and above. In terms of education, the respondents have different levels of education. As for years of business, majority of the respondents have been in business for more than five years, reflecting better feedback for their experience in this study. As for the education level of employees, the results show that the level of their employees has fluctuated from secondary to postgraduate degrees. There are 11 respondents (36.7%) who operated during Covid-19 pandemic but in lower and limited scales, followed by those who operated during Covid-19 pandemic using online platforms (n = 9, 30%), 6 respondents (20%) who shut down their business during Covid-19 pandemic, and only 4 respondents (13.3%) operated as usual. (ii) Part B—Study Variables

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Tangible Resources (TR) Tangible Resources (TR) descriptive statistics reveal an overall mean score of 3.2778 (SD = 0.731). This shows a high ability to generate funds from their business operations, have proper financial records, locate in good places and easily access the customers, and adapt modern technology for their business operations. However, they do not have a high ability to generate external funds and external access funds in loans and grants. Intangible Resources (IR) The overall mean score of 3.673 (SD = 0.626). This indicates that most respondents agreed that they have sufficient human resources with practical skills and knowledge. In addition, their business has clear and effective human resources management, efficient relationships with local and international entities and authorities, and it has established high-quality products and services among its customers. However, they lack adequate capabilities for research and development, new product development, innovation and change. Dynamic Capabilities—Digitalization (DCD) Based the results, the majority of respondents do not use ePOS system in recording sales, managing payments and monitoring inventory. This indicates that some SMEs have no experience in using the ePOS system, which is considered an essential need for their daily records. Besides, the overall mean of DCD variable score of 3.757 (SD = 0.861). This shows that SMEs agreed on the importance of using digitalization for their business operations. Environmental Uncertainties (EU) The overall mean of EU construct score of 4.281 (SD = 0.55). This shows that most SMEs agreed that the EU cause an impact on their existing resources (tangible and intangible). The respondents strongly agreed on the significance of changing and upgrading the existing resources to enhance their business operations, workers’ skills and knowledge, marketing initiatives and supply chain system. The result shows that respondents agreed on the difficulty of knowing what kind of response should be taken on the resources. In addition, the respondents agreed that the EU challenges their business sustainability. For instance, the pandemic Covid-19 has had a tremendous impact on their business operations and caused them to adapt to digitalization and adopt advisory support, motivational support, and business coaching. Proactive and Systematic Risk Assessment (RA) The result shows an overall mean score of 3.966 (SD = 0.8). This indicates that all respondents agreed that risk assessment tools should be utilized for the sustainability of the business and it will prevent the SMEs from failure caused by environmental changes. Besides, respondents agreed that the risk assessment tool would assist their business operation in controlling costs caused by environmental changes

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and preparing a better plan for the future. The respondents also agreed that digitalization would facilitate the development of proactive and risk assessment tools in adapting technological advances and having an adequate advisory and support systems in business operations. Sustainability The overall mean score of 3.833 (SD = 0.703). This indicates that SMEs somehow agreed that business sustainability depends on the speed of responses towards environmental changes, and digitalization is considered the long-term sustainable business plan. The respondents also agreed that having a good advisory and support system would assist the business to sustain itself in the longer term. In addition, the respondents somewhat agreed that strong capabilities and flexible resources facilitate businesses to face any potential environmental uncertainties.

5 Findings and Conclusion The overall descriptive statistics for all variables are shown in Table 1. From Table 1, we can see that among the seven variables of this study, the mean response of EU is more significant than the other four variables. Also, the lowest mean values among the variables are TR and IR. Compared to the relative means values among DCD, RA, and Sustainability. Table 1 shows Environmental Uncertainties (EU) is the most important variable than other four variables. Dynamic Capabilities—Digitalization (DCD) is also important as most respondents agreed that digitalization could contribute to their business sustainability. This indicates that SMEs in Malaysia concern more on how to make their resources more dynamic and flexible putting into consideration digitalization and environmental uncertainties aspects. The authors conclude that working on the resources of SMEs is important for their sustainability, especially during turmoil. To improve these resources, SMEs need to obtain various assistance such as financial support, proactive support, advisory support and improving skills and knowledge to be able to choose the right technology and respond fast and effectively to any environmental changes [25]. Business Table 1 Descriptive statistics—study variables Variables

N

Mean

Std. deviation

Tangible resources TR

30

3.2778

0.731

Intangible resources IR

30

3.673

0.6263

Dynamic capabilities—digitalization DCD

30

3.757

0.861

Environmental uncertainties EU

30

4.281

0.55

Proactive and systematic risk assessment RA

30

3.966

0.8

Sustainability

30

3.833

0.703

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11

sustainability requires SMEs to be increasingly profitable as well as adaptive to the environmental changes [26]. The authors recommend the researchers to search more on how to make the SMEs’ resources more dynamic to achieve sustainability and be more competitive in the market.

References 1. Yuena, Y.Y., Nga, X.P.: Enhancing innovation performance of small and medium enterprises in Malaysia. Management Science Letters 11, 2021 (2020) 2. Beheshti, H.M., Salehi-Sangari, E.: The benefits of e-business adoption: an empirical study of Swedish SMEs. Serv. Bus. 1(3), 233–245 (2007) 3. Cui, L., Zhang, C., Zhang, C., Huang, L.: Exploring I.T. adoption process in Shanghai firms: an empirical study. Journal of Global Information Management (JGIM) 16(2), 1–17 (2008) 4. Dharmalingam, P., Kannabiran, G.: Determinants of basic I.T. adoption by auto ancillary SMEs in India. IUP Journal of Information Technology (2011) 5. Duan, X., Deng, H., Corbitt, B.: Evaluating the critical determinants for adopting e- market in Australian small-and-medium sized enterprises. Management Research Review (2012) 6. Hashim, J.: Learning barriers in adopting ICT among selected working women in Malay-sia. Gender in Management: An International Journal (2008) 7. Jones, R.A., Jimmieson, N.L., Griffiths, A.: The impact of organizational culture and reshaping capabilities on change implementation success: the mediating role of readiness for change. J. Manage. Stud. 42(2), 361–386 (2005) 8. Levy, M., Powell, P.: Strategies for Growth in SMEs: The Role of Information and Information Sytems. Elsevier (2004) 9. Parker, C., Castleman, T.: New directions for research on SME-eBusiness: insights from an analysis of journal articles from 2003–2006. Journal of information systems and small business 1(1), 21–40 (2007) 10. Usahawan.com: 5 Statistik Mengejutkan: Cashflow Punca Utama Kegagalan Sesebuah Perniagaan. Usahawan.Com (2020). https://www.usahawan.com 11. SME Corp Malaysia, Huawei: Accelerating Malaysian Digital SMEs: Escaping the Computerisation Trap (2018). Retrieved from: https://www.huawei.com/minisite/accelerating-malaysiadigital-smes/img/sme-corp-malaysia-huawei.pdf 12. Zainuddin, M.Z.: Sebahagian besar PKS bermasalah jika PKP dipanjangkan. Berita Harian (2020). https://www.bharian.com.my 13. Das, M., Rangarajan, K., Dutta, G.: Corporate sustainability in small and medium- sized enterprises: a literature analysis and road ahead. Journal of Indian Business Research (2019) 14. Faridi, M.R., Malik, A.: Customer engagement technology in SME’s in Saudi Arabia: does it ensue in disturbance or disruption. International Journal of Entrepreneurship 23(1), 1–8 (2019) 15. Annuar, A: Covid-19: after MCO, survey finds nearly 70pc SMEs lost half in-come. Malay Mail Newspaper (2020). Retrieved from https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/03/ 27/covid-19-after-mco-survey-finds-nearly-70pc-smes-lost-half-income/1850688 16. Digital News Asia.: Malaysia’s SMEs look to invest in digital technologies. (2019). Retrieved from: https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/digital-economy/malaysias-smes-look-inv est-digitaltechnologies 17. Barney, J.: Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of manage-ment 17(1), 99–120 (1991) 18. Barney, J.B.: Strategic factor markets: expectations, luck, and business strategy. Manage. Sci. 32(10), 1231–1242 (1986) 19. Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D., Hoskisson, R.E.: Strategic Management: Concepts: Competitiveness and Globalization, 10th edn., South-Western College Pub (2012)

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20. Madhani, P: Resource Based View: Concepts and Practices, pp. 3–22 (2009) 21. Madhani, P.M.: Resource Based View (RBV) of Competitive Advantage: An Overview (2010) 22. Milliken, F.J.: Three types of perceived uncertainty about the environment: state, effect, and response uncertainty. Academic Management Review 12(1), 133–143 (1987). https://doi.org/ 10.5465/amr.1987.4306502 23. Teece, D., Leih, S.: Uncertainty, innovation, and dynamic capabilities: an introduction. Calif. Manage. Rev. 58(4), 5–12 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1525/cmr.2016.58.4.5 24. Knapp, H.: Introductory Statistics Using SPSS. Sage Publications (2013) 25. Fanelli, R.M.: Barriers to adopting new technologies within rural small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Social Sciences 10(11), 430 (2021) 26. Linnenluecke, M.K.: Resilience in business and management research: a review of influential publications and a research agenda. International Journal Management Review. 19(1), 4–30 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12076

Entrepreneurial Intention and Pre-start-up Behaviour During Covid-19 Era Among the Working Adults in Bangladesh Maksuda Bente Rashid, Naeem Hayat , Jian Yao, Qing Yang , and Abdullah Al Mamun Abstract Entrepreneurs are the lever of economic development and can promote the economic activities instigating job creation, technology revolution and general economic growth. The developing economies must facilitate entrepreneurial intention and instigate general pre-startup behavior, specifically during COVID-19. The current work aims to explore the formation of entrepreneurial intention and start-up behaviour with the extension of the theory of planned behaviour in the COVID19 time. The authority and self-realization are added to the theory of planned behavior influencing pre-startup behavior. The cross-sectional data were collected from Bangladesh, and the final analysis was performed with 310 valid responses. The final analysis was performed using the partial least square regression equation modelling (PLS-SEM) on the SmartPLS 3.3. The analysis revealed that attitude and perceived behavioral control significantly influence entrepreneurial intention. Authority and entrepreneurial intention significantly impact start-up behavior. The current work contributes to theory by adding the factor of authority and selfrealization, harnessing the start-up behavior. For the practice, the government agencies must facilitate the subjective norms that can instill entrepreneurial intention. The study limitation and future research guidelines are offered at the end. Keywords Entrepreneurs · Intention · Start-up · Behavior · COVID-19

M. B. Rashid UCSI Graduate Business School, UCSI University, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia N. Hayat Global Entrepreneurship Research and Innovation Centre, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, 16100 Kota Bharu, Malaysia J. Yao · Q. Yang (B) · A. Al Mamun UKM—Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_2

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1 Introduction Numerous global governments and researchers identified entrepreneurial activities as a practical alternative to employment. Indeed, with global unemployment rising, many countries rely on entrepreneurial start-ups to create jobs [1]. Entrepreneurship is increasingly recognized as a critical component for survival in today’s society due to its significant contributions to economic prosperity and social development [2]. It is a substantial element of creativity in both developed and developing countries [3]. It is a high-risk activity that is critical for economic growth, job creation, and technological innovation [4]. It has also been used as a powerful tool to combat economic downturns [5]. The Covid-19 pandemic has devastated the whole planet by the year 2020, spreading swiftly and impacting negatively on both developed and underdeveloped countries. When businesses are forced to close, the effects on entrepreneurship and start-ups are amplified [6]. The Covid-19 pandemic has almost completely devastated most businesses worldwide, affecting several entrepreneurs [7]. As a result, more businesses have shut down, and the labour market has suffered from higher unemployment and increased income inequality [6]. However, it has also stimulated some individuals to engage in entrepreneurial activity. Thus, starting a new business is becoming a goal and necessity for individuals who want to develop and run their own businesses [8]. Obtaining information has become faster and more accessible due to the Covid-19 pandemic, prolonging and negatively altering people’s lives [8]. Numerous innovative entrepreneurs and start-ups have responded to the pandemic’s spread by starting their businesses based on their existing knowledge, experiences, talents, and networking. Intention and cognitive approach with an attitude toward entrepreneurship are vital to establishing and operating one’s own business [7]. According to the theory of planned behaviour, the greater an individual’s intention to engage in a specific behaviour, the more inevitably the actual behaviour will be evidenced [9]. They desire self-awareness, self-realization, innovation, and adaptability in an economic downturn [2]. In order to accomplish the entrepreneurial intention goals, entrepreneurial behaviour in decision-making is linked to the evaluation process and understanding by recognizing and integrating information, autonomy, self-realization, and willingness [10]. Given that entrepreneurship is viewed as an intentional attempt and entrepreneurial intention has been demonstrated to be the strongest predictor of entrepreneurial behaviour, it is critical to comprehend what motivates such intents [11]. Thus, this study explores a significant gap in the literature by investigating the effect of attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control on entrepreneurial intentions and the effect of self-realization, authority and autonomy and intention on pre-start-up behaviour among working adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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2 Literature Review 2.1 Theoretical Foundation The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), which is one of the most fundamental theoretical foundations for studying volitional human behaviour, has been derived from the Theory of Reasoned Action [12]. Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour was first suggested in 1985. It is a theoretically structured paradigm that explains, predicts and interprets human behaviour based on beliefs, perceptions and attitudes [13]. A cognitive theory of human behaviour focuses on predicting and comprehending well-defined activities [14]. The cognitive approach gives a relevant perspective for understanding the phenomenon of entrepreneurship through investigating emotions and intentions [4]. The premise is that intentions constitute motivational factors dependent on the desire and capability of creating an action [16] and consist of three components: attitude, subjective norms, and behaviour control [17]. Attitude toward the activity refers to how positive or negative a person’s opinion or appraisal of the behaviour [17, 18], while the subjective norm is an individual’s perception of social pressure to perform or refrain from performing the behaviour [3]. The degree of perceived behavioural control, which relates to whether the behaviour is viewed as easy or difficult to accomplish, is the final predictor factor [16]. The perception of behavioural control is based on prior experience and predicted obstructions and hurdles [17]. The stronger the individual desire to conduct the behaviour, the more favorable the attitude and subjective norm associated with the behaviour are [9], and the larger the perceived behavioural control is [17].

2.2 Hypotheses Development 2.2.1

Attitude Towards Entrepreneurship (ATT)

The first and most essential predictor of behavioural intention is attitude, which refers to how positive or negative a person’s opinion or appraisal of the behaviour in question is [15]. Individuals’ attitudes toward entrepreneurial behaviour relate to their level of interest in becoming entrepreneurs and their belief that it will result in positive outcomes [19]. A person’s mental state reflects that person’s overall favourable or unfavourable assessment of executing a specific behaviour [13]. According to Ajzen [15], implies that if an individual’s attitudes toward entrepreneurship are negative, he or she is unwilling to engage in entrepreneurial ventures [21]. Similarly, if a person has a positive attitude or belief in the goal of starting a business, his or her attitude toward that behaviour should be positive as well [22]. Several empirical investigations have demonstrated that attitude substantially impacted behavioural intentions [17, 20, 23]. Thus, the following hypothesis is formulated:

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M. B. Rashid et al.

Hypothesis (H1) Attitude towards entrepreneurship positively and significantly influences the intention to engage with an entrepreneurial venture.

2.2.2

Subjective Norms (SBN)

Subjective norms are individual perceptions of social pressures decided by a reference group that is meaningful for them to successfully complete behaviours and adhere to the viewpoints of others [15]. It is described as an individual’s perception of other people’s opinions of entrepreneurial behaviour. Others may or may not accept the individual’s desire or decision to become an entrepreneur [19]. If a person believes he will not receive support from those closest to them if they become an entrepreneur, this will harm their entrepreneurial intentions [21]. Thus, lower subjective norms for entrepreneurship imply lower intentions to set up a business [22]. Thus, the following hypothesis is stated: Hypothesis (H2) Subjective norms positively and significantly influence the intention to engage with an entrepreneurial venture.

2.2.3

Perceived Behavioural Control (PBC)

Perceived behavioural control refers to the perception of ease or difficulty in taking appropriate actions to become an entrepreneur [22]. The widespread consensus is that perceived behavioural control is determined by the whole set of achievable control beliefs [13]. These beliefs pertain to a person’s view of the availability of resources and opportunities necessary to conduct a given activity and an assessment of the value of such possibilities in achieving desired outcomes [15]. The greater the adult’s belief in the available resources and opportunities, the greater the adult’s perception of control over the behaviour [3]. In addition, individuals with personal control over a situation have a greater perceived ability to become entrepreneurs [24]. Thus, the following hypothesis is formulated: Hypothesis (H3) Perceived Behavioural Control positively and significantly influences the intention to engage in an entrepreneurial venture.

2.2.4

Authority and Autonomy (AUT)

One of the most critical driving reasons for starting a business is autonomy. It relates to the belief that one’s actions are self-congruent and voluntary [27]. Autonomy is

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essential for people’s well-being and could help them in social situations to maintain a psychological equilibrium [28]. Working adults with more autonomy will better succeed as entrepreneurs [2]. They aspire to be self-sufficient, creative, and adaptable. According to O’Brien et al. [28], autonomy significantly impacts frontline employees’ job-seeking intentions. Thus, the following hypothesis is formulated: Hypothesis (H4) Authority and autonomy positively and significantly influence the pre-start-up behaviour.

2.2.5

Self-realization (SRT)

Self-realization is regarded as one of the most vital human activity components. The motives for pursuing self-directed goals are called self-realization [29]. Selfrealization also refers to self-awareness, honesty, and the extent to which people may realize and express themselves via their activity [30]. Individuals with a high level of self-realization are more likely to be motivated to engage in entrepreneurial activity since it presents them with challenges related to goal success and personal progress [31]. Thus, greater self-realization leads to greater entrepreneurial intention. Khurshid et al. [5] found a strong and favourable relationship between self-realization and self-esteem in becoming an entrepreneur. Individual motivation, such as selfrealization, had a different influence on the intention [31]. As a result, the following hypothesis is proposed: Hypothesis (H5) Self-realization positively and significantly influences pre-start-up behaviour.

2.2.6

Intention (INT)

Intention, the most critical determinant in predicting behaviour, is a plan to accomplish a particular action [15]. It is described as an individual’s proclivity to engage in entrepreneurial behaviour, such as starting a new business or working for themselves [32]. The intention is regarded as an immediate predictor of behaviour [11]. People with a higher level of entrepreneurial intent are more likely to engage in actual behaviour for new business development [9]. The stronger the desire to engage in the behaviour, the more probably it will be carried out [13]. When working adults’ intentions to do an activity become stronger, they will be more likely to perform. The entrepreneurial intention had a favourable and substantial influence on entrepreneurial action, according to Neneh [1]. In addition, Gieure et al. [22] found that intentions significantly affect people’s business-starting behaviour. Thus, the following hypothesis is stated:

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M. B. Rashid et al.

Hypothesis (H6) Intention to engage with entrepreneurial ventures positively and significantly influences the pre-start-up behaviour.

3 Research Methodology 3.1 Data Collection and Sample Selection A systematic sample size estimation method was performed with the G-Power 3.1 for the power of 0.95 and effect size of 0.15, and the essential sample size was 138 with four input variables [33]. Chin [34] advised using 200 samples for the PLS-SEM. The data collection was conducted from November 2021 to December 2021. The final analysis was performed with the 310 valid sample cases.

3.2 Research Instrument The study utilized a survey to collect data and a survey scale based on the authenticated scales. Attitude towards entrepreneurship was assessed with the five-question items assumed from the work of Linan and Chen [35]. The subjective norms were assessed with items borrowed from Mahmood et al. [36]. Perceived behavioural control was gauged with the five statements from Kautonen et al. [26] and Nikou et al. [37]. Authority and autonomy were assessed with the five items taken from Kautonen et al. [26]. Self-realization for the current work was measured with the five items borrowed from Arrighetti et al. [38]. The five-question items from Mahmood et al. [36] assessed the entrepreneurial intention. Lastly, the start-up behaviour was estimated with the five items adapted from Mahmood et al. [36].

3.3 Assessment of Common Method Variance (CMV) The quantitative cross-sectional research instigates the issue of common method variance that needs methodological and statistical remedies [39]. We employed a different Likert scale format for the criterion construct, namely the seven-point Likert scale, and the constructs for all inputs variables were measured with a five-point Likert scale to overcome CMV [39]. Harman’s one-factor test was engaged in testing the issue of CMV in the current work [39]. The single factor accounted for about 31.72% of the current study, lower than the suggested maximum value of 40%. Hence, the result exposed the insignificant impact of CMV in the study.

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3.4 Data Analysis Method The study model was analysed with the partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) using Smart-PLS 3.1. Smart PLS is a multivariate analysis instrument that evaluates path models using latent constructs [42]. PLS-SEM works well with small data sets and handles complex models with composites with no conjecture of goodness-of-fit assessment than the covariance-based SEM [34]. The first measurement is performed on the model to test the reliability and validity of the study constructs [42]. The second stage was accomplished with the structural model relations, and the study hypotheses with significance levels were performed with bootstrapping technique [34].

4 Data Analysis 4.1 Descriptive Statistics The results are provided in Table 1, showing that most respondents are males (55.2%) and females (44.8%). Respondent’s age was range as follows: below 20 years (28.4%), 21–24 years (24.8%), 25–30 years (20%), 31–34 (15.5%), and 35 above (11.3%). Regarding marital status, most are married (52.6%), and the rest are single. Respondent’s locations are presented as follows: Dhaka (23.6%), Khulna (16.8%), Raishahi (16.4%), Sylhet (14.2%) and Other (29%). Table 1 Reliability analysis Variables

No. of items

Cronbach’s alpha

DH rho

Composite reliability

Average variance extracted

Variance inflation factor

ATT

4

0.715

0.745

0.820

0.536

1.595

SBN

4

0.740

0.740

0.835

0.559

2.256

PBC

5

0.835

0.837

0.883

0.602

2.407

AUT

3

0.732

0.762

0.847

0.649

1.384

SRL

3

0.678

0.680

0.823

0.607

1.174

INT

4

0.748

0.771

0.841

0.573

1.573

STB

5

0.835

0.842

0.884

0.606

–

Note ATT: Attitude; SBN: Subjective norms; PBC: Perceived behavioural control; AUT: Authority and Autonomy; SRL: Self-realization; INT: Intention; STB: Start-up Behaviour

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M. B. Rashid et al.

4.2 PLS-SEM Analysis 4.2.1

Validity and Reliability

Taking the direction from Hair et al. [42] work, the first stage of PLS-SEM was performed to appraise the study’s latent constructs’ reliabilities and validities. The latent constructs’ reliabilities were assessed with Cronbach’s alpha (CA), DijkstraHenseler’s rho, and composite reliability (CR). The CA values for latent constructs are above than 0.65, and the lowest value of CA was 0.678 [34]. Dijkstra-Henseler’s rho scores for all constructs were above than 0.65, and the smallest value of DijkstraHenseler’s rho was 0.680 [42]. Also, CR values for each construct were well ahead of 0.70, and the minimum score of CR was 0.820 [34]. The result shows that the latent constructs attained reliability and are appropriate for the next stage of analysis. The average value extraction (AVE) for an individual construct needs to be above than 0.50 to settle the convergent validity creating the uni-dimensionality [42]. The result shows that the constructs have suitable convergent validity as all the AVE scores were above 0.50. Furthermore, all the VIF scores were less than 3.3, confirming the no issue of multicollinearity [42]. The results are offered in Table 1. The present work assessed the discriminant validity with the Fornell-Larcker criterion, Hetro-trait and mono-trait (HTMT) ratio and loading and cross-loading values. The Fornell-Larcker criterion suggests that the square root of AVE for every latent construct basically be above than the correlation values among the latent constructs [42]. All the Fornell-Larcker Criterion scores establish the discriminant validity for the current model. Following this, the HTMT ratio needs to be less than 0.90 to approve the discriminant validity of the current study [42]. The Fornell-Larcker criterion and HTMT ratio are presented in Table 2.

4.2.2

Path Analysis

After realizing the construct level reliabilities and validities for the structural assessment of the model, the measurement evaluation was performed to test the study hypothesis and model quality criteria. The adjusted r2 value for three input constructs elucidates 39.3% of the change in the behavioural intention to engage in an entrepreneurial venture. The predictive relevance (Q2 ) score for that section of the model was 0.218, representing a medium predictive relevance [34]. The adjusted r2 value for three (authority and autonomy, self-realization and intention) on the start-up behaviour (STB) clarifies 38.3% of the change in the start-up behaviour. The predictive relevance (Q2 ) value for the part of the model was 0.219, representing a medium predictive relevance [34]. Table 3 shows the standardized path values, t-values, and significance level. The path coefficient between ATT and INT (β = 0.187, p = 0.012) has a significant and positive effect on the intention to engage in entrepreneurial ventures. The result significantly forms support for accepting the H1. The path between SBN and INT (β

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Table 2 Discriminant validities Fornell-Larcker criterion ATT

SBN

PBC

AUT

SRL

INT

ATT

0.732

SBN

0.547

0.748

PBC

0.586

0.732

0.776

AUT

0.594

0.513

0.546

0.806

SRL

0.44

0.293

0.327

0.174

0.779

INT

0.480

0.463

0.613

0.526

0.383

0.757

STB

0.524

0.628

0.661

0.501

0.247

0.578

STB

0.779

HTMT ratio ATT

–

SBN

0.698

–

PBC

0.729

0.899

–

AUT

0.785

0.683

0.672

–

SRL

0.641

0.384

0.445

0.244

–

INT

0.635

0.598

0.769

0.695

0.562

–

STB

0.649

0.792

0.790

0.627

0.329

0.717

–

Note ATT: Attitude; SBN: Subjective norms; PBC: Perceived behavioural control; AUT: Authority and Autonomy; SRL: Self-realization; INT: Intention; STB: Start-up Behaviour

= − 0.016, p = 0.419) validates that the effect of subjective norms on the intention to engage in the entrepreneurial venture is insignificant and negative and form support not to accept the H2. The path coefficient for PBC and INT (β = 0.516, p = 0.000) shows a positive and significant effect. It supports the declaration that the perceived behavioural control influences the intention to engage in entrepreneurial ventures and bid evidence to accept the H3. The path coefficient for AUT on STB (β = 0.273, p = 0.000) displays the effect of authority and autonomy on the start-up behaviour comes as positive and statistically significant; the result offered an indication to accept the H4. The path coefficient for SRL on STB (β = 0.038, p = 0.189) displays the effect of self-realization on the start-up behaviour comes as positive but statistically insignificant; the result offered signs not to accept the H5. The path coefficient for INT on STB (β = 0.420, p = 0.000) shows the effect of intention to engage in entrepreneurial ventures on the start-up behaviour comes as positive and statistically significant; the result offered evidence to accept the H6. Table 4 shows the results of path coefficients.

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M. B. Rashid et al.

Table 3 Hypothesis testing Hypothesis

Beta

t-values

p-values

r2

f2

Q2

Decision

H1

ATT → INT

0.187

2.258

0.012

0.036

Supported

H2

SBN → INT

− 0.016

0.206

0.419

0.000

Rejected

H3

PBC → INT

0.516

6.268

0.000

0.399

0.184

0.218

Supported

H4

AUT → STB

0.273

4.087

0.000

0.088

Supported

H5

SRL → STB

0.038

0.881

0.189

0.002

Rejected

H6

INT → STB

0.420

6.662

0.000

0.389

0.183

0.219

Supported

Note ATT: Attitude; SBN: Subjective norms; PBC: Perceived behavioural control; AUT: Authority and Autonomy; SRL: Self-realization; INT: Intention; STB: Start-up Behaviour

5 Discussion and Conclusion The study analysis revealed that ATT exerted a positive and significant impact on the intention to engage in entrepreneurial ventures, thus, supporting H1. The result obviously supported those of Boubker et al. [43], Utami [20] and Jena [18], who demonstrated that ATT had a strong and positive effect on entrepreneurial intention. Besides that, the study’s findings found that SBN exhibited a negative and insignificant influence on the intention to engage in entrepreneurial ventures, thus, rejecting H2. Working adults think independently and are not influenced by external norms or essential reference groups. This study result is consistent with Hsu [17], who indicated that SBN had a negative effect on intention and contradicted with Joensuu-Salo et al. [21] and Gieure et al. [22], who indicated that SBN positively and significantly influences entrepreneurial intention. In addition, this study analysis indicated that PBC displayed a positive and significant influence on the intention to engage in entrepreneurial ventures, thus, supporting H3. The study finding is compatible with those Al-Shammari [25], Kautonen et al. [26] and Santoso [3], who confirmed that PBC exerted a positive and significant impact on entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, the study finding establishes that AUT exerted a significant and positive influence on start-up behaviour, which aligned with the results postulated by Mahajan et al. [2] and O’Brien et al. [28], who illustrated that AUT had a significant effect on entrepreneurial intention, thus, supporting H4. However, SRL plays a positive but insignificant influence on the start-up behaviour, thus, rejecting H5. The result was inconsistent with the outcome posted by Khurshid et al. [5] and Saeed et al. [31], who found that SRL had an additional effect on entrepreneurial intention. Finally, the study outcome confirms that intention played a significant and positive effect on start-up behaviour, which follows the result forwarded by Neneh [1], Li et al. [9] and Gieure et al. [22], who confirmed that intention is a significant and robust predictor of entrepreneurial action. Actions rather than just an intention characterizes entrepreneurial behaviour.

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6 Implications and Limitations 6.1 Theoretical Implication This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the intentions and pre-startup behaviour by using the notion of planned behaviour, which is consistent with earlier findings. The TPB model’s adaptability and applicability suggest that it could benefit future studies into working adult behaviour and a new informative resource in the job market and economic downturn. Due to the psychological influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment perceptions, investigations on entrepreneurial intention and pre-start-up behaviour are relevant in health and economic crises. Furthermore, this study demonstrates the effects of the TPB on entrepreneurial intention and the impact of authority and autonomy on start-up behaviour. Finally, this research demonstrates that social situations and economic downturns influence the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and behaviour.

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11. Al-Jubari, I.:. College students’ entrepreneurial intention: Testing an Integrated Model of SDT and TPB. SAGE Open 9(2), 1–16 (2019) 12. France, J.L., Kowalsky, J.M., France, C.R., McGlone, S.T., Himawan, L.K., Kessler, D.A., Shaz, B.H.: Development of common metrics for donation attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and intention for the blood donation context. Transfusion 54, 1–9 (2014) 13. Kim, E., Ham, S., Yang, S. & Choi, J.G.: The roles of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control in the formation of consumers’ behavioral intentions to read menu labels in the restaurant industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 35, 203–213 (2013) 14. Ajzen, I.: From intentions to actions: a theory of planned behavior. In: Action control, pp. 11–39. Springer, Berlin (1985) 15. Ajzen, I.: The theory of planned behavior. Organ. Behav. Hum. Decis. Process 50, 179–211 (1991) 16. Al Mamun, A., Che Nawi, N., Mohiuddin, M., Fazira, S.F., Fazal, S.A.: Entrepreneurial intention and startup preparation: a study among business students in Malaysia. Journal of Education for Business 92(6), 296-314 (2017) 17. Hsu, M.: A study of internship attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and career planning of hospitality vocational college students. J. Hosp. Leis. Sport Tour. Educ. 11(1), 5–11 (2012) 18. Jena, R.K.: Measuring the impact of business management student’s attitude towards entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention: a case study. Comput. Hum. Behav. 107, 1–29 (2020) 19. Haddad, G., Haddad, G., Nagpal, G.: Can students’ perception of the diverse learning environment affect their intentions toward entrepreneurship? Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, pp. 1–10 (2021) 20. Utami, C.W.: Attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavior, entrepreneurship education and self-efficacy toward entrepreneurial intention university student in Indonesia. European Research Studies Journal 20(2A), 1–24 (2017) 21. Joensuu-Salo, S., Viljamaa, A., Varamäki, E.: Understanding business takeover intentions—the role of theory of planned behavior and entrepreneurship competence. Administrative Sciences 11(61), 1–17 (2021) 22. Gieure, C., Benavides-Espinosa, M.M. & Roig-Dobón, S.: The entrepreneurial process: the link between intentions and behavior. Journal of Business Research, 1–8 (2020) 23. Wardana, L.W., Narmaditya, B.S., Wibowo, A., Fitriana., Saraswati, T.T., & Indriani, R. (2021). Drivers of entrepreneurial attitude among economics students in Indonesia. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review 9(1), 61–74 24. Noor, N.H.M., Yaacob, M.A., Omar, N.: Redefining the link between subjective norm and entrepreneurship intention: mediating effect of locus of control. Journal of International Business, Economics and Entrepreneurship 6(1), 1–11 (2021) 25. Al-Shammari, M.: Entrepreneurial intention of private university students in the kingdom of Bahrain. International Journal of Innovation Science, 1–18 (2018) 26. Kautonen, T., Gelderen, M.V., Tornikoski, E.T.: Predicting entrepreneurial behaviour: a test of the theory of planned behaviour. Appl. Econ. 45(6), 697–707 (2013) 27. Al-Jubari, I., Hassan, A., Hashim, J.: The role of autonomy as a predictor of entrepreneurial intention among university students in Yemen. Int. J. Entrepreneurship and Small Business 30(3), 325–340 (2017) 28. O’Brien, S., O’Toole, T.: The effectiveness of role autonomy in influencing job pursuit intentions of customer-oriented frontline job seekers. Psychol Mark. 38, 504–523 (2021) 29. Carter, N.M., Gartner, W.B., Shaver, K.G., Gatewood, E.J.: The career reasons of nascent entrepreneurs. J. Bus. Ventur. 18(1), 13–39 (2003) 30. Martela, F., Pessi, A.B.: Significant work is about self-realization and broader purpose: defining the key dimensions of meaningful work. Frontiers Psychology 9(363), 1–15 (2018) 31. Saeed, S., Yousafzai, S.Y., Yani-De-Soriano, M. & Muffatto, M.: The role of perceived university support in the formation of students’ entrepreneurial intention. Journal of Small Business Management 1–19 (2013)

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32. Bazkiaei, H.A., Heng, L.H., Khan, N.U., Saufi, R.B.A., Kasim, R.S.R.K.: Do entrepreneurial education and big-five personality traits predict entrepreneurial intention among universities students? Cogent Business & Management 7(1), 1–19 (2020) 33. Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.-G., Buchner, A.: G*power 3: a flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioural, and biomedical sciences. Behaviour Research Methods 39(2), 175–191 (2007) 34. Chin, W.W.: How to write up and report PLS analyses. In: Vinzi, V.E., Chin, W.W., Henseler, J., Wang, H. (eds.) Handbook of partial least squares. Springer, Berlin (2010) 35. Linan, F., Chen, Y.W.: Development and cross-cultural application of a specific instrument to measure entrepreneurial intentions. Entrep. Theory Pract. 33, 593–617 (2009) 36. Mahmood, T.M., Mamun, A.A., Ahmad, G.B., Ibrahim, M.D.: Predicting entrepreneurial intentions and pre-start-up behaviour among asnaf millennials. Sustainability 11(18), 4939 (2019) 37. Nikou, S., Brännback, M., Carsrud, A.L., Brush, C.G.: Entrepreneurial intentions and gender: pathways to start-up. Int. J. Gend. Entrep. 11(3), 348–372 (2019) 38. Arrighetti, A., Caricati, L., Landini, F., Monacelli, N.: Entrepreneurial intention in the time of crisis: a field study. Int. J. Entrep. Behav. Res. 22(6), 835–859 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1108/ ijebr-12-2015-0326 39. Podsakoff, P.M., MacKenzie, S.B., Lee, J.Y., Podsakoff, N.P.: Common method biases in behavioural research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. J. Appl. Psychol. 88(5), 879–903 (2003) 40. Peng, D.X., Lai, F.: Using partial least squares in operations management research: a practical guideline and summary of past research. J. Oper. Manag. 30(6), 467–480 (2012) 41. Hair, J.F., Risher, J.J., Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C.M.: When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. Eur. Bus. Rev. 31(1), 2–24 (2019) 42. Henseler, J., Ringle, C.M., Sarstedt, M.: A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modelling. J. Acad. Mark. Sci. 43(1), 115–135 (2015) 43. Boubker, O., Arroud, M., & Ouajdouni, A.: Entrepreneurship education versus management students’ entrepreneurial intentions. A PLS-SEM approach. The International Journal of Management Education 19(1), 100450 (2021)

Attitude Towards the Deployment of Information Technology Programs in the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Environment Samirah Nasuha Mohd Razali

and Masyitah Abu

Abstract Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are open enrolment, free online courses, which offer a flexible and economical approach to career enhancement, learning of new skills, and delivery of high-quality educational experiences at scale. MOOC environment consists of deployment of learning platform such as a learning management system (LMS), learning materials that are pre-made and interactive for asynchronous learning, which would require a number of expertise from different departments. In addition, an IT program might have other extensive requirements such as a virtual lab to make learning more effective as IT programs require technical approaches to learning methods rather than theoretical approaches. Delivery of affordable and free courses to the general public entails significant capital expenditures on equipment and software. As a result, some institutions may suffer a financial loss due to an increase in expenses. This paper evaluates the respondents’ perspectives of on the preparation of the MOOC courses specifically, the technical IT subjects. This paper also analyses the performance and effectiveness of the delivery of such technical IT subjects in an asynchronous delivery mode. The data is collected using randomly distributed questionnaires from various universities and colleges in Malaysia. The results from this study would provide an insight into the proper approaches and solutions to the implementation and deployment of MOOC environment especially in private colleges or universities that offer IT or technical programs. Keywords Massive open online course · MOOC · Open distance learning · ODL · Online learning

S. N. M. Razali (B) · M. Abu Faculty of Management and Information Technology, Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah, 33000 Kuala Kangsar, Perak, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] M. Abu e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_3

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1 Introduction As pandemic covid-19 gave rise to the online learning platform [1], numerous vendors that supply such a platform such as Open Learning and Cousera have gained prominence. The promotion of lifelong learning by the various qualification agencies has further boosted the offering of MOOC courses by universities, internationally and locally. In addition, even the open-source learning platform such as Moodle has started to attract attention. The idea behind MOOC is to provide a free, affordable learning experience to the learners. However, such an enterprise might incur hidden costs to in providing or delivering the experience from the provider’s perspectives; this is especially so in the case of private universities [2]. In particular, the cost might be related to the need to involve additional personnel such as knowledge workers who are experts in the various areas of the organisation [3]. This research was conducted to study the effectiveness of information technology-based MOOC courses, as well as the efficiency of delivery of such courses.

1.1 The Emergence of MOOC As a follow up to the digital transformation that rises from the Covid-19 pandemic, online learning seems to be the preferable mode for working adults as well as those who seek for flexibility [4]. MOOCs is said to have a high potential for supporting learning for people with disabilities or those who have limitations due to physical distance and other barriers [5]. MOOCs are easy to access, therefore a large number of learners from different background—less educated or skilled—who are currently employed, or unemployed are enrolling in MOOCs for skill development and better career opportunities. A person with a smartphone or a computer and with an Internets connection can easily access MOOCs that are available across the world. MOOCs can be distinguished from the Open Distance Learning (ODL) courses because MOOCs are fully asynchronous while ODL courses have a synchronous feature such as delivery via the Google Meet, Zoom with direct interaction between students and an instructor or lecturer [6]. MOOCs are inexpensive, and in most cases, certification can be obtained for a small fee. Working professionals today prefer MOOCs to traditional classroom trainings or even Online ODL classes for skill development, as they are more efficient and effective [3].

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1.2 Satisfaction and Effectiveness of MOOC Delivery in Technical Information Technology Courses Many researchers question the effectiveness of MOOC courses because of the high number of dropouts from this platform for the past few years [7]. A previous study [3] has discovered that course content, delivery, and support have a significant impact on the overall satisfaction with MOOCs. The design of most technical IT-based courses must follow the specific flow of delivery such as prior learning, theoretical learning, and practical learning. It might not be sufficient for programming courses to deal only with theory and concept or only stressing syntax and coding. It needs to also incorporate simulation-based, demonstration module as well. The video for demonstration sometimes can be inadequate as learners tend to only watch and not practice on their own, which might result in low understanding and engagement. For such reasons, MOOC needs to supply an interactive form of programming platform as well as embedded online debuggers or compilers on the web [8] or learning management system as well. The programme that exceeds learners’ expectations, will lead learners to recommend the course to others. Some beginners might think that the study materials are sufficient for them, but much more advanced courses are needed to meet their future job expectation [9].

1.3 The Delivery of MOOC Platform A good MOOC course would attract students to continue with more advanced course materials. This can only be accomplished by delivering high-quality materials. [10]. As far as IT courses are concerned, good materials can be very subjective as the materials may incorporate features that are attractive, comprehensive, engaging, interactive and as collaborative. For examples, materials should not only be attractive but need to allow for learners’ comprehension as well as create higher levels thinking skills especially with regard to learners at higher levels of education. Materials also should facilitate learning where learners know what to accomplish in order to meet the course expectations. Improving the effectiveness of learning experiences especially in regards to technical subject requires comprehensive materials, which include simulations and virtual labs that are crucial as they aid comprehension of technical topics. The delivery of such comprehensive materials might also require competent instructional designers, or instructors with a background in education to act as content matter experts, as opposed to just graphic designers or lecturers. As for course preparations, the major issues reported by providers include the selection of a tool from many available activities and sources, which usually impose time constraints in the course module preparation, and also the need to elicit information from many Internet sources [11].

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Some companies might want a proper acknowledgement or qualification from MOOC programmes that meet certain standards. Such standards often require instructors to attain certain levels of education with demonstrable technical expertise or those who are skilled in pedagogical aspects of teaching that allow for engaging contents creation. A valid e-certification and badges are a must to increase satisfaction and trust of the learners, and at the same time increased acknowledgement and job requirements for a company. Preparing and supplying such a e-certificate platform also create extra cost and advanced maintenance such as the case of integrating Blockchain technology so that the certificate won’t easily be copied and manipulated throughout the Internet. A blockchain system is fast becoming a necessary feature of MOOC, as being proposed for Coursera xMOOCs, as it records each transaction so that the student has a verified set of qualifications associated with his or her [12].

2 Methodology This research was carried out to study the perspectives of the public including students and lecturers on the deployment of massive open online course (MOOC).

2.1 Research Instrument Data for the study were collected by means of structured online questionnaires. 100 participants were randomly selected from the public and private universities and colleges in Malaysia. This study utilized a five-point Likert-scale. The questionnaire four sections, namely Section 1—Respondent Information; Section 2—The significance of MOOC for IT Program; Section 3—The requirement for MOOC environment for IT Program; and Section 4—Suggestions to improve MOOC environment for IT Programmes. The total number of questions for the four sections is 14 questions.

2.2 Data Collection The data were obtained by distributing the questionnaire through the Google Form application. The participants were provided with the link and asked to complete all sections of the questionnaire using the form.

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2.3 Data Analysis The data were analyzed as descriptive statistics to find the percentage and frequency for Section 1. For Section 2 until 4, statistics were in the form of mean and standard deviation. The Likert-scale mean scoring is used to determine attitude or perspective for the posed items. The determination of attitudes is based on the assumption that a mean score of 3 in Likert scale represents a neutral attitude, a mean score of less than 3 represents a negative attitude and a mean greater than 3 represents a positive attitude. Thus, the range of interpretation of the Likert scale mean score was given as follows: 1.0–2.4 (Negative attitude), 2.5–3.4 (Neutral attitude), and 3.5–5.0 (Positive attitude) [13].

3 Results and Findings This research aimed to examine two main aspects of the delivery of IT-based courses via MOOC: the effectiveness and the efficiency of the development or preparation of the modules. The findings of this study are divided into three sections including respondents’ demographics, Acceptance and Effectiveness of Technicalbased Information Technology MOOC courses, and Strategies and Approaches for Cost Effective, Efficient, Attractive MOOC towards IT Technical courses.

3.1 Profile of Respondents The respondent demographic covers their status, field, education, and age as shown in Table 1. Based on the demographics, the number of respondents that are from the private and government sector who are not academician or administrative staff in the IPTA or IPTS make up for 60% of the total respondents. The respondents come from various field of studies; 20% are from engineering and the rest are from different fields including management, law, and accounting. 50% of the total respondents hold a bachelor’s degree and 25% are master’s degree holders. The majority of respondents are around 20–29 years old of age while the 30–29 years old respondents make up 35% of the total. The pie chart illustrated in Fig. 1 shows respondent’s experiences with MOOC. 95% of the respondents in Malaysia never had any experience of enrolling in a MOOC programme; and only 5% of respondents are familiar with MOOC and have enrolled in a MOOC course. Majority of respondents are working adults in the private and government sectors including universities’ academicians and administrative. It may argued too that

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Table 1 Demographic background Items

Sub items

Status

Student

Field

N

20

IPTA/IPTS academic staff

4 1

5

Private sector

8

40 20

Government sector

4

Others

0

0

Information Technology/Multimedia/Computing field

5

25

Non-IT/Computing field Doctorate degree Master’s degree

5

25

10

50

1

5

5

25

10

50

Diploma

4

20

Certificate

0

0

60 and above

1

5

50–59

1

5

Bachelor’s degree

Age

15

IPTA/IPTS administrative staff

Others Education

(%)

3

40–49

1

5

30–39

7

35

20–29

9

45

19 and below

1

5

Fig. 1 Graph of enrolment experience of respondents in MOOC courses

Enrolment in MOOC courses

1, 5% Yes

19,

No

95%

MOOC courses might not be as significant for work requirements or career development. It may also be that the content materials in most MOOC programmes are simply too basic and not sufficiently advanced to meet the needs of most of the working adults.

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3.2 Acceptance and Effectiveness of Technical-Based Information Technology MOOC Courses As shown in Table 2, a high number of respondents believe that MOOC platform is the new way of learning and serves as the means to support the lifelong learning process (4.35) of an individual. Relating to the responses in Fig. 1, even though most of the respondents never actually experiences MOOC, they seem to be aware about the importance and significance of the platform towards their self-improvement. This finding should serve as an important motivation driver for the educational institutions and specialised MOOC providers. Respondents also show positivity towards the critical role of MOOC platforms within the context of the rise of digital transformation and Industrial Revolution 4.0 (4.15). Respondents also agree that universities and organisations can earn more through providing the MOOC platforms and courses to the public (4.3). Relating to the previous work from [2], the authors agree that even though MOOC is a costeffective approach for learners, the providers might have to incur higher expenses than the revenues that they generate. In addition, for IT-based and technical courses, a provider institution has to invest more in order to develop or source better quality materials. However, a strategy that combines educational outcomes with cost analyses [14] might be able to reduce the waste in resources and the time spent by personnel’s involved in such an enterprise. Respondents have also indicated a positive attitude toward the MOOC platforms as being effective and efficient for their understanding of technical courses. For fully funded institutions, providing high quality materials for technical courses would not be a problem. Looking at the mooc.org website, most of the technical courses being provided are from the well-known and established universities or organisations, including the ACCA, the University of Adelaide and a few more. Some previous studies have found that the use of blended learning in MOOC might be able to prepare learners towards a better understanding and enrolment in technical courses [15]. Table 2 Acceptance and effectiveness of technical-based information technology MOOC courses Items

N

Mean

Score

MOOC platform/courses is important to individual for lifelong learning experience and advancement

20

4.35

Positive

MOOC platform/courses is critical as a result of digital transformation and Industrial Revolution 4.0

20

4.15

Positive

Universities and organisations can earn more in providing MOOC platform/courses to the public

20

4.3

Positive

MOOC platforms are very effective and efficient toward better understanding of technical courses (programming, databases, etc.)

20

3.95

Positive

MOOC platforms provide greater engagement between other learners and instructors

20

3.9

Positive

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S. N. M. Razali and M. Abu

MOOC platforms do not introduce too many difficulties in providing engagements since open learning platforms allow learners to see and message other learners via the platforms, which the respondents tend to agree (3.9). One possible avenue to help promote participants’ sense of relatedness to other people is to motivate individuals to interact with each other in the MOOC discussion forums [16]. The concerns came with the direct communication with instructors. As MOOC is fully web-based or mobile-based communication, the direct communication might not be very efficient. Some of the technical courses might need to be properly evaluated directly by the instructor to comply with certain quality requirements. According to [17], so far, MOOCs have been limited in their ability to develop high level academic learning to feed the need for high-level intellectual skills in a knowledge-based society since most associated assessments were carried out through computer automation or automarked assignments.

3.3 Requirement for MOOC Platform for Technical Information Technology Courses Respondents also agree that technical development cost can be inefficient in the context of preparing and presenting materials (3.8). Respondents also agree highly that an IT course needs additional interactive platforms (4.35). Some minimum requirements for MOOC platform or materials, which may not too costly to develop, are the text or figures of the topics, assessments such as auto-marked quizzes and video lectures that explain in depth the topics. Additional requirements may be needed for a programming course, where learners are required to write their Python codes in Thonny. This development environment helps beginners evaluate the expressions step-by-step and analyse the programming process. The solutions have to be uploaded onto the virtual programming lab and assessed by an automatic assessment system as passed or failed [18]. While these programming environments are critical for the quality assessment of learners, they are difficult to embed in the platform without additional expenses and maintenance (Table 3). Because MOOCs involve videos, their costs are typically approximately twice as high as those of creating an online credit course using learning management systems, even without figuring in the time spent by the MOOC instructor. If the cost of the instructor is included, xMOOCs production costs come closer to three times that of Table 3 Requirement for MOOC platform for technical information technology courses Items

N

Mean

Score

It is very cost inefficient to develop and deliver MOOC for IT courses provided the personnel involved and the production of learning material

20

3.8

Positive

IT courses need additional interactive platform/modules i.e. virtual lab to carry the class effectively

20

4.35

Positive

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35

a similar length online credit course, especially given the extra time faculty tend to put in for such a public demonstration of their teaching in a MOOC [17].

3.4 Strategies and Approaches for Cost Effective, Efficient, Attractive MOOC Towards IT Technical Courses As stated in [19], lecture styles can be the key to the attractiveness of MOOC courses and the reason for the reduction of dropouts after enrolments. Similar to their study, number of discussion posts for the “communicative” lecture style in humanities was significantly larger than “serious” lecture style. Institution can collect pre-recorded lectures with different styles and do re-editing to minimize time waste in production [17]. In the context of effectiveness, the open-source learning management System (LMS) such as Moodle is more effective than pure recorded contents. Moodle has a wide selection of plugins as an additional aid and content for technical courses can be embed with minimal costs. In addition, the use of third-party platforms, such as Kahoot, Wordwall and a few others, can be integrated with LMS. Institution can cooperate to ‘adopt’ and ‘adapt’ external materials alongside the materials made from scratch to reduce the issues of copyrighted materials. Adapting the creative common license materials is also possible. In most cases, institution still have to invest in high-quality materials such as hiring instructional designers or trained personnel with the expertise in creating engaging content and effective pedagogical approaches.

4 Conclusion Today, remote working and remote classes have become the new norm; the MOOC platform has also bloomed into existence. Despite such development at the global level, MOOC courses in Malaysia have not gained much attention for the corresponding period due to the lack of its significance for career development. Given that the preparation and delivery of such a platform, especially for IT-based technical courses, require higher levels of expertise and associated costs, most institutions find it difficult to accommodate the attending constraints of delivering high quality content that support technical courses, with engaging demonstration and simulations. However, as a guideline for MOOC courses development strategy, a better cost-efficient approach to open-source learning management system and the ‘adoption’ of quality materials can certainly be beneficial toward gaining higher degree of public acceptance and legitimacy.

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References 1. Strielkowski, W.: “COVID-19 Pandemic and the Digital Revolution in Academia and Higher Education (2020) 2. Baker, R., Passmore, D.: Value and pricing of MOOCs. Educ. Sci. (Basel) 6(4), 14 (2016). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci6020014 3. Kumar, P., Kumar, N.: A study of learner’s satisfaction from MOOCs through a mediation model. Procedia Comput. Sci. 173, 354–363 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2020. 06.041 4. Kopp, M., Gröblinger, O., Adams, S.: Five Common Assumptions That Prevent Digital Transformation At Higher Education Institutions, pp. 1448–1457 (2019). https://doi.org/10.21125/ Inted.2019.0445 5. Iniesto, F., Mcandrew, P., Minocha, S., Coughlan, T.: Accessibility In Moocs, pp. 119–130 (2022). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003177098-11 6. Olugbara, C.T., Letseka, M., Ogunsakin, R.E., Olugbara, O.O.: Meta-Analysis Of Factors Influencing Student Acceptance of Massive Open Online Courses For Open Distance Learning (2021) 7. Rohan, R., Pal, D., Funilkul, S., Chutimaskul, W., Eamsinvattana, W.: How Gamification Leads to Continued Usage of MOOCS? A Theoretical Perspective,” IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 108144– 108161 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1109/Access.2021.3102293 8. Ponick, E., Stuckenholz, A.: On the Usage of Web-Based Development Environments in Teaching Computer Programming, pp. 86–91 (2019). https://doi.org/10.21125/Inted.2019. 0043 9. Goh, W.W., Wong, S.Y., Ayub, E.: The effectiveness of MOOC among learners based on Kirkpatrick’s model. In: Redesigning Learning For Greater Social Impact, pp. 313–323. Springer Singapore, Singapore (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4223-2_29 10. Tengku Intan Suzila, T.S., Mohd Yusri, M.N., Omar, S.R.: MOOC Developers’ Motivation (2021). Available https://Gadingss.Learningdistance. Orgeissn:2600-7568|36 11. Wiechetek, Ł.: Exploring it Solutions in a Form of E-Learning. Evaluation of Course for Business Students, pp. 473–484 (2019). https://doi.org/10.21125/Inted.2019.0198 12. Downes, S.: Recognising achievement with badges and blockchain in a connectivist MOOC. Journal of Learning For Development 6(3) (2019). https://doi.org/10.56059/Jl4d.V6i3.348 13. Hair, J.F., Gabriel, M.L.D.S., Da Silva, D., Braga Junior, S.: Development and validation of attitudes measurement scales: fundamental and practical aspects. Rausp Management Journal 54(4), 490–507 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1108/Rausp-05-2019-0098 14. Hollands, F.M., Tirthali, D.: Resource requirements and costs of developing and delivering MOOCS. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning 15(5) (2014). https://doi.org/10.19173/Irrodl.V15i5.1901 15. Fesol, S.F.A., Salam, S.: Towards MOOC for technical courses: a blended learning empirical analysis. In: 2016 4th International Conference on User Science and Engineering (i-USEr), pp. 116–121 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1109/IUSER.2016.7857945 16. Lan, M., Hew, K.F.: Examining learning engagement in MOOCS: a self-determination theoretical perspective using mixed method. International Journal of Educational Technology In Higher Education 17(1), 7 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/S41239-020-0179-5 17. Bates, A.W. (Tony): Teaching in a Digital Age. British Columbia (2019) 18. Feklistova, L., Lepp, M., Luik, P.: Learners’ performance in a MOOC on programming. Educ. Sci. (Basel) 11(9), 521 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11090521 19. Wu, C., et al.: Can MOOC instructor be portrayed by semantic features? Using discourse and clustering analysis to identify lecture-style of instructors in MOOCs. Front. Psychol. 12 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.751492

Data Mining Techniques for Student Performance Prediction: A Review Masyitah Abu , Samirah Nasuha Mohd Razali , Nurul Naim Ahmad Rasli, and Noor Hilyati Alilah

Abstract Academic performance of the student in higher education are among of the important data for educators and employers in this new era. The issue to analyse a large number of data has always been a constraint to most employers and educators. Data mining techniques were seen as one of the suitable approaches to reduce the delay in the analysis and the generation of output. However, proper, and high accurate techniques that serve as best fitted models for student performance prediction have yet to be found Therefore, an effective automated student performance prediction mechanism for higher education is very much in demand. This paper reviews the data mining techniques that are specific for the student performance evaluation. Data mining techniques that are reviewed include the SVM, KNN, Naive Bayes and Decision Tree. These techniques are evaluated for accuracy and the best fitted models for the student performance are higlighted. Keywords Student performance · Academic performance · High education · Data mining

1 Introduction Student performances in foundation-level studies are an important indicator in identifying the student’s potential area of studies and improving their performances at the higher level of studies. Such information would help solve the problems related to low academic performance, high dropout rates, delayed graduation, and other M. Abu (B) · S. N. M. Razali Faculty of Management and Information Technology, Department of Information Technology, Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah, 33000 Kuala Kangsar, Perak, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] N. N. A. Rasli · N. H. Alilah Faculty of Management and Information Technology, Department of Management, Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah, 33000 Kuala Kangsar, Perak, Malaysia

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_4

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associated problems arising from students choosing unsuitable courses [1]. Student performances can be analysed based on a student’s grade point average (GPA), and the specific subject(s) that the student perform relatively better during their foundation years [1]. In previous studies, student performance analysis has been carried out at many different levels of education and courses. Other features and factors during their study also been added to identify the potential problems that contributed to low academic achievements. Still, most of student performance analyses were predicted based on the student grades in class. Therefore from the feature and factors how to improve the academic performance can be found and to identify the fields that are most suitable for foundation student to further their study can be solve. In this paper, existing data mining techniques used to predict student performances in difference education level are reviewed. These data mining techniques will be analyze from different perspectives in order to conclude and summarise the advancement in student performance analysis mechanisms.

2 Existing Data Mining Techniques Data mining is deals with the extraction of meaningful information and patterns from large amounts of data. It is also known as the knowledge discovery process, knowledge extraction, or data/pattern analysis. The purpose of this technique is to discover previously unknown patterns [2, 3]. Data mining involves three steps: exploration, pattern detection, and deployment exploration: • Exploration: The data is cleaned and changed into another form, and essential variables and the nature of the data are determined based on the problem. • Pattern identification: Pattern identification is establish to refine and define specific variables. • Deployment Exploration: Lastly the pattern is deployed to get the desired result. Machine learning methods can be used to train and analyse the desired output for deployment exploration.

2.1 SVM Support Vector Machine (SVM) uses non-linear boundaries approach to classify data. The data can be created by locating a set of hyperplanes that separate two or more dataset classifications [4, 5].

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2.2 KNN K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) is one of the most basic and straightforward machine learning data mining algorithms that known as Memory-Based Classification because the training samples must be kept in memory during the algorithm’s execution. The huge values frequency washes the smaller ones, which is a major issue when dealing with the Euclidean distance formula. One major disadvantage of KNN classifiers is the vast amount of memory required to hold the entire sample [5, 6].

2.3 Naïve Bayes Naïve Bayes is a graphical model that encodes probabilistic correlations between variables of interest. This model has various advantages for data analysis: The model incorporates interdependence among all variables, it can easily handle scenarios where certain data entries are missing. It can be used to learn causal links and so build understanding of a problem domain and forecast the outcomes of action and the model has both causal and probabilistic semantics, it is a suitable representation for mixing previous knowledge with data [5, 7].

2.4 Decision Tree The tree classifies observations in a top-down manner, beginning at the root and progressing downward based on the results of the tests at the internal nodes until a leaf node is reached and a class label is assigned. Since most real-world data sets are noisy and the attributes have low predictive ability, this tree-growing technique frequently results in a complicated tree with numerous internal nodes that over matches the data [5, 7].

3 Student Performance Analysis Using Data Mining Techniques There are many existing reviews and surveys on student performance analysis that have been conducted using different data mining techniques for data prediction. The data mining techniques that were frequently used are SVM, KNN, Naïve Bayes, and Decision Tree. In this paper, some previous work on dataset of student examination results, industry requirements and some education attributed are highlighted.

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3.1 Support Vector Machine (SVM) Jadhav et al. [8] investigated the relationship between student’s pre-admission academic profile and final academic performance. They used four methods KNN, Decision Trees, linear regression and SVM to predict student performance at ‘O’ level grades from student’s GPA. The data samples collect from 89 students were obtained from the Federal Polytechnic in the Southwest part of Nigeria in first three semesters result. Data pre-process was done to remove the result of rusticated and expelled student. For classification the parameter of SVM called kernel is tuned to improve the SVM performance. SVM obtained accuracy of 98% by using RBF as the kernel with C = 100 [8]. Janan and Ghosh [9] using both subjective and quantitative components on isolating the factors that have led to students to quit or dropping out. The questionnaire was distributed to second year student in the Bangladesh University. The questionnaire distribute included 21 questions but the number of respondents was not given. To find the factors that lead students to quit the course, SVM method was used to predict the outcome. The dataset is divided into ratio 80:10 for training and testing and obtained accuracy of 81.25% [9]. Alamri et al. [10] done early prediction of student academic performance in the final school grade for mathematics and Portuguese language courses. The predicted performance was based on their previous assignment grades, social life, parents’ job, and absence frequency. 369 samples for mathematics and 649 samples for Portuguese language with 33 attributes is collected. The result obtained were 92.43% for mathematic and 93.33% for Portuguese language [10]. Burman and Som [11] classify students’ performance into three categories; high, average and slow based on the psychometric components. The dataset collected consisted one thousand records based on 29 non-intellectual constructs of students. The dataset were divided into 70% for training and 30% for testing and obtained an accuracy of 90.97% [11]. Al-shehri et al. [12] work on forecasting students’ performance in final examinations can be useful in the context of taking early precautions, instant actions, or selecting a student that is fit for a certain task. The dataset was retrieved from the University of Minho in Portugal, and the research focused on performances in Mathematics subject. The dataset consisted 395 data samples with 16 numerical attributes. They obtained the highest accuracy of 96% at 90:10 ratio instead of using tenfold cross validation that only obtained accuracy of 90.5% [12] (Table 1).

3.2 KNN Maheswari et al. [13] include student’s own interest, parents’ care, ability and income to analyses cause of drop rate in student perfromance. They also included teacher’s involvement and interest, friends’ involvement and interest, community/neighbours’ behaviour and life style, job opportunities, students awareness level on education, and

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Table 1 Summarisation of student performance analysis using SVM Author

Year

Level of education

Dataset

Accuracy (%)

Jadhav et al

2022

‘O’ level

89 students from Federal Polytechnic in south West part Nigeria

98

Janan and Ghosh

2021

High Education

2nd year batch in Bangladesh University of Textiles

81.25

Alamri et al

2021

High Education

369 samples on Mathematic

92.43

649 samples on Portuguese 93.33 Language Burman and Som

2019

High Education

29 non-intellectual constructs of students collect in university

90.97

Al-Shehri et al

2017

High education

395 sample from University of Minho in Portugal

96

student’s other activities. 7 samples and 7 predictors were collected from questionnaire distribute. By using resampling the training samples increased to 25 samples. By tuned KNN the highest accuracy obtained 62.5% with 0.25 kappa and 5 k as parameter [13]. Jawthari and Stoffova [14] collected 480 student records that contained 16 features (gender, nationality, place of birth, educational level, grade level, section ID, topic, semester, relation, raised hand, visited resource. viewing announcement, discussion group, parent answering survey, parent school satisfaction and student absence days) in the questionnaire and student educational performance results in classes (laboratory, quiz and assignment) to analyse student performance. The accuracy obtained 78.1% with hamming harmonic vote added to improve KNN method [14]. Srivastava and Khan [15] predict student performance in forthcoming examinations with collected data of 395 entries with 33 attributes, which included both academic and demographic details. The collected data was pre-processed in order to clean the data. The accuracy obtained was 84.67% [15]. Al-shehri et al. [12] (detailed explanation of Al-shehri et al. [12] work can be found in the SVM Sect. 2.1) used KNN obtained accuracy of 95% at 90:10 ratio [12]. Amra and Maghari [16] aim was to discover the hidden knowledge and patterns of student’s performance in 4 categories; Excellent, Very Good, Good and Average. The secondary schools dataset was collected from the ministry of education in Gaza Strip since 2015 year. The dataset consists 500 records that has been summaries from more than 2000 records with 8 attributes. The main objective of such classification may help the ministry of education to improve the performance due to early prediction of student performance and the teachers also can take the proper evaluation to improve student learning. The accuracy obtain is 63.45% [16] (Table 2).

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Table 2 Summarisation of student performance analysis using KNN Author

Year

Level of education

Dataset

Accuracy (%)

Maheswari et al.

2021

School

7 samples data collect from public

62.5

Jawthari and Stoffova

2021

High education

480 students record with 78.1 16 features

Srivastava and Khan

2020

School

395 entries with 33 attributes that included both academic and demographic details

84.67

Al-Shehri et al.

2017

High education

395 sample from University of Minho in Portugal

95

Amra and Maghari

2017

Secondary school

500 records that has been summaries from more than 2000 records with 8 attributes from the ministry of education in Gaza Strip

63.45

3.3 Naïve Bayes Tripathi et al.’s [17] study attempted to predict future possibilities from the previous examination results. They proposed three phases; pre-processing, feature extraction and classification. Pre-processing stage involves the normalization of data and removing unused data in the samples. Feature extraction is applied after preprocessing to calculate the relationship between the attributes. Then, Naïve Bayes predicts student performance based on the feature extraction results. The dataset collected for the study was derived from questionnaire consisting of questions on whether the student perform in objective or subjective types of examination. The highest accuracy is 92% [17]. Razaque et al.’s [18] study had analysed bachelor degree students’ academic performance. Several elements were included such as incorporating earlier semester marks, attendance, assignment, discussion, and lab work. 660 samples of data were collected from the university department of computing. The highest accuracy obtained is 98.8% [18]. Makhtar et al. [19] conducted an analysis of students’ academic performance in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) to classify students’ achievement at an early stage of their education. Data on 488 students’ were collected from year 2011 until 2014 in Maktab Rendah Sains MARA (MRSM) Kuala Berang. Ten cross fold-validation technique is used during classification and obtained an accuracy of 73.4% [19]. Amra and Maghari [16], predicted student performance and obtained the highest accuracy of 93.6%, the performance is better compared to KNN technique [16].

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Table 3 Summarisation of student performance analysis using Naïve Bayes Author

Year

Level of education

Dataset

Tripathi et al.

2019

Not stated

Questionnaire design that 92 consist the question in term of student passed the objective or subjective types of examination

Accuracy (%)

Razaque et al.

2018

High education

591 records from bachelor 98.8 academic from department of computing

Makhtar et al.

2017

SPM

488 students’ data from MRSM Kuala Berang

73.4

Amra and Maghari

2017

Secondary school

500 records that has been summaries from more than 2000 records with 8 attributes from the ministry of education in Gaza Strip

93.6

Abdul Aziz et al.

2015

High education

245 bachelor students of FIC, UniSZA

57.4

Abdul Aziz et al. [20] predicted the performance of first year bachelor students in Computer Science program. Data was collected from 245 bachelor students at UniSZA who enrolled at July 2006/2007 intakes up until July 2011/2012. There are six parameters consisting of race, gender, family income, university entry mode, and GPA of the students. The GPA in the dataset is set as the class label and categorized as; Poor, Average, and Good. The highest accuracy obtained was 57.4% using threefold cross validation [20] (Table 3).

3.4 Decision Tree Srivastava and Khan [15] analyse student performances and they obtained an accuracy of 81.34% by using Decision Tree. Grace Funmilayo and IbukunT [21] predicted student performances at an early stage of the academic program and monitored students with poor academic performance. Their work consisted of three phases of pre-processing for data visualization and exhaustive search for data dimensionality reduction. Then prediction performance obtained accuracy of 60.53%. Dataset collected combine the attributes gathered for recruitment of 991 records with 14 attribute students in department of Computer Science and attributes from 468 records with 9 attribute graduated class of Computer Science Department in Covenant University [21].

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Gotardo [22] worked on predicting students’ success in their academic performance. The datasets used were collected from 108 students in the 2nd year BSIT program who enrolled during the school year 2015 until 2016. The attributes in the dataset are based on student work during their study (lab exercise, quizzes, midterm and finals). The data was remarked in three categories: Pass, Failed or Conditional. The accuracy of his work are 85.46% [22]. Abana [23] analyse two courses performance: Research Methods (RM) and Research Project (RP). From these two courses 133 dataset had been collected, it consist five attributes (gender, backlog, programming proficiency RM grade and RP grade) and the accuracy obtained was 75.18% [23]. Kolo et al. [24] used the IBM Statistical Package for Social Studies (SPSS) to apply the Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) in producing the decision tree structure. Several factors including the financial status of the students, motivation to learn, gender were used as attributes in the data to discover which factor has the main effect on student performance is analysed. The data collected from Data Structure course in Computer Science program at the Nigerian Colleges of Education in three previous years. The accuracy obtained in their work was 46.9% [24] (Table 4). Table 4 Summarization of student performance analysis using decision tree Author

Year

Level of education

Dataset

Srivastava and Khan

2020

School

395 questionnaire and 81.34 33 attributes that included both academic and demographic details

Grace Funmilayo and IbukunT

2019

High education

991 record and 14 attributes, 468 record and 9 attributes from Computer Science Department in Covenant University

60.53

Gotardo

2019

High education

grades of 2nd year BSIT students enrolled during the school year 2015–2016

85.46

Abana

2019

High education

Computer Engineering

75.18

Kolo et al.

2015

High education

Course CSC214 (Data Structures) which is a 2nd year course for NCE in Computer Science in Nigerian Colleges of Education

46.9

Accuracy (%)

Data Mining Techniques for Student Performance Prediction: A Review

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4 Discussion and Analysis of Machine Learning Algorithm

Accuracy (%)

For the student performance analysis in several level education, four data mining techniques are observed. The reason for the analysis is two-fold: to predict whether the student performs well or badly or the identifying the reason(s) of the decline in performance. Using a data mining technique cuts the time taken to do the analysis, and thus is more effective compared to using a manual method. Additionally, the accuracy of prediction above 90% can be achieved through using an appropriate data mining technique on a dataset. However, the degree of accuracy is moderated by the size of the dataset and the attribute set of the dataset. Based on a review the existing literature, four data mining methods were chosen for analysis and five previous studies were picked for the purpose of comparing their relative level of effectiveness. Figure 1 shows the performance level of the different types of methods, datasets and experimental parameters. Based on previous studies, the plot in Fig. 1 indicates that SVM posts the highest performance by achieving greater than 80% accuracy in all studies. The Decision tree shows the lowest performance in five previous studies with a range of 85% highest accuracy and the lowest at 46.9%. Naïve Bayes attained the highest accuracy of 98.8% as evidenced in the study by Razaque et al. [18]. The KNN method also performed well obtaining an accuracy range between 62.5 and 95%. The performance level of the different data mining techniques as displayed in Fig. 1, illustrate the general effectiveness of SVM, KNN, Naïve Bayes and Decision Tree as a data mining methods that had been study in previous work. 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

SVM

KNN

Fig. 1 Accuracy of data mining technique

Naïve Bayes

Decision Tree

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5 Conclusion In conclusion, predicting student performances depends on the objective of the research. If the objective of the research is to improve students’ performance level, factors causing the drop in student performance can be determined based on the analysis of their study results. However, if the objective of the research is to track students’ progress in their study, there is the need to consider their performances in some subjects of their courses or programmes. From Fig. 1, it can be concluded that SVM, KNN, Naïve Bayes and Decision Tree performed better based on the number of dataset to analyse and how many attributes needed to be considered to achieve the objective of the experiment. Al-Shehri et al. [12] reported the highest accuracy for SVM at 96% and 95% for KNN from a sample of 395 in their analysis. Razaque et al. [18] reported the highest accuracy of 98.8% with 591 samples using Naïve Bayes. For Decision Tree, Gotardo [22] showed the highest accuracy at 85.46% based on 180 samples. Although Grace Funmilayo and IbukunT [21] had more samples in their study, the accuracy achieved was lower than that of Gotardo [22] mainly because their dataset had more attributes. From the observation, many recent work focus on predicting student performance in certain courses and analysing the reasons for the drop in performance. Some attributes had been added to find the potential cause(s) for the decline in performance. However, the higher the attributes the lower is the accuracy. Therefore, the pre-process method should be considered to restrict the data and increase the accuracy of the findings. Acknowledgements We are thankful to our colleagues who have shared their expertise and greatly assisted in the research. They may or may not agree with all the interpretations provided in this paper. We are also grateful to Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah (USAS), which has provided the facilities during the course of this research.

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8. Prathmesh, J., Abhishek, T., Yash, G., Pratik, K.: Student performance prediction using support vector machine. Int. J. Adv. Res. Sci. Commun. Technol. 380–385 (2022). https://doi.org/10. 48175/ijarsct-3939 9. Janan, F., Ghosh, S.K.: Prediction of student’s performance using support vector machine classifier. Proc. Int. Conf. Ind. Eng. Oper. Manag. 7078–7088 (2021) 10. Alamri, L.H., Almuslim, R.S., Alotibi, M.S., Alkadi, D.K., Ullah Khan, I., Aslam, N.: Predicting student academic performance using support vector machine and random forest. ACM Int. Conf. Proceeding Ser. PartF16898, 100–107 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1145/344 6590.3446607 11. Burman, I., Som, S.: Predicting students academic performance using support vector machine. Proc. 2019 Amity Int. Conf. Artif. Intell. AICAI 2019, 756–759 (2019). https://doi.org/10. 1109/AICAI.2019.8701260 12. Al-Shehri, H., et al.: Student performance prediction using support vector machine and Knearest neighbor. Can. Conf. Electr. Comput. Eng. 17–20 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1109/ CCECE.2017.7946847 13. Maheswari, K., Priya, A., Balamurugan, A., Ramkumar, S.: Analyzing student performance factors using KNN algorithm. Mater. Today Proc. (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020. 12.1024 14. Jawthari, M., Stoffová, V.: Predicting students’ academic performance using a modified KNN algorithm. Pollack Period. 16(3), 20–26 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1556/606.2021.00374 15. Srivastava, A.K., Khan, R.: Prediction of students performance using KNN and decision treea machine learning approach. Strad Res. 7(9) (2020). https://doi.org/10.37896/sr7.9/018 16. Amra, I.A.A., Maghari, A.Y.A.: Students performance prediction using KNN and Naïve Bayesian. In: Proceedings of 8th International Conference on Information Technology— ICIT 2017, pp. 909–913 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICITECH.2017.8079967 17. Tripathi, A., Yadav, S., Rajan, R.: Naive Bayes classification model for the student performance prediction. In: 2019 2nd International Conference on Intelligent Computing, Instrumentation and Control Technologies, ICICICT 2019, pp. 1548–1553 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICI CICT46008.2019.8993237 18. Razaque, F., et al.: Using naïve Bayes algorithm to students’ bachelor academic performances analysis. In: 4th IEEE International Conference on Engineering Technologies and Applied Sciences, ICETAS 2017, vol. 2018, pp. 1–5 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICETAS.2017.827 7884 19. Makhtar, M., Nawang, H., Shamsuddin, S.N.W.: Analysis on students performance using Naïve Bayes classifier. J. Theor. Appl. Inf. Technol. 95(16), 3993–4000 (2017) 20. Aziz, A.A., Ismail, N.H., Ahmad, F., Hassan, H.: A framework for students’ academic performance analysis using Naïve Bayes classifier. J. Teknol. 75(3), 13–19 (2015). https://doi.org/ 10.11113/jt.v75.5037 21. Grace Funmilayo, O., IbukunT, A.: Student’s performance prediction using multiple linear regression and decision tree. Int. J. Adv. Res. Comput. Eng. Technol. 8(7), 2278–1323 (2019) 22. Gotardo, M.A.: Using decision tree algorithm to predict student performance. Indian J. Sci. Technol. 12(8), 1–8 (2019). https://doi.org/10.17485/ijst/2019/v12i5/140987 23. Abana, E.C.: A decision tree approach for predicting student grades in research project using Weka. Int. J. Adv. Comput. Sci. Appl. 10(7), 285–289 (2019). https://doi.org/10.14569/ijacsa. 2019.0100739 24. Kolo, K.D., Adepoju, S.A., Alhassan, J.: A decision tree approach for predicting students academic performance. Int. J. Educ. Manag. Eng. 5(5), 12–19 (2015). https://doi.org/10.5815/ ijeme.2015.05.02

Artificial Intelligence and Security Challenges Ismail Noori Mseer and Syed Muqtar Ahmed

Abstract Big data processing, vast computing power, information technology, improved machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) algorithms are driving the recent growth in AI technologies. With more conventional methods, Google would not have been able to reduce its field device management costs by 40% as much as it has by deploying deep-mind AI technologies. The energy sector can benefit from AI technology by utilizing the expanding opportunities that result from the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the incorporation of renewable energy sources. Supercomputers, power electronics, cyber technologies, information, and bi-directional connectivity between the control center and equipment are only a few of the sophisticated infrastructures available to the smart energy sector. The infrastructures of the current electricity system are too old, ineffective, outdated, unreliable, and do not offer enough protection from fault circumstances. But energy production, distribution strategy, and financial sustainability are crucial for the world economy. The integration of renewable energy sources was not intended to be managed by the conventional power system (RES). Meeting the fluctuating demands of the power system is made more difficult by changes in the characteristics of RES (such as wind, solar, geothermal, and hydrogen). The energy sector is undergoing a change thanks to recent developments in AI technologies, such as machine learning, deep learning, IoT, big data, etc. Many nations have implemented AI technology to carry out many types of jobs, including managing, predicting, and effective power system operations. Photovoltaic (PV) systems may be controlled effectively by inverters thanks to, which also improves the ability to track power points. Artificial maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques are efficient and can improve performance compared to conventional MPPT techniques. Due of its simplicity and speed of calculation, particle swarm optimization for MPPT is preferred by swarm intelligence classes Predictive technologies are frequently used to anticipate load demand, electricity costs, generation from RES (such as wind, hydro, solar, and geothermal energy), as I. N. Mseer (B) Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] S. M. Ahmed Jeddah College of Engineering, University of Business and Technology, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_5

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well as fossil fuels (such as oil, natural gas, and coal). Probabilistic forecasting (forecasting future events, for example) and non-probabilistic forecasting (forecasting fuel purchase management, generation planning, distribution scheduling, various forms of investment programs, maintenance schedules, and security purposes) are both possible. Keywords Maximum power point tracking · Machine learning · Deep learning · Internet of Things

1 Introduction Russell stated that “there are several key breakthroughs that have to occur, and those could come very swiftly.” He continued, “It’s very, very hard to forecast when these conceptual breakthroughs are going to happen,” citing British physicist Ernest Rutherford’s description of the quick transformational effect of nuclear fission (atom splitting) in 1917 [1]. But if they do, he highlighted how important preparation is. This necessitates starting or continuous conversations regarding the moral application of AGI and if regulation is necessary. That entails attempting to eradicate data bias, which now poses a serious threat to AI by distorting algorithms. That requires creating and improving security systems that can control technology. Having the humility to understand that just because we can, doesn’t mean we should, is also a requirement. “Most AGI researchers predict the development of AGI within a few decades; if we enter this situation unprepared, it will likely be the largest error in human history. In his TED Talk, Tegmark warned that this might lead to a ruthless global dictatorship marked by never-before-seen levels of inequality, surveillance, pain, and possibly even human extinction. But if we take care, we may arrive at a great future where everyone is better off, both the poor and the wealthy as well as everyone being healthy and free to pursue their ambitions. Over the past few decades, technology has advanced rapidly before our eyes, and artificial intelligence is one of the things that has everyone either fascinated or even a little afraid. For those who don’t know, one of the numerous subfields of computer science is artificial intelligence. In other words, it is a simulation of human intelligence, and these machines are trained to think and act like people. It is used to create intelligent computers capable of carrying out activities that would ordinarily need human intelligence. Some characteristics that an “AI” would have include the ability to recognize speech, make decisions, and see the world. The ability of these computers to learn, reason, and perceive like humans has long been the core objective of artificial intelligence. AI is being employed more frequently than one might imagine in a variety of global businesses, including finance and health care. One might interact with an AI on a regular basis, as evidenced by intelligent assistants like Alexa and Siri, self-driving cars, conversational bots, spam filters for email, and Netflix suggestions.

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There are numerous AI-powered language learning platforms and applications that enable individuals to work and learn at their own pace, [2] focusing on the topics they find the most challenging, involving them in various activities, appealing to their interests to motivate them to keep learning, and taking into account elements like cultural background. Platforms for AI language learning can immediately point out mistakes [3] and provide various solutions to avoid doing them in the future. It can be stressful to have to wait weeks for the results of a test you worked hard on. It becomes more difficult to recall how or why you made the inevitable blunders after that point, but this kind of technology offers immediate feedback. AI enables students to study at their own pace, from any location in the globe, with their own goals, and a tailored study plan that adapts to their needs and availability. However, keep in mind that the greatest method to learn a language is through practical experiences, such as spending time in a Spanish-speaking nation to learn about its language as well as its culture and history. Madrid, Spain’s capital city, is a great place to start learning Spanish. Online learning and artificial intelligence shouldn’t ever replace traditional learning; as previously stated, they are tools, [4] not replacements, and students gain just as much from attending in-person classes as they do when they use AI language learning platforms. To reinforce each new concept you learn, I therefore advise you to incorporate a language learning app into your Spanish courses in Madrid [5]. You only need to have your phone with you in order to use it, so it is both quick and somewhat practical. GPT-3: A modern natural language system has acquired more knowledge than only coding. GPT-3 [6], or Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3, is the third iteration of the GPT-n series and was developed by OpenAI. It employs deep learning to produce text with a language structure resembling that of a human. The system, which took months to develop, studied tens of thousands of digital books, Wikipedia, social media, and the internet as a whole to learn how to produce new natural language on its own. This system can now, among other things, produce tweets, email summaries, respond to trivia questions, and translate languages [7]. Contrary to popular belief, artificial intelligence is not coming to replace people, take our jobs, or otherwise eliminate us. With the help of this tool, content producers may design more effective content strategies and increase the caliber of their output.

2 Wide Variety of Content Because of technology that can produce a wide variety of content on a particular subject, authors can save a significant amount of time and money that would otherwise be used to research the subject thoroughly before considering writing an article on it. Like in any other occupation, there are technologies that make people more productive, and GPT-3 is the one that content producers should start utilizing [8]. This system, like many others in the field of artificial intelligence, has a long way to go before it can fully replace humans. Can you imagine how much time you would save by utilizing this program to generate merely the bare bones of your text?

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Yes, you will need to spend some time curating, refining, and generally making the information GPT-3 has just made more human-like. What we refer to as “writer’s block” is another issue that the AI may profit from. It is well known that the reason for this creative block is not a lack of writing ability or commitment issues, but rather the sheer volume of information we are required to produce in a short period of time. No matter how long an essay is, commencing is typically the most difficult portion of writing it. Therefore, why not give GPT-3 a title or primary theme and explore all the alternatives it provides? I can guarantee that you’ll be delighted and find it useful. Once more, one of the biggest benefits of employing this technology is the time you may save when performing research because GPT-3 can gather data about what we’re writing. Making ensuring the topic you’re providing [9] is as clear and specific as possible is crucial if you use this option. “Machine Learning: Bane or Blessing for Mankind?” is the title of a blog entry. I pointed out that the eminent theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, together with Stuart Russell, Max Tegmark, and Frank Wilczek, advise proceeding slowly in the development of artificial intelligence (AI) [10], particularly in the field of autonomous weapon systems. But Hawking and his colleagues are aware that there is no turning back the AI genie now that it has been let out of the bottle [11]. Ron Neale replies in response to Hawking’s worries, “Such a caution regarding the deployment of AI and its derivative intelligent machines (IMs), especially in the domain of military application, would be relevant. But what if instant messaging is actually just a new branch on the evolutionary tree that has brought us from the first Protists to where we are now? Artificial and machine intelligence: Reality or Science Fiction? The EE Times, May 13, 2014 Neale is doubtful that a system like Skynet would ever emerge, despite finding the idea of such a system terrifying (Skynet is the AI system in “Terminator” that takes control and begins eradicating humanity). He clarifies: Do not be alarmed, for in my opinion, IMs cannot exist without a special evolutionary key [—Synergistic Evolution (SE)—] and it is that element of evolution that reveals why it might never happen. A species must get assistance from another species in order for synergistic evolution (SE) to take place. This is distinct from serving as a food source, in which the existence of a lower-ranking species serves as the food or fuel that enables others higher up the food chain to live and evolve. A species can more easily find food to exist and evolve in situations where animals like dogs or horses that exist at the same time, on a separate branch, are present. The closest analog to SE would be a species variation like selective breeding (unnatural selection), where human intervention is utilized to produce a trait, such more meat or milk in cattle or in hunting animals like dogs or horses. In any wild speculation, I believe that three possibilities must be taken into account: the first is the evolution of some incredibly clever tools, weapons, and body parts that become a crucial part of the human species tree; the second is the creation of a new branch on the evolutionary tree; and the third is the extension of the human branch. Sincere to say, I’m not sure the parallel of biological evolution is a valid one. Biological evolution essentially modifies a species’ organic properties such that advantageous features can be passed on to succeeding generations [12]. Because

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they aren’t organic, two of Neale’s possibilities aren’t genuinely biological evolution (they fit much neater in the transhumanist framework). The only choice that could lead to evolution was his “new branch of the tree”; however, it wouldn’t be a new branch; rather, it would be a completely new tree. No matter how artificial intelligence evolves in the coming years, almost all commentators concur that the world will change drastically as a result [13]. In spite of the fact that technology is exploding this decade into a world of the Internet of Things and the propulsion into artificial intelligence, Bill Gates insisted during a speech at the American Enterprise Institute that “the mindset[s] of the government and people have not adjusted to view the future.” Victoria Wagner Ross, San Diego Technology Examiner, 14 March 2014 “Bill Gates defines the mindset of A.I. for occupations in the future” [14]. The quantity of jobs that AI systems are likely to replace is the biggest concern for many observers, including Gates. According to Mark van Rijmenam, “Artificial intelligence has immense potential [15]. In fact, Oxford University research from 2013 predicted that in the near future, AI might replace roughly half of all occupations in the United States.” Is AI on the verge of forever altering how we conduct business? Smart Data Collective, March 8, 2014 Ross also uses the research from Oxford University. She says: According to Carl Benedikt, there are 702 jobs that will be impacted by automation in the future of artificial intelligence [16] and robots. Frey, an economist with a Ph.D., was taken aback by how quickly the computer replaced the loan officer. A 98% likelihood of replacement was anticipated for the loan officer. Journalists were a safer occupation with only an 11% probability. The probability was lowest for surgeons and elementary school instructors. Gates allegedly said that “there are a few of decades to re-set the thinking and prepare for the next occupation.” Ross quotes Gates on this. What specific jobs should students be preparing themselves to fill? Whatever new jobs are created, according to Gates, the highest-paying and most secure ones will necessitate a solid background in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Ross says, In the future, opportunity will meet preparation, and Gates educates the public to be ready to accept the exciting new world of artificial intelligence [17]. The majority of the finest occupations that will be created will necessitate close computer and human interaction [18]. Thankfully, we are raising a generation that has already experienced this kind of cooperation.

3 Conclusion According to Zachary John, “AI has allowed us humans to create robots that are perfectly suited to fit into our daily lives, [19] suggesting speedier routes to work, offering TV series we might like, even telling us jokes when we’re feeling bad.” Guardian Liberty Voice, “Robots: The Possibilities of Artificial Intelligence,” 22 March 2014 “AI is only getting better, as computational intelligence approaches keep on improving, becoming more precise and faster due to significant advances in processing speeds,” Kevin Curran, a technical specialist at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), told Lee Bell. The Inquirer, 14 March 2014) “AI

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will play an important part in our future, [20] just don’t anticipate robot butlers.” [21] Like many others, Curran thinks AI systems will continue to replace humans in positions that are currently held by machines, especially “humans executing monotonous automated chores.” According to Aki Ito, “Artificial intelligence has entered the American workplace, giving rise to technologies that mimic human judgements that were too subtle and complex [22] to be reduced into instructions for a machine. Engineering teams no longer have to explicitly type out every command thanks to algorithms that “learn” from prior examples. According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek on March 12, 2014, “Your Job Taught to Machines Puts Half U.S. Work at Risk.” Like the authors previously mentioned, Ito cites the Oxford University study as evidence that the workforce of the future need a significant makeover [23]. The worldwide workforce would need to change, according to Frey, the study’s co-author, who told Ito. These shifts have occurred in the past, said Frey. This time, technological transformation is occurring considerably faster and might have a bigger impact on a wider range of jobs. Will there be enough excellent employment to keep the global economy expanding? Is arguably the biggest unsolved question. Because customers are essential to economic progress, AI systems cannot function as consumers.

References 1. The University of Manchester: Rutherford’s legacy—the birth of nuclear physics in Manchester, 2 Nov 2017. https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/rutherfords-legacy--the-birthof-nuclear-physics-in-manchester/ 2. Chen, X., Zou, D., Xie, H., Cheng, G.: Twenty years of personalized language learning: topic modeling and knowledge mapping. Educational Technology & Society 24(1), 205–222 (2021). https://www.jstor.org/stable/26977868 3. Manser Payne, E.H., Dahl, A.J., Peltier, J., Peltier, J.: Digital servitization value co-creation framework for AI services: a research agenda for digital transformation in financial service ecosystems. The Journal of Research in Indian Medicine 15(2), 200–222 (2021) 4. Fernández-Martínez, C., Hernán-Losada, I., Fernández, A.: Early introduction of AI in Spanish middle schools. A Motivational Study. Künstl Intell 35, 163–170 (2021). https://doi.org/10. 1007/s13218-021-00735-5 5. Salas-Pilco, S.Z., Yang, Y.: Artificial intelligence applications in Latin American higher education: a systematic review. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 19, 21 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/ s41239-022-00326-w 6. Yamins, D.L., DiCarlo, J.J.: Using goal-driven deep learning models to understand sensory cortex. Nat. Neurosci. 19(3), 356 (2016) 7. Johnson, S: A.I. Is Mastering Language. Should We Trust What It Says? 15 April 2022. https:// www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/magazine/ai-language.html 8. Korngiebel, D.M., Mooney, S.D.: Considering the possibilities and pitfalls of generative pretrained transformer 3 (GPT-3) in healthcare delivery. npj Digit. Med. 4, 93 (2021). https://doi. org/10.1038/s41746-021-00464-x 9. Gpt Generative Pretrained Transformer, Almira Osmanovic Thunström, Steinn Steingrimsson. Can 10. GPT-3 write an academic paper on itself, with minimal human input? (2022). ffhal-03701250f 11. Hawking, S., Tegmark, M., Russell, S.: Transcending Complacency on Super intelligent Machines, 19 June 2014. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/artificial-intelligence_b_5174265

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12. O’Reilly, T: We Have Already Let The Genie Out of the Bottle. https://www.rockefellerfoun dation.org/blog/we-have-already-let-the-genie-out-of-the-bottle/ 13. Gess N.: The “tropological nature” of the poet in Müller and Benn” Chap. 7. In: Primitive thinking: figuring alterity in German modernity, pp. 205–235. De Gruyter, Berlin (2022). https:// doi.org/10.1515/9783110695090-007 14. Roman, M., Hovestadt, L., Bühlmann, V. (ed.): Play I: Unfolding of a Concept: Information. In: Play Among Books: A Symposium on Architecture and Information Spelt in Atom-Letters, pp. 55–192. Birkhäuser, Berlin (2021) https://doi.org/10.1515/9783035624052-004 15. Fleming, P.: Robots and organization studies: why robots might not want to steal your job. Organ. Stud. 40(1), 23–38 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840618765568 16. Bhardwaj, A., Kishore, S., Pandey, D.K.: Artificial intelligence in biological sciences. Life 12(9), 1430 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3390/life12091430 17. Illéssy, M., Huszár, Á., Makó, C.: Technological development and the labour market: how susceptible are jobs to automation in Hungary in the international comparison? Societies 11(3), 93 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/soc11030093 18. Ernst, E., Merola, R., Samaan, D.: Economics of artificial intelligence: implications for the future of work. IZA Journal of Labor Policy 9(1) (2019). https://doi.org/10.2478/izajolp-20190004 19. Kanade, V.: What is HCI (Human-Computer Interaction)? Meaning, Importance, Examples, and Goals, 22 July 2022. https://www.spiceworks.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/articles/ what-is-hci 20. Tai, M.C.: The impact of artificial intelligence on human society and bioethics. Tzu Chi Medical Journal 32(4), 339–343 (2020). https://doi.org/10.4103/tcmj.tcmj_71_20 21. DeAngelis, S.: Artificial Intelligence: Ascendant but not Transcendent, 12 May 2014. https:// enterrasolutions.com/artificial-intelligence-ascendant-transcendent/ 22. Torres, É.P.: Opinion How AI could accidentally extinguish humankind, 31 Aug 2022. https:// www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/08/31/artificial-intelligence-worst-case-scenarioextinction/ 23. Brynjolfsson, E.: The Turing Trap: The Promise & Peril of Human-Like Artificial Intelligence, 12 Jan 2022. https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/news/the-turing-trap-the-promiseperil-of-human-like-artificial-intelligence/ 24. Frey, C.B., Osborne, M.A.: The Future of Employment: How Susceptible are Jobs to Computerisation? 17 Sept 2013. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/academic/The_Future_ of_Employment.pdf 25. Abdulla, N.J.J., Hamdan, A., Kanan, M.: Artificial Intelligence Application in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In: Alareeni, B., Hamdan, A., Khamis, R., Khoury, R.E. (eds) Digitalisation: Opportunities and Challenges for Business. ICBT 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 620. Springer, Cham. (2023) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26953-0_51 26. Al Kurdi, O.F.: A critical comparative review of emergency and disaster management in the Arab world. Journal of Business and Socio-economic Development, 1(1), 24–46 (2021). https:// doi.org/10.1108/JBSED-02-2021-0021

Does Work-Life Balance Impact on the Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Study on Women Employees in Private Sectors Jeena Ann John

Abstract Work-life balance is the stage where a person tries to balance with career and personal life. In many research studies the difficulties faced by female employee is to balance between work and personal life. 96 female respondents have been considered for this study and each respondent has taken an approximated of 14 min to fill the survey. They work for 8–10 h every day. The data were tested in the PLS and other statistics to get the reliable results. 10 Hypothesis were developed to test the direct and indirect relation between work life balance and organizational citizenship behaviour. Statistical tool such as factor analysis, correlation, regression, and path analysis were done to test the relation between dependent and independent variables. Work- life balance was considered as exogenous and endogenous laten variable. The result of the study shows that Regular schedule and Self Confidence has a positive effect towards work-life balance. Secondly work life balance has a direct and indirect relation towards organizational citizenship behavior. Keywords Organizational citizenship behavior · Work life balance · Organizational commitment

1 Introduction In Twenty-first century work–life balance (WLB) is an issues due to demographic and social changes in organizations. Women employees feels the necessity of having heathy work- life balance. Employees are considered good citizens when they display OCB (Sukrisnawati et al. 2019). OCB is defined as organizational citizenship behavior, namely individual volunteering towards promoting or supporting the effectiveness of the organization, without associating with the reward system [23] According to a study done by [7] on Saudi working women indicated that work location and transportation are the main issues faced by working women. The recommendation of the study was that flexi working schedule and reduced work pressure J. A. John (B) University of Technology Bahrain, Salmabad, Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_6

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has an important role for overcoming imbalance in work-life. According to the study done by [17]. It indicate that 67% of the respondents agreed that they suffered from excessive working. This could result towards burnout, higher level of anxiety and stress. They will be no harmonious family life. In this study, the focus is on the women working for 8 h or above in private sectors. After the short introduction, there is related work shows on the several research studies that are supported towards development of the hypothesis. In research methodology, different types of statistical tool that is most relevant to the study is been listed. Results and discussion elaborated results in detail through graphs and tables. Conclusion provides suggestion for researchers to undertake future studies.

1.1 Research Objective Identify which of the factors such as Regular schedule, Healthy Habits, Selfconfidence and Ambition has an influences on Work-life balance of women. To analyze if the Work-life balance of women has an impact on their organizational citizenship behavior (Fig. 1).

2 Related Work: Hypothesis Developed for This Study Tausig and Fenwick [20], their study was to examine the possibility of schedules effect on the work-life imbalance. The result of the study indicated that control of schedules increases work-life balance. One of the most factors that could impact on the imbalance is being a parent and working time. This resulted in developing of H1: Regular schedule influences on Work- life balance. Health and well-being are often associated with a life balance. Researchers explored the perception of working people balancing life without recent long-term sick leave. There are four dimensions towards balancing life: activity, balance in body and mind, relation with others, and

Fig. 1 Conceptual framework

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time schedule. It was perceived by the participants that life balance was related to health [22]. This resulted in developing of H2: Healthy Habits influences on Work-life balance. 680 females employed in a public sector of Malaysia was examined in the study with the mediation effect of work or family enhancement on self-confidence or esteem towards the satisfaction. The results indicate that self-esteem has a direct influence and effect on life satisfaction [14]. This resulted in developing of H3. Selfconfidence influences on Work-life balance [4]. Their study seeks to know how worker ambition is valued within the workplace. Generally, participants agree that ambition contributes to organization outcomes together with higher performance. The results from their analysis indicate that managing ambition within the workplace by talent management professionals can be a major advantage to employers. This resulted in developing of H4: Ambition influences on Work-life balance. Lavanya and Sree [8] studied on the citizenship behavior of the bank employees and found the association between work-life integration and organizational citizenship behavior. SPSS was used to examine the data. It was found out that working beyond the allotted hours and occupying with family are major reasons for work life imbalance. This resulted in developing of H5: Work- life balance has an impact on their organizational citizenship behaviour [2]. Regression analysis has been considered to test the relation between dependent and independent variable. The result of their study shows that work-life balance towards job satisfaction has a positive impact. This resulted in developing of H6 Work- life balance has an impact on their job satisfaction [16]. A structured questionnaire was managed to assemble the desired data. Data were analyzed using Smart PLS and SPSS, in which t-test, descriptive statistics, anova and structural equation modelling were conducted to achieve attain the goals of the study. Their Findings indicated a positive relationship between OC and WLB. But WLB resulted negative association with continuance commitment. This resulted in developing of H7: Work-life balance has an impact on their organizational commitment. Mohamed [9] has found there is a positive relationship between job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior among non-academic staff of Malaysian University System. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method was applied as the data analysis the data. The researcher found that work-life balance has a positive and significant effect on job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior [6]. This resulted in developing of H8: Job satisfaction impact on their organizational citizenship behavior [19]. The findings show that employees who have a lot of dedication are extremely satisfied with their jobs. More importantly, their high level of commitment to the organization is reflected in their high level of job satisfaction. This resulted in developing of H9: Job satisfaction impact on their organizational commitment [18]. Their study is to analyse the impact of organizational commitment towards organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) in organizations. The sample of 200 employees were considered for the study. Data were analysed by using SEM. The results showed that organizational commitment affects organization citizenship behavior (OCB). The regression analysis showed that Organizational Commitment does affect Organizational Citizenship Behavior [3]. This resulted in developing of H10: Organizational commitment impact on their organizational citizenship behavior.

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Table 1 Latent variable correlation Regular schedule Healthy habits Self confidence Ambition Work life balance − 0.092

0.784

0.235

− 0.043

0.325

1.000

0.061

0.573

− 0.043

0.061

1.000

− 0.208

0.325

0.573

− 0.208

RS

1.000

0.308

0.521

HH

0.308

1.000

SC

0.521

0.235

− 0.092 0.784

Ambition WLB

1.000

3 Research Methodology This study is quantitative research. A population of 96 working women from various organizations were considered for the study. Convenient sampling methods were used for the collection of the data through the questionnaire. The analysis was done through the SmartPLS 3.0 Application. Compound analysis is a method used to investigate in to the relations between the items in the instrument and intendent constructs. As a general rule of thumb, a factor loading of minimum 0.4 suggest that the particular variable has a strong contribution towards the factor. Items with 0.8 is “high” [21]. The inter correlation of the items examines the score of one items related to other items in the scale. In regression analysis it could indicate if independent variable of work-life balance of women has a significant relation with a dependent variable organizational citizenship behavior.

4 Results and Discussion 4.1 Latent Variable Correlation This Table 1 shows the correlation coefficients for the five factors. Regular schedule is tied to work life balance at (0.784). Ambition shows a negative correlation between regular schedule (− 0.092), Healthy habits (− 0.043) and Work life balance (− 0.208). According to [13] indicated that the results of female showed lower score in the perception of work-life balance and career opportunity.

4.2 Component Factor Loading In the regular schedule 72.2% of the respondents agree that they “preparing work schedule to fulfil both your personal and family commitment” and 50% agree to “feeling stressed to maintain balance between personal and professional life”. In the

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Table 2 Opinion of female employee towards positive personal factors regular schedule Regular schedule

Component loadings

SD

RS1: preparing work schedule to fulfil both your personal and family commitment

0.959

0.756

RS2: Responsibility at workplace and family increases the workload

0.409

0.789

RS3: Feeling stressed to maintain balance between personal and professional life

0.747

1.099

Table 3 Opinion of female employee towards positive personal factors healthy habits Healthy habits

Component loadings

SD

H1: sufficient sleep everyday at night

0.716

1.04

H2: experience nervousness and anxiousness at once a week

0.795

1.04

H3: plan of drinking water during the working days

0.204

0.986

factor loading RS1 and RS3 are the statements that is scored more than 0.708 (Table 2). In this study as per the compound factor loading of RS3 was formed at 74.7% and RS2 at 40.9%. According to study done by international labor organization work and family responsibility affects everyone. It had inversely resulted to increase stress and pressure at workplace. The reason is that industry develop, work are gone beyond the households and family has difficulty to take care of the children (Table 3). In descriptive analysis, 50 % of the respondents agree that they “get sufficient sleep every day at night” and 60% agree to “often experience nervousness and anxiousness at once a week”. In the factor loading H1 and H2 are the statements is scored more than 0.700. Standard deviation is at a low dispersion between 0.50 and 0.99. A low standard deviation indicates that the data points tend to be close to the mean of the data set. The lowest factor loading is 0.204 of H3 which explains that plan of drinking water during the working days is very low. According to the Department of Industrial relations California, an employee should drink water at every hour throughout their working day. Standard deviation is at a low dispersion between 0.50 and 0.99. Nabergoj and Pahor [11] found that the creation of family-friendly practices had a 70% positive improvement in most of the recognized areas, though none had a significantly impact. The result in Table 4 contradicts to the factor loading of S1. Family friendly work places has as very less influence of self-confidence (Table 5). In descriptive analysis, 52.8 % of the respondents agree that they “career or job affects the quality of my personal life” and the factor loading score is 0.786. The least factor loading 21.6% is on the statement “sufficient time away from job to balance work and personal life” has lower contribution to work life balance. As per the study done by Atif et al. [1] indicates that there is negative significant relationship of work family conflict with work and house. The result in Table 4 could be presumed that

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Table 4 Opinion of female employee towards positive personal factors self confidence Self confidence

Component loadings

SD

S1: working in equitable, supportive and family-friendly workplace

0.276

0.864

S2: work place has a balanced gender equality

0.822

1.05

S3: chance to participate in the decision making

0.954

0.785

Table 5 Opinion of female employee towards work life balance Work life balance

Component loadings SD

W1: balance the demands of work and personal life

0.216

1.031

W2: sufficient time away from job to balance work and personal 0.451 life

0.862

0.786

1.044

W3: career or job affects the quality of my personal life

women are more of career oriented and less stressed on the balance between work and personal life. According to [10] indicated that VIF value of greater than 10 must call for a concern for multicollinearity. Accordingly to Table 6 VIF values are well below 10. Therefore, multicollinearity is not a problematic issue or concern for this study. As per Table 6, the result indicate that regular schedule and self-confidence has an effect on the work life balance. In Fig. 2. Path model of work life balance with organizational citizenship behaviours, and job satisfaction and organizational commitment as parallel mediator. The structural equation model is to display the relation between the constructs. From Fig. 2 Work life balance is considered to be exogenous variable. The remaining three variables are endogenous variable. In reference to Fig. 1 conceptual model for this study, the work life balance is endogenous variable and personal factors as exogenous variable. As per the result it could also be interpreted that H6 work life balance on the job satisfaction is been accepted at P value 0.000. The T Value is 4.501 at 0.001 level of significance. In this study, the accepted level of significance in 0.10, 0.05 and 0.01. According to Fitrio et al. [5] job satisfaction had a positive and significant Table 6 Path coefficient between personal factors and work-life balance Path coefficient

VIF

T

p-Value

H1: regular schedule → work life balance

1.472

1.549

0.098***

H2: healthy habits → work life balance

1.115

0.887

0.377

H3:self confidence → work life balance

1.408

2.124

0.036**

H4: ambition → work life balance

1.026

0.811

0.419

Note *** p < 0.10, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.01

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Fig. 2 Path coefficient model

effect on Organizational Citizenship Behavior. In Table 7 job satisfaction towards the Organizational Citizenship Behavior with the value of t-count > t-table is 2.964 is significant at 0.01 which resulted in the acceptance of the hypothesis 8. Table 7 Path coefficient variable Path coefficients

SD

T

p-Value

H5: work life balance → organizational citizenship behavior

0.098

1.846

0.068***

H6: work life balance → job satisfaction

0.111

4.501

0.000*

H7: work life balance → organizational commitment

0.263

0.953

0.343

H8: job satisfaction → organizational citizenship behavior

0.190

2.964

0.004*

H9: job satisfaction → organizational commitment

0.196

2.085

0.040**

H10: organizational commitment → organizational citizenship behavior

0.189

0.580

0.563

Note *** p < 0.10, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.01

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5 Conclusion Flexible work arrangement has increasingly become a preferred means of achieving work life balance in most western countries There are tremendous benefits achieved by the organization such as increased in productivity, loyalty, satisfaction, increase in morale, attitude and behaviours of employees [12, 15]. One of the limitations that I faced during the time of data collection was the difficulty to convince the respondents to participate in the survey. A continuous follow up was required for getting the data from the respondents. Recommendations from this study towards the management are they should promote equitable, supportive and family-friendly workplace. Secondly there should be freedom to express on the views and opinions. Secondly the superior or the management should provide awareness to the female employees on the consumption of water. These can really affect on the personal life of the employees. In the future the researchers, teachers, academician and the corporates can even consider on having more detailed factors of organizational commitment that could prove the influence towards organizational citizenship behavior. They can even consider future studies on job satisfaction as independent variable with work life balance, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior

References 1. Atif Sheikh, M., Ashiq, A., Mehar, M.R., Hasan, A., Khalid, M.: Impact of work and home demands on work life balance: mediating role of work family conflicts. Pyrex Journal of Business and Finance Management Research 4(5), 48–57 (2018). http://www.pyrexjournals. org/pjbfmr 2. Anuradha, Pandey M.: Impact of work-life balance on job satisfaction of women doctors. Problems and Perspectives in Management 14(2-2), 319–324 (2016). https://doi.org/10.21511/ ppm.14(2-2).2016.07 3. Budi Susanto, A., Priyono, A., Joko Nusbantoro, A.: The Analysis of Organizational Commitment on Organizational Citizenship Behavior on Public Sector Organization (2020). www.ijs tr.org 4. Bean, J.: Understanding the importance of ambition in the workplace. [Graduate Theses and Dissertations]. University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (2021). https://scholarworks.uark.edu/ etd/423 5. Fitrio, T., Apriansyah, R., Utami, S., Yaspita, H.: The effect of job satisfaction to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) mediated by organizational commitment. International Journal of Scientific Research and Management 7(09), 1300–1310 (2019). https://doi.org/10.18535/ijsrm/ v7i9.em01 6. Heriyadi, H., Tjahjono, H.K., Rahayu, M.K.P.: Improving organizational citizenship behavior through job satisfaction, leader-member exchange, and work-life balance. Binus Business Review 11(2), 97–104 (2020). https://doi.org/10.21512/bbr.v11i2.6193 7. Alfarasani, L.A., Mohammad, A.: Work-life balance for women in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology 18(14), 575–584 (2021) 8. Lavanya, B., Sree, B.D.: Work-life balance and organizational citizenship behaviour-a study with reference to bank employees. International Research Journal on Advanced Science Hub (IRJASH) Special Issue of First International Conference on Management, Science and Technology (2021). www.rspsciencehub.com

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9. Mohamed, W.S.E.D.: Investigating the Relationship between Job Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship Behavior Among BeniSuef Cement Company Employees, vol. 6(5), pp. 2–7 (2016) 10. Myers, R.: Classical and Modern Regression with Applications, 2nd edn. Duxbury, Boston, MA (1990) 11. Nabergoj, A.S., Pahor, M.: Family-friendly workplace: an analysis of organizational effects in the transition economy. Journal of East European Management Studies 21(3), 352–373 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1688/JEEMS-2016-Nabergoj 12. Osnowitz, D.: Managing time in domestic space: home-based contractors and household work. Gender Society 19, 83–103 (2005) 13. Pace, F., Sciotto, G.: Gender differences in the relationship between work–life balance, career opportunities and general health perception. Sustainability (Switzerland) 14(1) (2022). https:// doi.org/10.3390/su14010357 14. Rashid, W.E.W., Nordin, M.S., Omar, A., Ismail, I.: Measuring Self-Esteem, Work/Family Enrichment and Life Satisfaction: An Empirical Validation (2011) 15. Saxena, R.: Achieving work life balance through flexible work schedule: a conceptual study. Asian Journal of Management 9(1) (2018). www.anvpublication.org 16. Shabir, S., Gani, A.: Impact of work–life balance on organizational commitment of women health-care workers: structural modeling approach. Int. J. Organ. Anal. 28(4), 917–939 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-07-2019-1820 17. Sundaresan, S.: Work-Life Balance-Implications for Working Women (2014). http://www.ssrn. com/link/OIDA-Intl-Journal-Sustainable-Dev.html 18. Sewwandi, S.P.K., Dissanayake, D.M.T.D.: The impact of organizational commitment on organizational citizenship behaviour among managerial level employees in apperal industry in Gampaha District. Wayamba Journal of Management 10(1), 12 (2019). https://doi.org/10.4038/ wjm.v10i1.7480 19. Tindowen, D.J., Candelario, L., Mendezabal, M.J., Quilang, P.: Organisational commitment and job satisfaction among government employees. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change 13(10) (2020). www.ijicc.net 20. Tausig, M., Fenwick, R.: Unbinding time: alternate work schedules and work-life balance. J. Fam. Econ. Issues 22, 101–119 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016626028720 21. Velicer, W.F., Fava, J.L.: Effects of variable and subject sampling on factor pattern recovery. Psychol. Methods 3, 231–251 (1998) 22. Wagman, P., Björklund, A., Håkansson, C., Jacobsson, C., Falkmer, T.: Perceptions of Life Balance Among a Working Population in Sweden. Qualitative Health Research. 21, 410–418 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732310379240 23. Yadav, M., Rangnekar, S., Srivastava, A.P.: Demographic variables as moderators between QWL and OCB. Ind. Commer. Train. 51(7/8), 396–408 (2019)

Modeling Methodology, Simulation and Identification of Performance Indicators in a Maternity Unit of the UHC in Tunisia Sayda Ben Sghaier, Rafaa Mraihi, and Arij Lahmar

Abstract The random arrival of patients results in a lack of control over demand and sometimes an unavailability of human or material resources which causes patient dissatisfaction. The main objective is to guarantee rapid patient care, especially in the case of women and children, a control of the request are mandatory. Now, research on performance and its indicators become a major concern of Tunisian public hospitals in order to satisfy public health patients. It therefore appears essential to identify performance indicators within the Maternity Service (MS) of the Farhat Hached hospital in Sousse and to propose solutions to improve the performance of medical staff and the quality of care. This modeling step was mainly a preparation for the simulation as well as the creation of a schema enriched with information and summarizing the essential functioning of the service to which we can refer throughout our work. Keywords Modeling · Public hospital · Simulation · Performance indicators

1 Introduction Healthcare establishments are subject to changes in their social, economic and regulatory environment, which require them to improve the quality of care. In this context, they must meet a set of requirements, including those relating to the satisfaction of patients and healthcare providers and comply with international quality standards. Indeed, improving the quality of care depends on the efficiency of logistics activities within hospitals. In addition, the understanding of the concept of quality of care, the variables influencing patient satisfaction and the variables affecting the satisfaction of health professionals. Better perception of departmental changes can trigger S. B. Sghaier (B) · R. Mraihi Tunis Higher Business School, ThEMA Laboratory, Manouba, Tunisia e-mail: [email protected] A. Lahmar Dubai University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_7

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recognition of bottlenecks that can impact overall flow, as well as create salient barriers in individual care that can increase non-compliance with flow goals [1]. In addition, to survive in an environment characterized by limited resources, hospital services must rethink their performance and therefore simulate the scenarios in order to adapt appropriate strategies and policies. Therefore, there is a potential advantage in modeling and simulating the complete process to test the impact of several alternatives and policies for resource allocation, queue optimization, etc. Otherwise, a model or a decision support tool is developed to simulate and test several policies. To achieve the objectives announced previously, we will implement a stochastic model, which allows us to analyze the current situation and examine the different possible scenarios while answering the “What-If” questions. It allows managers to assess the impact of any changes or proposed actions on the system’ key performance indicators (KPIs). Indeed, we will propose in this research a simulation model capable of modeling several alternatives of trajectories and of planning all the patients throughout the process of management in the MS. Then, we will discuss the simulation results; evaluate the different operational performance keys of the hospital.

2 Description of the Tunisian Health System The fundamental problem in health care planning is the allocation of resources to medical specialties in such a way as to minimize queue costs. Obviously, the award process must be determined in advance and may involve negotiations. First, resources are allocated at the start of a time horizon that can be quite long, ranging from a few months to several years. The number of patients for each specialty is therefore estimated in advance, and the actual number may be very different from the initial estimate. Then, calendars are often created with reference to the planning horizon (for example, one to four weeks), thus repeated cyclically. Although actual demand is known in advance, it may vary from period to period. Finally, a schedule must make it possible to reduce queues as much as possible when the demand for care is maximum (in relation to the chosen schedule). In this context, the following section deals with the failure in the flow of patients in the Maternity Service (MS) within the University Hospital Center CHU FARHAT HACHED. The waiting time results from the imbalance between supply and demand. If demand exceeds supply, a queue is formed [2]. In addition, the waiting time situation may also be difficult to improve in the long term if the variation in supply does not adapt to the variation in demand. Excessive demand in a certain period generates queues, while temporary excess capacity cannot be saved for future use [3]. Recently, a complete patient journey through the Maternity Service of Farhat Hached Sousse Hospital is modeled in order to facilitate the application of a combination of quantitative data to describe and analyze the entire spectrum of-Maternity Service activity.

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2.1 The BPMN Approach and Its Implementation Within the Maternity Service Modeling can be expressed according to the level of complexity of the process or the vision to be represented, performed by different techniques and presented in different languages. Thus, the way in which the process will be studied will define the choice of the most appropriate technique or language [4]. Some of the most commonly used languages are flowcharts, integrated definition language, unified modeling language and business process model and notation (BPMN). In the field of health, process modeling aims to facilitate understanding and visualization of how activities are carried out with a focus on the mission of the organization and patient care, and identification of the logical sequence of processes and their effectiveness [5]. In our study, modeling is used to create an image of the patient’s journey through the MS as well as a description of activities of concern to staff. The use of the BPMN “Business Process Model and Notation” approach provides a representation of the specificity of business processes. On the other hand, it makes it possible to verify and validate the process led by medical staff. Indeed, these tools are equipped with simulation modules that ensure the smooth running of processes in a system, observing for example the consumption of resources and the time of execution. A first representation of the process was made using BPMN version 2.0.2 via the Bizagi Process Modeler software version 2.7.0.2. Thus, a presentation was made with the main stakeholders of the validation process of the model developed, exposure of the opportunities for improvement identified and critical analysis of the results found. It was thus possible to obtain the modeling of the process in its current configuration (“As-Is” model) using the BPMN and a report on the evolution of many instances of the process.

2.2 Data Collection We carried out several visits, observations and follow-up of patients in order to analyze and identify malfunctions and identify peak periods of activity. We manually tracked the arrival of patients in real time during the MS and recorded activity times, patient characteristics and treatment details. Thus, human resources are properly shared between patients entering the system simultaneously and data is collected via separate interfaces. Indeed, the BPMN model is connected to a real database. These collected data are useful for future analyses that will be displayed in the output simulation interfaces. The mapping of patient flows across the MS was carried out over a continuous period of one year, from January to December 2017. The dataset from the data collection exercise (after improvement) is injected into the simulation module. Simulation parameters can be selected based on a particular load profile: injection period (time window of medical activity of staff) and number of instances

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(number of patient cases distributed with a distribution type). With this simulation tool, we can measure wait times and generate the task in a crisis situation. In order to conduct our study, it is obvious to choose a specific field of research that requires a particular approach. For this reason, we organized visits with the staff to make direct, non-participating observations in order to understand the behaviours and interactions of the actors in the natural environment. Thus, these meetings are organized to know the practices and the course of actions within the service. Some parts of the model have been correct but others have improved according to some observations that were not included in the data collected.

3 Simulations and Results The Frahat Hached Hospital and specifically the MS had expressed the need for empirical data on patient flow and pathway as there was a lack of evidence to support proposals for improvement. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to better understand the delay factors in the patient journey and to provide an effective basis for service planning within MSs. There are examples in the literature that have used models and identified factors that contribute to patient delays in the patient journey in hospitals. However, most studies have focused on using models to improve patient flow rather than documenting a detailed understanding for service planning. Note that the MS receives a minimum of 100 patients and a maximum of 250 patients per day. In order to start the simulation, we first define the number of instances (incoming flows) that must be performed and the duration on which these instances will spread to start the simulation. The results obtained are tables showing the minimum, maximum and average time to perform the different care tasks that make up the process and the rate of resource utilization. First, we focused on the profile in the crisis mode (tension) in order to be able to identify peaks of activities and bottlenecks and finally arrive at an evaluation of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

3.1 As-Is Process Simulation Results Our ultimate goal is to determine with these curves the factors of tension of this regime in order to be able, at the time of their appearance, to switch on the model in saturated regime to have a first part a total image of the functioning of the SM. Second, we seek to identify the main causes of wait times before limiting them to the maximum to reduce wait times. In addition, we aim to exceed 100% of the resource utilization rate. This allows us to see the “minimum”, “maximum” and “average” wait times for a patient entering the MS for a care service:

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i.

“Minimum” time is the time spent in the department when the department is completely empty at the start of the simulation. Nevertheless, the service runs continuously, so it’s never empty, so the conclusion is that it can’t happen in reality. ii. “Maximum” time is important because it is the worst case scenario that occurred during the simulation iii. Finally, the “average” time spent in the service. Two profiles were identified using the database provided by the hospital. The difference between the profiles is characterized by the number of patients.

3.2 Modeling Methodology and Identification of Performance Indicators Although not clearly evident in quantitative data, recognized problems become clearly important in high-volume situations when the impact of resource limitations has been strongly highlighted. We first tested a load profile for a minimum number of patients that is 100 patients. The other profile is tested for 250 patients per day (Fig. 1). In summary, after the stress simulation, the peaks of activities can be carried out mainly at the level of two activities: the boxes of the registration and the taking appointments. Indeed, we have achieved the following results for the expectations in the welcome box: So we end up with a consistent result from a hospital point of view, because the wait time gradually increases each time or the flow of patients increases. The average wait is therefore about 1 h, and can reach almost 2h 24 min in the worst case. This is due to the overload of work for this activity as each box in the

Fig. 1 Simulation results of different care process activities for 100 instances

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service receives at least 40 patients to complete the registration. This results in patient dissatisfaction and influences the performance of other process activities, especially those related to the collection of registration fees and consultation. This is due to the overload of work for this activity as this service receives at least 100 patients per day to complete the registration. This is what causes patient dissatisfaction and influences the performance of other process activities, especially those related to the collection of registration fees and consultation. This is an economic problem in the sense that the supply in these health services is not able to absorb the demand for service. This inadequacy causes an overload situation in hospitals and an imbalance between limited supply and increasingly potential demand.

3.3 As-Is Process Simulation Results for 250 Instances This is due to the overload of work for this activity as each box in the service receives at least 40 patients to complete the registration. This results in patient dissatisfaction and influences the performance of other process activities, especially those related to the collection of registration fees and consultation. Figure 2 shows the wait time for the making appointment activity that moves back all the time. These graphs clearly show the operation during the peak period, which falls sharply. Indeed, we observe that throughout the simulation period, the wait time for an activity instance is almost one hour for an instance and the maximum time exceeds two hours. So we find that some periods are more congested than others, and the important thing is to make sure that our operating regime allows the expectation to be resolved quickly.

3.4 Patient Flow and Consequences of Expectations Regarding the number of patients served per day, Fig. 3 curve shows the evolution of the number of instances from arrival at the service to exit. We see that the number decreases as we move from one spot to another. This decrease is due to long queues, especially the registration box. In addition, Fig. 3 shows the simulation result of 250 instances. It illustrates the final number served and the flow into the care process. The final number served is 62 versus 250 on arrival. This implies that the patient sometimes manages not to access the care process and returns to the service another day and go to the level through a queue. This explains why most patients are unable to register or even make an appointment. In addition, there were bottleneck periods where average wait times were not acceptable under the service guidelines. In addition, this implies on the one hand the lack of resources which aggravates the situation of tension where patients are in a critical situation sometimes, staying in long queues and waiting for their roles. On the other hand, this implies that there were periods of bottlenecks, although the

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Fig. 2 Wait time for the “Appointment Taking” activity per instance

Fig. 3 Change in number of patient flows in the care process

average waiting times are not acceptable according to the service guidelines. In addition, some pregnant women are forced to return another day to be examined by a specialist. These rates reflect the disastrous conditions within a regional maternity service in the face of the critical situation of some patients. In summary, the main source of delay in patient flow is the long queue. The use of real data to build the patient flow model is effective in identifying sources of delay

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and aspects of care process activities that can be improved. The development of this model was based on visits to MS. It makes it possible to identify MS malfunctions and to propose and estimate preventive indicators of stress situations.

4 Discussion In fact, the “BPMN” model creates as a standard reference language for capturing the studied system and exposing specific flows, including patient trajectories, resource management and the definition of the actors involved. Thus, it helps us to identify voltage situations in the service (through the identification of corresponding voltage indicators). To improve the performance of any health care system, you first need to know how to properly measure its performance. Thanks to our model and the results of the simulations, we conclude that the Total Wait Time (TAT) from the patient to the MS can be excessive. In particular, at the reception level for check-in or appointment taking. Indeed, the massive arrival of the patient to the SM as well as in case of vital emergency makes the medical staff unavailable. The selected Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are then found to be highly correlated with bottlenecks and patient satisfaction. KPIs have always been a controversial topic, as the why and how remain unclear. Neither the scientific community nor practitioners are in a position to decide which of the most appropriate key performance indicators, as each of them has both advantages and disadvantages. In order to minimize patient wait times and optimally organize the care activity of medical staff, we must also develop planning approaches, Simulation and optimization to minimize patient wait time during workflow execution. Modeling and simulation, two approaches that have been used as decision-making tools in many areas of economics. They are on the one hand much cheaper and faster in the construction of a virtual system. On the other hand, experimentation with different scenarios and decisions taken before implementing the system are beneficial [6]. Design, optimize and implement a decision support system to anticipate the induction of tension into a health facility. This decision support system must take into account the new needs in patient management resulting from technological, environmental, socio-economic, global and national developments. In addition, this system makes it possible to anticipate the crisis and exceptional situations and to balance the patient flows as well as the care staff and material resources throughout the hospital supply chain. Therefore, the main contribution of this chapter is the identification of patient flows by the BPMN model which is based on the patient journey process in the maternity department, to describe and analyze the entire MS activity design.

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In fact, we modeled an “As-Is” process, which allowed the organization to visualize and understand how the process works, identify performance indicators to be measured, and identify key areas for improvement. Therefore improvements will be identified, in particular at the level of implementation of a continuous improvement process with the definition of KPIs and regular review procedures.

5 Conclusions In this work, we used a structured approach to meet regularly with the MS’s medical staff to understand how it works. As a result, we conducted several visits, observations and follow-up of patients. We then modeled an “As-Is” process, which allowed the organization to visualize and understand how the process works, identify the performance indicators to be measured and the main improvement aspects to be achieved. We also presented our BPMN modeling as a standard reference language for capturing the studied system and exposing specific flows, including patient trajectories, resource management and definition of the actors involved. In addition, the results of the simulations enabled us to identify the key performance indicators at MS Farhat Hached. After obtaining Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) related to patient time and characteristics, the MS can propose and explore the possibility of To-Be models that could make patient management more effective. From a perspective, we can put in place a decision support system to provide strategies to avoid overcrowding situations. It is therefore essential to propose simulation models for the entire service then assess the relevance of the proposed predictive models and finally develop recommendations for strategies to avoid crisis situations. We will study and examine, on the one hand, the key role of a deep simulation to improve the performance of MS through different scenarios proposed «what -if». On the other hand, we will implement a decision support system to provide strategies to avoid situations of tension.

References 1. Franklin, B.J., Gandhi, T.K., Bates, D.W., et al.: Impact of multidisciplinary team huddles on patient safety: a systematic review and proposed taxonomy. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 29(10), 844–853 (2020) 2. Hanning, M.: Maximum waiting-time guarantee a remedy to long waiting lists? Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Health Services Research (2005) 3. Silvester, K.L.R., Bevan, H.: Reducing waiting times in the NHS: is lack of capacity the problem? Clinician in Management 12 (2004) 4. Dufresne, T., Martin, J.: Process modeling for e- business. Systems Engineering: Knowledge Management and E-Business, pp. 1–28. George Mason University, Fairfax, VA (2003)

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5. Aguilar, E.R., García, F., Ruiz, F., Piattini, M., Calahorra, L., García, M., Martin, R.: Process modeling of the health sector using BPMN: a case study. In: Proceedings of the First International (2008) 6. Seleim, A., Azab, A., AlGeddawy, T.: Simulation methods for changeable manufacturing. In: 45th Cirp Conference on Manufacturing Systems 2012, vol. 3, pp. 179–184 (2012)

Impact of Immersive Technology and Virtual Work Environment, on Innovative Work Behaviour Tomi Agus Triono , Ratna Roostika , Muafi Muafi , and Siti Nursyamsiah

Abstract Research in the field of human resources has undergone many changes with the development of technology. The immersive technology and virtual work environment have impact on the employee performance and this need to be evaluated. This research focuses on the effect of immersive technology and virtual work environment on innovative work behaviour among generation Z in Indonesia. Three propositions were developed as the initial research stage, including the effect of immersive technology on the virtual work environment, the effect of immersive technology on innovative work behaviour and the effect of virtual work environment on innovative work behaviour. It is hoped that this research will enrich the literature in the field of human resource management focusing on the virtual work environment. In addition, practical benefits will also be useful for managers to organize employees using immersive technology to continue to provide innovative opportunities and performance. Keywords Immersive technology · Virtual work environment · Innovative work behaviour

1 Introduction All companies running their production currently cannot avoid globalization and technological reformation. Digital technology has become a necessity in surviving and winning the competition. As an employee, adaptation capability to globalization and technology are important asset for successful career and for contribute company’s performance. Especially in the information and communication technology sector which is developing very fast, companies must be able to deal with entering new business models such as building value where one works, and create new ways to interact and communicate [1]. In this digital era of technology, human resources are required to be able to work remotely or virtually using various software platforms [2]. T. A. Triono · R. Roostika (B) · M. Muafi · S. Nursyamsiah Management Department, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Yogyakarta, Indonesia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_8

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Computational capabilities in artificial intelligence and cognitive automation tools are very important in virtual software to accommodate remote work [3]. Recently there has been many training and virtual human resource development for upgrading employees’ skills and competence in facing immersive technology [4]. The existence of very rapid technological innovation must be accompanied by the ability of human resources to handle it. All of these are aimed to achieve organization adaptation capability facing new environment and able to compete competitively [5]. Companies need to manage training and provide good preparation for remote work using virtual technology. The number of hours worked and experiences will create habits for employees working in the virtual world. The virtual work habits will lead to comfortable working environment perceived as if working in the real world. Immersive Technology is an interconnected network of social, this technology combines the real world and the digital world through networks in a consistent and continuous multi-user platform. Immersive technology is often referred to as Metaverse [6]. There are still many people who are not familiar with the term metaverse, but actually many have entered this world. Usually, the experience felt by each individual will be different between one to the others in the use of digital media which seems to be real in the metaverse. Recently the term metaverse has become very popular, especially among generation Z. It is not impossible that in the next few years the metaverse world will truly engaged within and be enjoyed by the Z generation. Metaverse, which was previously developed to play games, is now more than a function to serve gamers. In the world of metaverse, virtual technology can help running a business, travel, and fulfilling daily life. The world of the metaverse is now growing rapidly, many companies have taken advantage of this situation, such as activities in placing advertisement, buying land and property, formal and informal meeting, using as studying and working media, and much more like the situation in the real world. There is still little research examining the relationship between this immersive technology and business activities [7]. The topic of the metaverse in Indonesia has not been widely studied, but in the developed countries it has been widely studied, for example the use of the world of metaverse in the scope of education, science, technology, social, economics, culture and even in health sector has also discussed and observed in this field. Research relating metaverse in the human resources subject includes Carter [2] regarding employee experience in the metaverse. A study by Zvarikova et al. [3] also concern regarding virtual human resources. Furthermore, research conducted by Hawkins [4] concerned the virtual employee training and development [2–4]. Further those studies also consider environments on employees’ innovative work behaviour. By focusing on the field of human resources, this research will discuss the impact of immersive technology and virtual work environments on employees’ innovative work behaviour.

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This research is expected to provide better understanding in the impact of immersive technology to the innovative employees’ behaviours when working in the virtual environmental in Indonesia particularly among Z generations. The number of Z generation in Indonesia using digital technology is significant particularly that Indonesian government has serious support in developing the facilities and supportive facilities for digital technology development.

2 Literature Review 2.1 Immersive Technology Immersive technology is a technological capability that enable to eliminate the boundary between the virtual world and the real world. This technology is able to provide an immersive experience for its users [8]. Immersive technology is also defined as a new innovation that can present new ways of communicating, interacting, learning, or working. There are three elements in immersive technology as acknowledged, namely: augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) [9]. Argument Reality (AR) The argument reality was created by combining the virtual world with the real world. In principle, the argument technology is a new technology that combines the real world and the virtual world using various computer devices and combined with various software, which makes them possible to see objects such as humans, animals, objects and others that are displayed resembling 3D objects on the screen [10]. Virtual Reality (VR) Virtual reality or often known as ‘virtual realization’ is where computers can imitate the environment virtually, and can be displayed on a computer monitor or 3D display device. This technology is possible to build simulation environments that are very similar to the real world, however the simulation environment could also be possibly different from the real world [11, 12]. Mixed Reality (MR) This technology can be referred to as extended reality or cross reality (XR), which is a general term that combines a set of realistic technologies: electronics, communications, digital environments where information is displayed. Mixed reality is projected as a concept which combined between AR and VR [6]. The use of immersive technology, such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) is becoming easier for us to find in our daily lives. Immersive technology research is also expanding its context in the fields of education, marketing, entertainment, and healthcare [13–15]. Immersive technology was also found to be

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able to increase participation in collaborative activity [16]. Further, identified the effect of immersion technology on increases creativity and staff engagement [17].

2.2 Virtual Work Environment The work environment is a vehicle that exists within the organization, both the physical environment, social environment, and virtual environment that can be used to develop workers and company performance in an ongoing basis [18]. A comfortable work environment is expected by most employees, because a conducive work environment provides enormous benefits for all employees and the organization [19]. In principle, the work environment is everything that supports employee activities in a place. Besides that, the environment can also affect the spirit and emotions of employees, as for the non-physical environment which includes the relationship between managers and employees and between individuals with other individuals [20]. The term virtual work environment can be associated with the term virtual workspace, this term is generally used to describe a work environment where users are digitally connected to each other regardless of the individual’s physical environment and location. So far, many virtual workspace concepts have been built according to the context as geographic dispersion and the extent to which their use is dependent on technology [21]. Since the users are spread geographically, this makes the effective communication particularly important [22]. In practice, virtual workspaces can be called technology-mediated communication, which is different from working and communicating face-to-face as in reality. For the purpose of this research, the virtual work space definition by Lauring and Jonasson is followed who define virtual work as a workspace that is far from the head office and the uses of technology to communicate and send data. This technology allows employees to work anywhere, on location with geographical differences, also allows working while traveling [23]. There are some specific issues when people communicating virtually. Working in a physical meeting will optimize non-verbal interactions such as body movements, smiling or shaking hands, etc. [24]. Gestures (body language) is very helpful for people to understand the message conveyed because there are emotions contained despite the use of the verbal words. In general, communication in a virtual environment is believed to be more formal and neutral than meeting in person [23]. Virtual workspaces were also identified as only allowing focus on work-related material/issues due to limited space and opportunities to convey information virtually [25]. Working virtually also has the potential to create an increased sense of social distance which reduces interpersonal communication [23]. Some of the benefits of virtual workspace area to simplify the work of employees. There are three elements of virtual workspace including unification, security, and automation [26]. Virtual workspaces have a unified nature which allows users to collaborate on the same projects and documents involving centralized applications,

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desktops, data, and the internet. The security of the virtual workspace offers guarantee because it gives the IT team centralized control over each access point. Workers can log in by name from anywhere on any device, ensuring a great user experience. The automation of virtual workspaces offers artificial intelligence to provide automatization in simplifying tasks or jobs that are often done, so that workers can save time and effort or be efficient, and effective.

2.3 Innovative Work Behaviour An innovative organizational climate is highly desirable because it is considered to greatly determine the company’s performance. Companies that provide an innovative work atmosphere make employees feel comfortable to take risks for innovation which will provide positive energy for employees at work [27]. Some of the characteristics of organizations with a climate that supports an innovative atmosphere include providing space flexibility where there are wide opportunities for change [28]. Managerial practices that also provide innovative climate include providing autonomy in carrying out tasks and an atmosphere in which employees feel responsible for the success of their work [29]. When the company climate is strong with an atmosphere that supports innovation, employees will feel more motivated to develop their new ideas and make them a reality. Innovation itself can be interpreted as the introduction and application of new ideas, processes, products or procedures at work, teams work or organizations designed to benefit the organization [30]. Scott and Bruce argue that innovation is a gradual process with different activities and behaviours at each stage [31]. This is also expressed by De Jong and Hartog explaining that innovative work behaviour is a form of behaviour that aims to achieve the initiation and introduction of an idea, process, procedure or way of doing work with new and useful methods for the organization [32]. Hogan and Coote, define an innovative work environment in terms of the antecedent of both individuals team innovative behaviour [33]. Innovative work environment is the perception of employees who think that the work environment provides operational conditions, procedures and accepted behaviours that support the development and implementation of new ideas in the work environment [34]. In addition, the definition of work behaviour according to Robbins is how people in the work environment can actualize themselves through attitudes at work, emphasizing the attitude taken by workers to determine what people with this type will do in the workplace environment [28, 35]. There are four indicators that can be used to determine work behaviour according to Griffiths, namely [36]: social relations, work quality, work motivation, self-control. Innovative work behaviour is the sum of physical and cognitive work activities carried out by employees in the context of the work carried out, both individually and in groups to achieve a task required for the purpose of developing innovation

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[37]. Another definition of innovative work behaviour (IWB) is creating and developing new ideas in the workplace [32]. Previous research has found that IWB affects the ability to develop new products, improve organizational processes, employee job satisfaction, market access capabilities and overall organizational performance [29]. Several conditions that can influence (antecedent) IWB include organizational climate, employee involvement in work engagement decision making and respect for process and passion [38]. However, the existing studies that can build an IWB climate are still limited and not conclusive enough. There are still many gaps that need to be tested again in further research to complete the wealth of literature in this field. Gaps that need to be fixed include choosing the right antecedent variables according to industrial and geographical conditions. Several dimensions that are also considered in influencing IWB include idea exploration, generation, championing, and implementation [32]. More simply, some human resource experts agree to categorize the two main causes of IWB, namely idea generation and idea implementation [39]. Idea generation is when employees identify problems and try to find innovative solutions to address these problems. The idea of implementation is when employees introduce and implement innovative solutions in their workplace [39]. Apart from the variables that have been discussed, of course it is still possible for other variables to influence IWB, especially to develop ideas, find solutions to problems in the field and create new opportunities. This study considers the importance of contributing in filling the gap related to testing variables that can improve IWB in the context of human resource in Indonesia, especially in the virtual work environment. Below is the proposed research framework that will be tested among Indonesian generation Z working in virtual workspace environment (Fig. 1).

Virtual Work Environment Immersive Technology

Fig. 1 Research model

Innovative work Behaviour

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3 Proposition 3.1 Immersive Technology Impact on Innovative Work Behaviour Immersive technology which is a combination of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) is currently often referred to as Metaverse. Before going too far into the world of the metaverse. We can all know that current technological developments are very rapid and are widely used in various companies or organizations to increase effectiveness and efficiency and have a good impact on organizational performance [40]. To create a good organizational performance, it must be accompanied by the ability to work innovatively by the employees. In addition, the development of technology is very diverse, particularly the information technology itself. The research in some part has been done by Yunus which identified that the influence of information technology has an effect on organizational performance [41]. Previous research also found that the application of information technology has an effect on innovation work behaviour, meaning that the application of information technology in organizations is adjusted to the needs of the organization [42]. Another study conducted by Gómez et al. revealed that the investment in information technology positively influences open innovation on innovation performance by reducing the costs of identification, assimilation, and utilization. Further, this research provides evidence of the feasibility and benefits of new alternatives to innovations that differ from traditional processes [43]. In principle, immersive technology is the result of innovation from the continuous development of information technology. Based on the previous studies, it can be concluded that the higher the immersive technology, the higher the innovative work behaviour. P1: The immersive technology has positive effect on innovative work behaviour.

3.2 Immersive Technology Impact on Virtual Work Environment The virtual work environment which is often referred to as the virtual workspace is entering a new era. The application of immersive technology is expected to be able to support a conducive work environment so as to provide comfort for employees [44]. Previous research compared the use of virtual reality (VR) as an indicator of immersive technology with a web browser in completing a task. The results prove that VR is significantly more accurate than the web browser method. Therefore, virtual workspaces can provide benefits for users or employees to make work easier [45]. In addition, VR can function as an intermediary for an effective virtual workspace and can help to expand cognitive abilities, as well as to fulfil an optimal and efficient

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workspace [46]. According to the results of the research that has been previously observed, the higher the application of immersive technology, the higher the virtual work environment. P2: The immersive technology has positive effect on Virtual Work Environment.

3.3 Virtual Work Environment Impact on Innovative Work Behaviour Virtual work environments or virtual workspaces are supported by the latest supporting tools, such as the use of virtual reality (VR) desktops or VR cardboard. These tools can be operated easily. In addition, in carrying out innovative performance, it must be supported by a comfortable work environment [47]. With the virtual work environment, it is certainly easier to do a job, even more, the environment in the virtual can be adjusted to the workers’ needs, so that at work it is not easily feel bored. A study conducted by isa Errichiello focusing on Smart work centers/SWC (creative workspaces), the results of this study found the relationship between remote work and the creativity of smart workers can be positive when employees work on tasks at SCW [48]. Other studies suggest a positive and significant influence on the creativity of professional remote workers, skill innovation and creative tasks [49–51]. P3: The Virtual Work Environment has positive effect on Innovative Work Behaviour.

4 Reaserch Method This study was designed using a quantitative method, with the aim of revealing the truth of the objective [52]. This research is planned to be shown to virtual professional workspaces in software development companies in Indonesia, who then plan to conduct research in the world of education. The technique of data collection is to distribute web-based questionnaires. The sampling technique used is purposive sampling with a sample selection technique based on the researcher’s considerations [53]. The SEM analysis will be used as for statistical tool. Validity and reliability checks will follow the rule as in multivariate analysis.

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5 Discussions and Conclusion 5.1 Discussions Currently the world of technology has been very rapidly changing and the virtual work environment is one type of the most current development of the technology development. It is important to do research in terms of virtual work that is highly technological content. This study develops a research model that is still new and has never been previously studied in Indonesia among Z generation. The development of immersive technology combines the real world and the virtual world into a reality, in the working environment today. It is now required to use advanced technology to be effective and efficient. The application of the use of technology in a company has a positive impact and can improve employee innovative performance. The concept of a virtual workspace is important, a virtual work environment offers many benefits for employees, including: flexibility, security, and consistent experience [54]. Virtual workspaces can make many tasks becoming easier for employees to accomplished thus creating more efficient work environment, creating a flexible environment from anywhere [55]. This will assist companies for organizational goals and provide employees with a good work-life balance. The workspace is located on one server, which makes it easier for employees to access all data and documents. All of this ensures that workflows can be streamlined and help teams collaborate better. With digital speed that continues to grow, it turns out that Immersive technology and virtual work environments can make a significant contribution to innovative work behaviour. Indonesia as a country with huge population and having significant number of young generations has a great potential for successful deployment of digital technology. Generation Z are more digitally literate and should well adapt the immersive technology. This generation will represent the important work force thus their behaviours in involving with immersive technology as well as virtual work may define the success of organization performance. Whether this virtual work environment support innovative behaviours among young Indonesian generation Z is not known yet. By proposing the relationships among immersive technology, virtual work environment and innovative work behaviours, it is expected that companies/organizations in Indonesia dealing with virtual work environment can have better insight in better managing their employees.

5.2 Conclusion This study concerns the importance of the immersive technology that cause many practices of virtual work environment. The impacts of virtual work environment as compared to the traditional workspace (face-to-face) is certainly different. Very limited number of researches in the human resource observing the impact of the

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immersive technology on the applications of virtual work environment as well as the impact of innovative work behaviours. This study focuses on three propositions: the impact of immersive technology on virtual work environment, the impact of immersive technology on innovative work behaviour and the impact of virtual work environment on innovative work behaviour. Indonesians Z generation cohort will be observed as sample study. A quantitative research method using SEM analysis will be chosen. It is expected that this study will contribute to better literature in human resource relating to immersive technology as well as for managers to better managed their virtual work environment.

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Clustering EU Member-States and Ukraine by Female Empowerment in Business Volodymyr Tokar , Oksana Vinska , Nataliia Novak , and Liudmyla Sierova

Abstract The article discloses classes and clusters of EU member-states and Ukraine considering female empowerment in business. The methodology embraces grouping countries by percentage of firms with female majority ownership and top management, k-means cluster analysis and the elbow method. There are no gender equality laggards among EU member-states and Ukraine regarding percentage of firms with female top managers in groups of gender equality adopters and laggards considering percentage of firms with female majority ownership. The EU average percentage of firms with female majority ownership (40.2%) is almost twice as high as the percentage of firms with female top managers (21.0%). Ukraine belongs to gender equality leaders concerning ownership and adopters regarding top management, while Sweden falls into the laggards’ group by female top managers. The results are impacted by the absence of available data for 12 EU member-states. Applying soft and hard tools, the EU policy-makers can utilize our results and recommendations to bridge gender gaps in business. The study sheds light on female empowerment in business determining seven classes and five clusters of EU member-states and Ukraine considering percentage of firms with female majority ownership and top management. Keywords Cluster analysis · EU member-states · Female economic empowerment · Gender equality · Women in business

V. Tokar (B) · L. Sierova State University of Trade and Economics, 19 Kyoto Street, Kyiv 02156, Ukraine e-mail: [email protected] O. Vinska Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman, 54/1 Peremohy Avenue, Kyiv 03057, Ukraine N. Novak Kherson Institute of Interregional Academy of Personnel Management, 37 Oleksandrivska Street, Kherson 73003, Kherson Oblast, Ukraine © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_9

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1 Introduction The equality between women and men is one of the core values for the EU memberstates promoted in Articles 2, 3 of the Treaty on the European Union [5]. This value is important for any civilized country including Ukraine, which aspires to join the EU and has submitted an official application stating the respect to the EU values. Therefore, the research on gender equality in the EU member-states and Ukraine is essential to theory and practice due to the necessity for detecting backlogs and assessing results on the path to achieving the Union of Equality [7]. The Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025 within the framework of the Union of Equality highlights the slow progress in closing gender gaps in employment, pay, care and pension, as well as actions to combat these inequalities to unlock female potential in business, politics and society [6]. Considering the business prospects for women, there are two key areas of business success, namely business ownership and positions in top management. The gender equality in these two spheres with high incomes will lead to fundamental shift in female economic empowerment enabling women to realize their full creative and human potential and provide them with the financial freedom. Therefore, the key objective of this article is to shed light on these two dimensions of the female economic empowerment in EU member-states due to the research gap in this particular area. Moreover, one of the main research question is that we would like to verify our hypothesis that Ukraine has the adequate levels of gender equality if compared with EU member-states regarding these parameters. Thus, the structure of the paper includes introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusions.

2 Literature Review There is a wide range of research articles revealing female empowerment in business, including investigation of women’s entrepreneurship peculiarities in different countries, economic sectors, and types of business. For instance, Jafari-Sadeghi et al. [13] have compared motives of women to conduct business across national borders in 25 emerging markets in 2010–2016 applying the generalized method of moments estimator. The conclusions state that opportunities to increase income drive females to go international, while necessity-driven motives, such as scarce jobs, stimulate to stay in countries of origin. The becoming independent motive negatively affects the desire to do any type of business probably caused by fear to risk after the global financial crisis. However, using a difference-in-differences approach with propensity score matching Carbonero et al. [3] have discovered that female quotas in Italian companies’ boards increase the probability of exporting and the growth of exports value, including new products. They have also concluded that women in boards have not minimized the exposure to volatile sectors undermining the stereotype that females

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tend to take fewer risks than males. Therefore, it will be interesting to conduct similar investigations for other EU member-states and compare the results. Ladge et al. [16] have come to the conclusion that the cognitive mechanism of gender identity explains the gender gap in entrepreneurship and business growth. They claim that the notion of success is attributed mostly to men forcing women to undervalue themselves as real entrepreneurs, therefore, the above-mentioned authors have elaborated the toolkit to overcome this gender stereotype to foster female ability to expand their business. We agree that this perception could be wide spread in traditional societies, but there are plenty of successful businesswomen as role models in the majority of modern market economies. Welsh et al. [26] have highlighted the importance of family support for female entrepreneurs in Slovakia as women experience the conflict between work and family roles, that could be also true for countries in Central and Eastern Europe due to cultural peculiarities. Kaciak and Welsh [14] have also concluded that family support of instrumental and emotional nature corresponds with the national development level, but the work and family conflict curve has the inverted U-shaped form reaching the peak in countries with medium-level development. Applying in-depth qualitative study of female micro-entrepreneurs to detect the interplay between business success and peculiarities of household economic resources management in urban Ghana, Friendson-Ridenour and Pierotti [10] have found out that many husbands influence business decisions of female entrepreneurs. We think that it could be a universal feature of traditional societies, where women hide their true incomes to appraise males as the prime bread-winners encouraging females to take care of family needs and support children prioritizing savings versus investment which can pose risks to a family financial security. Taking into account S&P 500 firms, Chadwick and Dawson [4] have allegedly come to the conclusion, that compared with male-led ones, female-led businesses demonstrate better results in non-financial terms in family and non-family companies, while in financial terms only in non-family business with female CEO/CFO. Moreover, Samara et al. [20] have suggested that women in companies’ boards bring economic and non-economic benefits, such as preservation of family cohesion and improving the reputation of family and business. We find these conclusions rather valuable, not disregarding the profit orientation, the reputation is important for retaining clients and getting potential new ones, especially in highly competitive markets, where reputation loss may cause exodus of customers and disruption of business links. Analysing 63 family-controlled companies from global top-100 fashion firms Campopiano et al. [2] have proved that women tend to improve philanthropic engagement of the family business if they belong to the controlling family members and enhance the corporate social responsibility if not. However, the research concentrates only on fashion industry lacking the evidence for other economic sectors. Employing the effectuation lens to investigate decision-making Rosca et al. [19] have pointed out that female social entrepreneurs tend to use technology to foster inclusive strategies, moreover, social issues motivate them to become change agents in volatile emerging economies enhancing their sustainability.

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Mwambi et al. [17] have shown that participation in producer bargaining and processing organizations increases female empowerment in Kenya. There is every likelihood that it is also true for other African countries where women’s economic empowerment is essential for survival. We assume that learning bargaining skills within framework of those organizations helps females in running business and gaining more profit. However, bargaining is very much connected to the cultural environment, so we cannot transfer this conclusion to other cultures. Using structural equation modeling to analyse 556 tourist firms in Ghana and Nigeria, Ribeiro et al. [18] have discovered the positive impact of networks between companies and government agencies and suppliers on social ties, resource acquisition and performance of female-led businesses. Freeman and Svels [9] have observed that the Fisheries Local Action Groups support women in small scale fisheries to diversify their activities fostering female economic empowerment in the European Union. Applying the questionnaire survey for one district in Sri Lanka covering three subsectors of tourism industry Handaragama and Kusakabe [11] have contended that participation in business associations enable female entrepreneurs to get the access to vital resources for conducting business, namely financial, informational and network resource. However, these authors have found out that males prevail in top positions in business associations preventing females to unlock their full potential. Based on the survey data from 16 low- and middle-income countries Azeem et al. [1] have highlighted the importance of women-to-women mentoring in developing countries, for example, capable female managers help to increase productivity of working women by eradicating social bias towards female entrepreneurship and fostering innovations. We partially agree with such conclusions, but we support the idea of mentoring by females and males, as gender diversity could show better results. Interviewing Thai female migrants arriving to Sweden via transnational marriage Webster [25] have concluded that they tend to create trans-local connections with rural actors in Thailand via friend and family networks to build their business in rural Sweden. We find this research very interesting in terms of trans-locality development but describing how different gender norms in Sweden and Thailand influence business cooperation would be beneficial. We also tend to think that such business connections would be maintained only for first generation migrants. Development of rural networks in the EU member-states could have a spillover effect and increase the number of women in rural business management. According to calculations of Kolinets and Tokar [15] the ratio of female to male managers in agricultural holdings varies significantly among EU members-states and the growth on average was from 0.298 to 0.305 in 2005–2013. However, the EU efforts to intensify female economic empowerment for the last decade could bring better results in terms of women as rural business leaders. Considering all of the above-mentioned, there is still a lack of research on cluster analysis of European countries by female empowerment in business. We assume that our findings will have also applied effects, including the improvement of the integration corporate strategy by adding gender equality to the roaster of factors that should be considered elaborating strategic alternatives for the development of joint stock companies, for instance, suggested by Hutsaliuk et al. [12]. Our research has

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the high topicality also due to the aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, when the Ukrainian nation shows its devotion to EU values of freedom and equality. Therefore, we would like to find out the degree to which Ukraine corresponds to the female empowerment in business of EU member-states.

3 Methodology Taking into account the results of researchers [21–24] shedding light on gender gaps in the EU economic female empowerment, clusters of EU member-states by gender equality and economic development, this articles concentrates on describing groups of EU member-states and Ukraine via female empowerment in business focus using the Global Gender Gap 2021 indicators, namely percentage of firms with female majority ownership and top managers within the work participation and leadership sub-index. Firstly, we have adapted the EU NUTS [8] methodology to classify EU memberstates and Ukraine by female empowerment in business distinguishing gender equality leaders (more than 90% of the EU average), adopters (75–90%), and laggards (less than 75%). Secondly, we employ the k-means cluster analysis using the Microsoft Excel data mining add-in for conducting computations. Moreover, to choose the amount of clusters, we have used the ratio of variance explained formula: Ratio of variance explained = SSG/SST

(1)

Secondly, we employ the k-means cluster analysis using the Microsoft Excel data mining add-in for conducting computations. Where: SS—the sum of square distances accumulated over all points; SSE—the sum of square distances within groups from the points to the centers; SSG—the sum of square distances between groups from the centers to the average vector; SST—the total sum of square distances from the points to the average vector, so that: SST = SSE + SSG

(2)

Finally, we have applied the elbow method to develop a chart of the ratio of variance per k to find the least amount of clusters appropriate to classify the EU member-states and Ukraine by female empowerment in business.

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The integration of the above-mentioned methods enriches the toolkit for analyzing gender equality within the EU and at the global scale making it easier to elaborate measures aimed at eradicating gender gaps.

4 Results There was the lack of available data for 12 EU member-states, namely Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. The EU average percentage of firms with female majority ownership and firms with female top managers equaled to 40.2% and 21.0% respectively in 2021. Sweden (52.5%) and Hungary (51.9%) were leaders among countries considering ownership, while Latvia (32.6%) and Lithuania (30.7%) showed maximum results regarding top management. Meanwhile, Ukraine took the 9th (38.6%) and 10th (17.7%) places in ownership and management rankings respectively. Applying by analogy the NUTS approach [8] we receive 9 potential classes of EU member-states depending considering percentage of firms with female majority ownership and top managers, namely gender equality laggards (less 75%), adopters (from 75 to 90%), and leaders (over 90% of the EU average). However, there were only 7 classes determined according to our calculations combining these two dimensions. Considering the percentage of firms with female majority ownership there were 11 gender equality leaders (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Sweden, and Ukraine), 3 adopters (Estonia, Romania, and Slovenia) and 2 laggards (Czech Republic and Slovakia). In turn, regarding the percentage of firms with female top managers there were 8 gender equality leaders (Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Slovakia), 5 adopters (Czech Republic, Greece, Romania, Slovenia, and Ukraine) and 3 laggards (Cyprus, Malta, and Sweden). The leaders in both dimensions are Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Figure 1 shows that according to the elbow method calculations the data should be divided into 5 clusters. We have chosen the smallest k (number of clusters) explaining at least 90% of the variance equaling 90.7727% in our case). Our calculations have shown the following results: Explained variance ratio—0.9077; SSE—2119.8333; SSG—20,853.6042; SST—22,973.4375; SSE by groups: 340.75, 425.3333, 736.75, 240, 377; Centers: [84, 82.75], [119.3333, 50.6667], [82.75, 119], [109, 146], [121.5, 93.5].

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Ratio of Variance Explained

The Elbow Method for Optimal k 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 1

Ratio of variance explained

0.5619452

0.7586125

2

3

0.8499615

0.9077268

4

5

0.9301113

6

0.9425097

7

0.95891

8

Number of Clusters (k)

Fig. 1 The results of elbow method for cluster analysis

It took us 8 iterations to determine the distribution of EU member-states and Ukraine by clusters. Table 1 shows that the first cluster includes 4 countries (Czech Republic, Romania, Slovenia, and Ukraine), the second one—3 (Cyprus, Malta, and Sweden), the third one—4 (Croatia, Estonia, Poland, and Slovakia), the fourth one—3 (Bulgaria, Latvia, and Lithuania), and the fifth one—2 (Greece and Hungary). Female economic empowerment is an essential part of gender equality. Considering high income of owners and top managers, eradicating the gender gaps in these two dimensions will increase the level of female economic empowerment dramatically. In our opinion, financial independence of women fosters gender equality in general, as no true equality can be achieved when females are unable to provide for themselves on equal terms with males. Equal opportunities for both men and women in business guarantee true meritocracy leading to higher efficiency, social and economic advancement of the EU member-states and Ukraine. Table 1 The descriptive statistics for 5 clusters of EU member-states and Ukraine considering percentage of firms with female majority ownership and top managers (own calculations based on source: [27]) #

Cluster

Number of countries

Sum of square distances to the center

Centers

1

Czech Republic, Romania, Slovenia, Ukraine

4

340.75

[84, 82.75]

2

Cyprus, Malta, Sweden

3

425.3333

[119.3333, 50.6667]

3

Croatia, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia

4

736.75

[82.75, 119]

4

Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania

3

240

[109, 146],

5

Greece, Hungary

2

377

[121.5, 93.5]

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5 Discussion Our results develop the idea of Carbonero et al. [3] on gender quotas in companies’ boards for increasing the exporting and developing new products. Their research was based on Italy, however in our calculations we have defined laggard countries in terms of women in top management and offered gender quotas as an efficient instrument to overcome this gender gap. We agree with them that it is a stereotype that women are less risky than men, as our research on the EU member-states and Ukraine demonstrates that there are more females than males among firm owners in Sweden and Hungary, even though the entrepreneurship is obviously a risky activity. Our research confirms the findings by Ladge et al. [16] that gender gap in entrepreneurship and business growth is defined by cognitive mechanism of gender identity. There is a society bias that success is only a male feature. We support the authors’ toolkit for overcoming these gender gaps, but also complement them with more measures targeted to foster female empowerment in business, for instance, such soft tools as training, work shadowing, mentoring and networking. We agree with Chadwick and Dawson [4]; Samara et al. [20]; Campopiano et al. [2]; Rosca et al. [19] that gender equality improves economic results and has wider social impacts. Nowadays, the corporate social responsibility and non-financial prism of business plays the growing role in attracting new clients and maintaining market shares. The cohesion, reputation, philanthropy, diversity and inclusion are becoming the integral part of modern business environment. Therefore, our recommendations to impose gender quotas on laggard countries as well as channeling the EU funds to support small and medium business owned by women will foster bridging the gender gaps and achieving broader positive social effects, for instance, transforming female owners and top managers into agents of change for sustainable economic development in Europe. The first limitation of our research is the absence of available data for 12 EU member-states preventing us from conducting comparative analysis between new and old EU Member-States also considering the regional dimension. However, we see it as a gap to be filled by the EU authorities to guarantee the constant comprehensive monitoring of female economic empowerment in Europe. The second limitation is that we have not considered Ukraine calculating the EU average percentage of firms with female majority ownership and female top managers due to the fact that Ukraine is not a EU member-state yet even though the situation seems to be moving in the right direction now.

6 Conclusions Considering the percentage of firms with female majority ownership and top managers, we introduce nine potential classes of analyzed countries, seven of them were found according to our calculations, namely 5 gender equality leaders in both

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dimensions (Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland), 2 leaders-adopters (Greece and Ukraine), 3 leader-laggards (Cyprus, Malta, Sweden), 2 adopters-leaders (Croatia and Estonia), 2 adopters-adopters (Romania and Slovenia), 1 laggard-leader (Slovakia), and 1 laggard-adopter (Czech Republic). The cluster analysis showed similar results with five groups of countries, namely the first cluster includes 4 countries (Czech Republic, Romania, Slovenia, and Ukraine), the second one—3 (Cyprus, Malta, and Sweden), the third one—4 (Croatia, Estonia, Poland, and Slovakia), the fourth one—3 (Bulgaria, Latvia, and Lithuania), and the fifth one—2 (Greece and Hungary). It is worth mentioning, that the data was unavailable for 12 EU memberstates, namely Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain putting a serious limitation on our research. Therefore, the EU ought to overcome this flaw in collecting gender statistics for achieving the Union of Equality. The calculations have proved our hypothesis that Ukraine is adherent to the value of gender equality in business falling into the group of gender equality leaders concerning firms with female majority ownership and gender equality adopters regarding firms with female top management. In contrast to the wide spread opinion of the constant Sweden’s leadership in terms of equality between men and women, this EU member-state turned out to be the gender equality laggard concerning the percentage of firms with female top management. The majority of analyzed countries showed the discrepancy between levels of gender equality regarding percentage of firms with female majority ownership and top managers. The lagging behind in terms of females at top positions stresses the importance of personnel training and fostering women’s career growth. The fact that the EU average percentage of firms with female majority ownership is was almost two times bigger than the percentage of firms with female top managers (40.2% vs. 21%) could mean that even female owners do not trust other women to lead their business strengthening gender stereotypes in European countries. Considering gender equality adopters in terms of top management (Czech Republic, Greece, Romania, and Slovenia), we recommend soft instruments, namely work-shadowing, networking, mentoring, and female leadership training for personnel reserve to bridge the gender gap. In contrast, when it comes to gender equality laggards (Cyprus, Malta, and Sweden), the gender quotas should be implemented to overcome gender bias. To tackle the potential opposition of private business, the EU could forbid firms without gender diversity at top management to participate in tenders and deny them the access to the common budget resources. Regarding firms with female majority ownership, we insist on enhancing the gender audit of the EU programs aimed at supporting the small and medium enterprises, especially towards grants for establishing new businesses in countries belonging to gender equality adopters (Croatia, Estonia, Romania, and Slovenia), while temporarily focusing the above-mentioned financial support for laggards (Czech Republic and Slovakia) solely on the firms with females as owners, otherwise, the gender gaps in these two countries would only widen.

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The prospective further pieces of research include elaborating a multi-factor model using such parameters as women on boards of listed companies, education in business/economy/law and economic development measured by GDP per capita to estimate the correlation between education and business success. Considering the fierce global competition and demographic processes in the EU, we find that educated and creative women are the main underutilized potential for fostering social and economic prosperity in Europe.

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Workplace Friendship Influences Innovative Work Behavior: The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment and Knowledge Sharing Dani Rizana , Muafi Muafi , and Irfan Helmy

Abstract The objective of this current study is to scrutinize the nexus between workplace friendship and innovative work behavior, with psychological empowerment and knowledge sharing as the mediators. Workplace friendship is essential for organizational performance as it can enhance emotional support for individual performance. Nurturing workplace friendship cultivates collaborative environment that encourage employees to interact and exchange ideas. Theoretically, this study provides several propositions for the following reasons; (1) This study is proposed to fill the gaps in the link workplace friendship with innovative work behavior as well as solutions to the inconsistent findings (2) this study developed a new conceptual model that has been overlooked in the past literatures. Practically, this research contributes to answer how to; (1) improve creativity that can be a solution for innovation in MSMEs (2) encourages innovative work behavior by stimulating employees’ sense of empowerment and knowledge sharing activity. Keywords Workplace friendship · Psychological empowerment · Knowledge sharing · Innovative work behavior

1 Introduction Access to information and communication that is easy today will increase the ability of small businesses to create alternative products that are unique and under consumer demand [1]. This access will impact the increasing number of start-up businesses that is ready to compete with the products of large companies in the market [2]. The 2018 index data of global entrepreneurship shows that the number of new entrepreneurs D. Rizana · M. Muafi (B) Department of Management, Business and Economics Faculty, Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII), Yogyakarta, Indonesia e-mail: [email protected] I. Helmy Department of Management, Economics and Business Faculty, Universitas Putra Bangsa (UPB), Kebumen, Indonesia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_10

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(early-stage entrepreneurs) has increased by 4.4%. More than 70% of these new entrepreneurs offer innovative products that create new competition in the business environment. For this reason, during increasingly fierce competition, every business must think about how to improve innovation capabilities to create a competitive advantage [3]. Innovation is significant for every company to keep running. In the knowledgebased view [4], innovation is the process of implementing knowledge in the company to create new products [5]. Knowledge can create a competitive advantage for the company because through this set of knowledge and skills, companies can create innovation [6]. Some researchers define innovation as the process of translating ideas or inventions into goods and services with values [7]. Furthermore, [8] mentioned that innovation is a process that focuses on developing and actualizing creative ideas. Several research results show that innovation can create a competitive advantage [9, 10] and improve company performance [11] and [12]. This is because innovative companies are able to respond to challenges faster and better by exploiting emerging opportunities. One type of innovation that occurs at individual level is innovative work behavior (IWB) practiced by employees. IWB is individual behavior that includes a number of phases: idea generating, idea promotion, and idea realization [13]. By having IWB, an individual not only have the intention to produce new ideas, but also to disseminate and apply it for achieving efficiency and effectiveness to solve problems and increase the company’s competitive advantage [14]. Several studies have examined the factors that influence innovative work behavior, including leadership (example: [15]), commitment (example: [16]), job characteristics (example: [17]), and workplace friendship (example: [18]). Based on the results of previous research reviews, it is known that employees’ innovative behavior has a vital role in the success of the company’s innovation. Therefore, to support innovative work behavior, it is necessary to develop friendships in the workplace beyond mere acquaintances because the involved individuals always feel something in common and show commitment, trust, and mutual benefit spontaneously [19]. A number of prior research have found workplace friendships has a significant and positive impact on positive employee behavior such as team atmosphere, performance, employee engagement, job insecurity, voice behavior, and etc. [20]. In this case, workplace friendship is a crucial factor influencing individual innovative behavior in the workplace [21]. The following section provides a literature review on the linkage between the workplace friendship and innovative work behavior, and the mediating effect of psychological empowerment and knowledge sharing. The methodology section presents about the setting of the study and how was the data gathering. The results are then discussed and connected to the literature. From this ensues the conclusions, implications and suggestions for future research.

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2 Proposition Development 2.1 Workplace Friendship and Psychological Empowerment Reference [22] developed a focus on a specific friendly relationship in the workplace. Their findings indicate that frequent and intimate relationship at work would encourage friendship at work. Berman and West [19] defined friendship at work as a non-exclusive relationship involving mutual trust, commitment, liking, shared interest, and values. Morrison [23] also mentioned friendships in the workplace are characterized by voluntary, reciprocal, and equal relationships. Recently, [24] described four distinctive characteristics of friendship in the workplace: informality, voluntary, socio-emotional, and communal norms. Previous research has recognized various advantages for employees who have good workplace friendships with their partner [23]. Furthermore, friendship at work has improved work performance [25] and work engagement [26]. However, some studies have also shown adverse outcomes of friendships in the workplace. For example, harmful gossip, instrumental conflict of goals, decreased loyalty, low productivity, and negative politics within the organization [24]. However, it can be seen that overall, friendship can provide positive advantage for both individuals and organizations [27]. P1. Workplace friendship affects psychological empowerment.

2.2 Workplace Friendship and Knowledge Sharing Workplace friendship is critical to individual and organizational performance [26]. Friendship in the workplace enables employees to communicate and exchange thoughts or ideas more freely with their partner in a conducive environment. The positive role of workplace friendship is not only perceived in mutual trust or commitment, but also on knowledge sharing behavior [25]. Based on social cognitive theory [28], workplace friendship will accelerate the dissemination of employees’ resources as well as drive them to motivate or encourage others, eventually leading to better working climate and enable employees in acquiring better problem-solving skills [27, 29–32]. Several researchers have shown that friendships developed in the workplace go beyond mere acquaintances, as the individuals involved always feel something in common, demonstrating commitment, trust, and mutual benefits spontaneously [19]. Finally, it has been demonstrated that workplace friendship is able to have positive impact on team atmosphere, performance, employee engagement, job insecurity, as well as innovative behavior [18]. P2. Workplace friendship affects knowledge sharing.

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2.3 Workplace Friendship and Innovative Work Behavior A friendly environment encourages friendship among employee, creates strong bonds, and result in better performance. This means friendship in the workplace contributes to innovation in the company because human interaction is a key antecedent for innovation [31]. The ability of employees to innovate and solve problems depends in part on collaboration among employees [32]. Social collectivity motivates people to share ideas on issues that lead to innovation [33]. This suggests that a combination of employee friendship and knowledge sharing can promote better innovation. Evidence shows that employees’ innovative behavior is primarily determined by the organizational atmosphere [34]. Then, because the definition of friendship in the workplace indicates closeness between employees, employees who have higher workplace friendship will interact more frequently with others and obtain regular feedback on innovations from their colleagues at work. This existence of regular feedback enables employees to adopt innovative behavior, thus increasing the quality of innovation. On the other hand, the absence of close employee relationships can lead to anxiety and practice of antisocial behavior [35]. P3. Workplace friendship affects innovative work behavior.

2.4 Psychological Empowerment and Innovative Work Behavior Research [36] discusses that psychologically empowered employees have confidence that they are capable of doing innovative work successfully by shaping their role and work context. This self-confidence is important to motivate employees to perform risky and unpredictable work-related activities, to improve innovative performance. Gozukara et al. [37] added that when employees feel their work is meaningful to themselves, they will display more innovative work behavior. In addition, employees who feel their skills and competencies are in accordance with the needs of the organizations, they will be motivated to be involved in the process of finding new ideas to create advantage for the company. In research [38] revealed that employees who are empowered in carrying out their work feel a sense of autonomy, and their higher level of confidence to take part in personal initiatives to generate, develop, and implement new ideas in the organization or workplace. On the other hand, some studies reveal gaps in their results. Kmieciak et al. [39] shows that psychological empowerment has no significant impact on innovative work behavior. While [40] in his survey found results that contrast with previous research. Empowerment was found to have a negative effect on innovative work behavior. P4: Psychological empowerment has an effect on innovative work behavior.

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2.5 Knowledge Sharing and Innovative Behavior Work Behavior Knowledge sharing has been considered as the aspect that drives a person to produce knowledge and turn it into greater capability [41]. In the context of organization, when knowledge is actively shared by employees, it will be acquired by the member of the organization, thus facilitating a required conditions to practice innovative work behavior. Wang et al. [42] emphasized that knowledge transfer will be carried out faster through sharing which fosters thinking and creativity. Knowledge sharing consists of social interactions between workers that promote the conversation of knowledge, skills and experience to learn new things [43]. Knowledge sharing is able to encourage ideas formation and execution from knowledge recipients [44]. Employees who share their knowledge with others are capable in exchanging ideas, discussing it with their peers, drawing their intention to the merits of ideas, and implementing it into viable solutions [44]. Wang and Noe [45] emphasized that individuals who engage in knowledge sharing expect their ideas to be approved by their peers or leaders by advocating or executing it. Thus, knowledge sharing is closely related to innovation in the company. Innovative work behavior can come from knowledge sharing between members of the organizations. Previous researcher [46, 47] have confirmed that knowledge sharing has the impact of contributing and accumulating knowledge on innovative work behavior. P5: Knowledge sharing affects innovative work behavior.

2.6 The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment in Workplace Friendship and Innovative Work Behavior In the current study, we have developed the argument about how friendships at work predict psychological empowerment and employee innovative performance in increasing knowledge, skills, and motivation. It has been described that the mediating role of psychological empowerment in the relationship between workplace friendships and employee innovative performance. Psychological empowerment increases employee motivation and confidence in their abilities [48], which can be a force for the creation of new ideas. Most researchers reveal the role of psychological empowerment in encouraging employees to work more innovatively. Research [49] states that psychological empowerment creates trust where employees are encouraged to try innovative ideas and approaches. As stated in [50] also shows that psychological empowerment can be a mediating factor between knowledge sharing and innovative work behavior in organizations. P6: Psychological empowerment is able to mediate the effect of workplace friendship on innovative work behavior.

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2.7 The Mediating Role of Knowledge Sharing in Workplace Friendship and Innovative Work Behavior In this study, the theory of social capital is used to link workplace friendships, knowledge sharing processes, and innovative service behavior. The theory of social capital describes organizational resources that arises from interactions between members, which involve the exchange of knowledge or knowledge management activities [51]. Recent literature management knowledge has considered social capital to be one of the main instruments in facilitating knowledge sharing and innovation in organizations. For example, [52] investigated the relationship between social capital, abilitymotivation-opportunity, knowledge creation, and innovation in a n R&D team in Iran. The result indicates that bond among organizational members leads to knowledge creation, and significantly encourages innovation. Another study, [53], shows that social capital is associated with knowledge sharing behavior which in turn is significantly associated with innovation ability. Previous studies have recognized interpersonal trust as an important component of workplace friendships that motivates employees to participate in knowledge-sharing activities [54]. In this regard, this study analyzes the role of friendship in the workplace as a form of social capital in providing knowledge sharing processes and innovative work behaviors in organizations. P7: Knowledge sharing able to mediate the effect of workplace friendship on innovative work behavior.

3 Research Methodology The key to the positivist model is that science can produce objective knowledge. Thus this research aims to uncover objective truth [55]. In order to get truth or reality, the researcher must remain objective [56] because the researcher is seen as an outsider or an independent observer who collects data and reports objectively on the data. The population of this study is planned to be employees who work in creative SMEs, especially batik villages in Kebumen, who are registered with the assistance of the Kebumen Integrated Business Service Center. The sampling technique used in this study is purposive sampling, which is a sample selection technique based on the researcher’s consideration of a more representative, functional unit and following the research objectives. This technique is chosen to ensure that only samples that the researcher has determined will be taken as samples [57]. There are several advantages of using the purposive sample technique, namely (1) the sample can be selected, (2) it is relatively easy to implement, and (3) the sample is an individual who, according to the researcher’s consideration, is relevant and approachable [58]. Therefore, the criteria for determining the sample of this study are:

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(1) Kebumen Batik SMEs that have been running for at least two years. (2) Employees who have worked for more than one year. (3) Employees involved in the production process.

4 Discussion and Conclusion The concept of workplace friendship is crucial and relevant to be applied in MSMEs. The characteristics that distinguish MSMEs from large companies are a simple organizational structure (adhocracy) and informal practices [59]. According [60], researchers need to be careful in implementing previous research instruments that use the blueprint concept from large companies. Up to this date, researchers have been focusing on individual innovation activities in MSMEs is still limited compared to large companies [61]. Therefore, friendship in the workplace becomes a vital factor in increasing individual innovative behavior, especially in the context of MSMEs. Recently, innovative employee behavior literatures have received wide attention from academics and practitioners, as it acts as essential part in the organizational efforts in changing the commercial setting. Social cognitive theory [28] shows that there is an interaction between individual behavior, cognition, and the condition in their social environment. From the perspective of social cognitive theory [28], a high workplace friendship will speed up the dissemination of employee resources as well as drive them to motivate or encourage others, eventually leading to better working climate and enable employees in acquiring better problem-solving skills [25]. Evidence shows that the organizational atmosphere primarily determines employees’ innovative behavior [62]. A number of researchers have recognized that obtaining regular feedback from coworkers can boost employee positive behavior [63]. Then, because the definition of workplace friendship denotes closeness between employees, it is proven that employees who have higher workplace friendship will interact more frequently with others and obtain regular feedback on innovations from their colleagues at work. This existence of regular feedback enables employees to adopt innovative behavior, thus increasing the quality of innovation. In addition, Shadur et al. showed that a friendly and supportive climate at workplace support creativity related to organizational performance, especially creative work [64]. Conversely, the absence of intimate relationships can lead to higher level of anxiety in employees, leading them to practice antisocial behavior [35]. Friendship at work is critical to individual and organizational performance [26]. It works as a form of reassurance for employees in carrying out their duties [65]. Workplace friendship also builds a supportive climate and environment for employees to communicate with other and disseminate their thoughts, which is not only regarding mutual trust and commitment, but also knowledge in general [66]. A friendly environment encourages employee friendship, creates strong bonds, and results in better performance. That means friendship in the workplace contributes to company innovation because human interaction is a crucial antecedent for innovation [31]. Employees’ ability to innovate and solve problems depends partly on collaboration among employees [32]. Social

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collectivity motivates people to share ideas on issues that lead to innovation [33]. This shows that combining workplace friendship and knowledge sharing can promote better innovation. After conducting a review regarding research linking workplace friendship with innovative work behavior, it was proven that inconsistent research results (research gap) were found. Okoe et al. [67] conducted research in Ghana, and the result showed that workplace friendships do not affect innovative behavior. This is also because, in the innovation process, the implementation of ideas contains the risk of failure that employees need to anticipate. Other research conducted by Maria Stock et al. [68] stated that the support of colleagues weakens the relationship between work involvement and innovative service behavior, which means that there are no empirical research results that can explain the role of workplace friendship on innovation in MSMEs and this research gap still requires further research studies. Practically, this research wants to; (1) increase creativity and how creativity can be a solution for innovation in MSMEs where this research can improve performance innovation at the employee level, (2) improve MSME performance innovation so that employees can be innovative in the workplace friendship and create psychological empowerment and friendly work environment to share knowledge.

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She-Covery—Reversing Pandemic Effects Through Women Entrepreneurship Reenu Mohan , S. Aasha, C. Meena , and C. Nagadeepa

Abstract As the global epidemic erupted worldwide, the pre-existing gender inequalities worsened. Due to their responsibilities towards their employers, families, and disproportionate share of the household responsibilities the women had to bear the brunt of epidemic more than men. This period was called as She-cession wherein many women lost their jobs. At the same time pandemic proved as a catalyst for a few who saw pandemic offering entrepreneurial opportunities to them. Many women proved their resilience as enablers of their own careers and turned into entrepreneurs giving employment opportunities to others in those difficult times. The purpose of this study is to identify and measure the impact of various factors affecting the business intentions of women and women entrepreneurs during the Covid pandemic. The study is focused on explaining the impact of various external factors, women’s intuitive skills and entrepreneurial skills on the entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurship. The study was carried out using quantitative and qualitative methods with 120 data points collected online via survey links. To test the scale, Cronbach alpha, CFA, SEM are used to examine the correlation between factors and entrepreneurship and intention. Keywords Women entrepreneurs · Intention for entrepreneurship · Karnataka · Pandemic

1 Introduction The covid pandemic has created an impact and brought in a standstill to everyone’s life, which is also true among women fraternity. Financial and social distress was R. Mohan (B) · S. Aasha · C. Nagadeepa Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru, India S. Aasha e-mail: [email protected] C. Meena Nagarjuna College of Management Studies, Doddamarali, India © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_11

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faced by women at individual, household and enterprise level during this pandemic. Women who occupy more job profiles in service industry and wherein the work from home options were also not possible impacted women economically. While it was seen that women had to give up their jobs as she her role of caregiving at home was of priority, it was also witnessed that women lost their jobs eight times more than that of men leading to disappearance of women workforce at a mass level-she cession. At the same time pandemic proved as a catalyst for a few who saw pandemic offering entrepreneurial opportunities to them. Many women proved their resilience as enablers of their own careers and turned into entrepreneurs giving employment opportunities to others in those difficult times. Of those who had formal or informal jobs before the pandemic, about 20% shifted to self-employment (World Bank 2020). As a result of this unique form of employment transition was noticed leading to more entrepreneurs. Many women entrepreneurs realized their potentials and unveiled their talents and creativity to fight against the odd and turned out to be successful. Her commitment, intuitive skills and dedication made her sail through in the entrepreneurial world.

2 Literature Review “Push” and “Pull” factors are frequently used terms for re-counting women entrepreneurs’ motivation (Histich and Brush 1990; Buttner and Moore 1997). Most of the women entrepreneurs start once they are married, which has resounded even in earlier findings from Fried [1], while most of those younger women in employment are mostly single. Married women had greater problems in running their enterprises when compared to single unmarried ones, as they have to create time for their spouses and children [2]. Married women entrepreneurs have to fling everyday between their work and family related responsibilities. Singh and Raghuvanshi [3] have asserted that women entrepreneurs usually come across financial problems and marketing difficulties as compared to men in similar arena. Women entrepreneurs according to the authors need regular and frequent capital for their business, which is not readily available. Women’s motivation to start up a business is associated to their need to be more independent, achieve job satisfaction and self-actualization as well as having power [4]. Mallon and Cohen [5] claim that women enter into businesses as they strive for better freedom, ability to live by themselves and stability. According to Winn [6], women start to venture into businesses because they believe their businesses will generate income and give personal satisfactions. The articles by Shapero and Sokol [7] have thrown light on the desperation of women on being unemployed, having children to nurse with unreliable spouses are a few reasons that have driven women into entrepreneurship. Darr-Bornstein and Miller [8], claim that in addition to lack of income women leave previous employment in prestigious firms and start their own businesses due to their dissatisfaction over the bureaucracy in their firms.

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Tasnim Kausaris was concerned with the women’s contribution in family budget. There exists also a positive relationship between the contribution of women and unemployed husbands, presence of infants in the household, the utilization of loan by household and urban locality. The study concluded that women working specifically in dress-making are comparatively in higher ratio and are contributing more towards family budget. The ladies dress-making is a traditional profession of informally employed women of Bahawalpur. Alam et al. [9] investigated the key factors which affects the success of women entrepreneurs in Southern region in Malaysia. Their study suggested that social ties, family support and internal motivation affect the women entrepreneurs positively in the small business. It had also shown that in the past, women rarely ventured into business not because of lack of interest but because of lack of opportunities.

3 Research Methodology A Comprehensive literature review was done on women’s entrepreneurship which included various factors impacting their performance and attitude with regards to risk of the existing environment. This research article concentrates on the motivators for women to have intention of becoming entrepreneurs and start their own business. Due to pandemic most of the women workforce had lost their job and were suffering with financial problems also. Women are supposed to provide caregiving to her family and take responsibilities of husbands, in-laws and kids. They have to balance their time as efficiently as possible between both family and job/business. A number of external and internal factors affects women’s intention to become entrepreneur. This study measured the external factors such as family support, social support, government schemes, e-business platforms and internal factors such as psychological factors, entrepreneurial skills and attitude towards entrepreneurship. The data collection instrument has been designed applying various factors based on past studies and readability tests and administered using the cluster and snowball sampling method. A structured questionnaire was administered using the Google form and a survey was conducted for data collection under this study. A frame work was developed to find out the factors related to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation values for becoming women entrepreneurs during the pandemic in the field of training, agriculture, catering and textiles during the last two years in Karnataka. The study was conducted from June 2020 to December 2020 in India, the data were collected from Karnataka and more than 120 women entrepreneurs participated. Their opinions were tested using the developed hypotheses through Cronbach’s alpha test, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and goodness-of-fit.

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R. Mohan et al. External Motivators Family Support Govt Scheme Social motivators e-business platforms Covid - Pandemic Entrepreneurial Intention

Women Entrepreneur

Internal Motivators Economic freedom Entrepreneurial Skills Personal skills and attitude

Fig. 1 Research framework

3.1 Research Framework The review of literature in the field of entrepreneurship enabled us to identify the research gap and framing research framework with focus on external and internal cues which motivates their entrepreneurial intention and become entrepreneurs (Fig. 1).

3.2 External Motivators Motivators refer to the stimulus which excites a person into action. External motivational forces refer to the factors that are outside a person’s control and drive them to perform well. The external motivators for women during the pandemic were the following: • Government schemes: With the launch of Karnataka government schemes like Stree shakthi programme, Ubuntu (AWAKE/COWE/EMERGE/KASSIA/WISE) the path for women entrepreneurs became hassle free and smoother. • E business platforms: With the widespread use of internet during pandemic various websites have come up which enables women to take up their business across the states to a large number of customers with easy terms and conditions. • Covid pandemic: The lockdown during pandemic gave women space and time to rethink about her career choices and priorities in life.

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3.3 Internal Motivators Internal motivators mean that your motivation to accomplish your goal comes from within you. They come from the internal desire to enhance oneself and gain mastery within one’s field. The internal motivators for women during the pandemic were the following: • Economic freedom: The freedom to earn and spend money for oneself was a big motivator for women to improve their economic status in family. • Entrepreneurial skills: The leadership, decision making, risk taking, negotiation and conflict management skills required to run an enterprise were already developed by the women as they carried out their household responsibilities. • Personal skill and attitude: Communication, cooperation, team building, empathy and service orientation are the desired skills for better management of the business which women possess by default.

4 Data Analysis and Discussion This study adopted a non-experimental survey methodology to collect necessary information to find out the relationship between the independent variables external cues, internal cues and the dependent variable entrepreneurial intention and women entrepreneur. The motivating factors of external cues are Family Support, Govt Scheme and support, influence of Social motivators, social commerce and e commerce such as e-business platforms and Covid-Pandemic situations and the internal cues are personal cues, entrepreneurial Skills, Personal skills & attitude towards entrepreneurship are considered in this study. Quantitative approach was administered in this study to ascertain accurate data.

4.1 Descriptive Analysis Overall 134 questionnaires were distributed and collected for this study. 24 samples were excluded from the final data analysis as they were incomplete and several questions were not answered by the participants. In this study 120 samples were used for the final data analysis. The summary respondents’ demographic profile is shown in Table 1. It is observed that most of them, around 25% of the respondents in this study were in age band of 30–35 and 69% of respondents were married. Most of them are in the situation that women usually after the marriage when responsibilities increase with children’s responsibilities the intention to move towards entrepreneurship was observed more. Moreover, the results from Table 1 shows that during lockdown internet proved to be a blessing for women entrepreneurs as 54% women took up

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Table 1 Respondent’s demographic profile Age

N

%

Marital status

N

%

18–24

18

15

Single

27

23

25–30

23

19

Married

83

69

31–35

30

25

Single mother

10

8

36–40

27

23

41–45

22

Education

18 N

%

Occupation

N

%

Primary school

4

3

Jobless

19

16

Not finish secondary

6

5

Part time

13

11

School

25

21

Private sector

35

29

Diploma

33

28

Public sector

30

25

Degree

32

27

Self-employed

22

18

Post-graduate

20

17

Family income (per month)

N

%

Mode of new business

N

%

Less than 30,000

35

29

Online

65

54

30,001–50,000

31

26

Offline-own place

32

27

50,001–70,000

29

24

Offline-other place

23

19

Above 70,000

25

21

online business and 46% opted for offline business. The second part of the analysis covers the various motivating factors that made the women’s intention toward entrepreneurship and who became entrepreneur. The researcher framed hypotheses to find out the relationship between the factors and intention of women to become entrepreneur and tested using Structural equation modeling.

4.2 Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) SEM is used to find out how components are linked using multiple regression techniques. Multiple regression tests are a statistical method in which more than one independent variable may be analyzed to predict a single dependent variable. It may also illustrate how a collection of independent factors explain a share of the variation at a significant level in a dependent variable. Table 2 illustrates the different weights of regression of independent variables.

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Table 2 Regression weights Path

Variables

Estimate

S.E

C.R

P

Government scheme

Entrepreneurial intention

0.57

0.079

2.170

0.002

Social motivators

Entrepreneurial intention

0.53

0.061

2.527

0.021

e-business platforms

Entrepreneurial intention

0.58

0.090

4.452

0.010

Covid-pandemic

Entrepreneurial intention

0.53

0.060

2.507

0.022

Entrepreneurial skills

Entrepreneurial intention

0.28

0.104

2.403

0.016

Personal skill and attitude

Entrepreneurial intention

0.57

0.052

3.547

0.042

Personal factor

Entrepreneurial intention

0.28

0.124

2.413

0.015

Entrepreneurial intention

Women entrepreneur

0.36

0.25

5.342

0.03

4.3 Hypothesis Test Results H1: Government schemes has a significant influence on women’s entrepreneurial intention. The path analysis of the regression weight shows that the estimator is 0.57 (SE is 0.079) with CR 2.170 and p value is 0.002 (less than 0.05), which is significant at 5% level of significance. The estimator value is 0.57 represents that there is an influence of Government schemes towards women’s intention to become entrepreneur. Thus, the results supported the hypothesis and the null hypothesis is rejected. This result was supported the study conducted by Jyoti et al. (2011), who mention and proved that women have high intention to become entrepreneur and they encourages to become entrepreneur due to various incentives polices and schemes announced by government (Fig. 2). H2: Social Motivators has a significant influence on women’s entrepreneurial intention. The path analysis of the regression weight shows that the estimator is 0.53 (SE is 0.079) with CR 2.527 and p value is 0.021 (less than 0.05), which is significant at 5% level of significance. The estimator value is 0.53 represents that social motivators such as friends, peers and others success full women entrepreneur influences women’s intention to become entrepreneur. Thus, the results supported the hypothesis and the null hypothesis is rejected. This result was supported the study conducted by Field et al. (2016), friendship at work and peers effects female entrepreneurship who mention and proved that women have high intention to become entrepreneur and they encourages to become entrepreneur due to various incentives polices and schemes announced by government. H3: e-business platforms has a significant influence on women’s entrepreneurial intention. The path analysis of the regression weight shows that the estimator is 0.58 (SE is 0.090) with CR 4.452 and p value is 0.010 (less than 0.05), which is significant at 5%

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Fig. 2 Research model with measured value

level of significance. The estimator value is 0.58 represents that various e-commerce and social commerce is fueling women’s intention to become entrepreneur. Thus, the results supported the hypothesis and the null hypothesis is rejected. The ability to sell online has helped many women to start their business with net set of customers and that to minimal capital. With the expansion of the internet, many internet users are taking advantage of lockdown time period to enter into online businesses. Women are listed as among the most widely used online businesses. With the development of the internet today makes many internet users take advantage of this opportunity as profitable business opportunities such as online businesses. Women are listed as among the most widely used online businesses (Yohana Febiani et al.) H4: Covid Pandemic has a significant influence on women’s entrepreneurial intention. The path analysis of the regression weight shows that the estimator is 0.53 (SE is 0.060) with CR 2.507 and p value is 0.022 (less than 0.05), which is significant at 5% level of significance. The estimator value is 0.53 shows that pandemic situation lockdown encourages women’s intention to become entrepreneur, so that they can manage both house and their dream to become entrepreneur. Thus, the results supported the hypothesis and the null hypothesis is rejected. This study supported the results of many studies conducted that the women entrepreneurs takes advantages of opportunities created by the covid pandemic.

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H5: Entrepreneurial Skill has a significant influence on women’s entrepreneurial intention. The path analysis of the regression weight shows that the estimator is 0.28 (SE is 0.104) with CR 2.403 and p value is 0.016 (less than 0.05), which is significant at 5% level of significance. The estimator value is 0.28 shows that women’s inbuilt entrepreneurial skills encourages women’s intention to become entrepreneur. Thus, the results supported the alternative hypothesis and the null hypothesis is rejected. H6: Personal factors and attitude has a significant influence on women’s entrepreneurial intention. The path analysis of the regression weight shows that the estimator is 0.57 (SE is 0.052) with CR 3.547 and p value is 0.042 (less than 0.05), which is significant at 5% level of significance. The estimator value is 0.57 shows that women’s personal skills and their attitude towards entrepreneurship intends them to become entrepreneur. Thus, the results supported the alternative hypothesis and the null hypothesis is rejected. Manzanera [10] conducted the role of Women’s kills and abilities in explaining the women entrepreneurship. Women entrepreneurs have specific competences, understood as the sum of skills and abilities, that characterize and they are the facilitators of the development of entrepreneurship. H7: Personal factor (Economic Freedom) has a significant influence on women’s entrepreneurial intention. The path analysis of the regression weight shows that the estimator is 0.28 (SE is 0.124) with CR 2.413 and p value is 0.015 (less than 0.05), which is significant at 5% level of significance. The estimator value is 0.28 shows that women’s personal factors such as (family support, economic freedom, studiousness etc.) intends them to become entrepreneur. Thus, the results accepted the alternative hypothesis and the null hypothesis is rejected.

5 Conclusion Women’s entrepreneurship is a growing global phenomenon, not only does it contribute to economies in terms of job creation and economic growth [11], it is also recognized as a source of increasing entrepreneurial diversity in a range of economic contexts, hence it offers a valuable focus for concerted scholarly research. This study underlines that internal factors have a positive and significant impact on women’s intention to become entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs, while external factors also have a positive influence on women entrepreneurs. Further, the current research findings are reliable and reinforced by the earlier study, conducted by Radzi et al. [12], suggested that money/finance plays a vibrant role in any industries success. While Lindvert et al. [13] proposed that political interference is plays a very important role for networking with customers and suppliers. Hence, on the

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foundation of this past literature, the study suggest that external cues are suggestively contributing towards women entrepreneurship success in emerging economies. The schemes offered by the government and society have together worked as strong motivators which signifies the open mindedness of the society that has developed over the years and helped women to explore the less trodden paths. The personal skills and attitude also contribute in developing the confidence among women in India to take up responsibility of generating jobs instead of searching for it. The availability of e-platforms during the recent times have provided the backup in making the entrepreneurship journey more accessible.

References 1. Fried, L.I.: A new breed of entrepreneur-women. Manage. Rev. (2000) 2. Cromie, S., Hayes, J.: Towards a typology of female entrepreneurs (2011) 3. Singh, R., Raghuvanshi, N.: Women entrepreneurship issues, challenges and empowerment through self help groups: an Himachal Pradesh (2012) 4. Jalbert, S.E.: Women Entrepreneurs in global economy (2000) 5. Mallon, M., Cohen, L.: Time for a change? Women’s accounts of the move from organizational careers to self-employment (2001) 6. Winn, J.: Entrepreneurship: not an easy path to top management for women (2004) 7. Shapero, A., Sokol, L.: The social dimensions of entrepreneurship (1982) 8. Darr-Bornstein, K., Miller, M.: Becoming a Women Entrepreneur in the Water Services Industry. American Water Work Association (2007) 9. Alam, S.S., Jani, M.F.M., Omar, N.A.: An empirical study of success (2011) 10. Manzanera-Román, S., Brändle, G.: Abilities and skills as factors explaining the differences in women entrepreneurship. Suma de Negocios 7(15), 38–46 (2016) 11. Kelley, D.J., Bosma, N., Amorós, J.E.: Global Entrepreneurship Research Association (GERA) (2010) 12. Radzi, K.M., Nor, M.N.M., Ali, S.: M, The impact of internal factors on small business success: a case of small enterprises under the FELDA scheme. Asian Acad. Manage. J. 22(1), 27 (2017) 13. Lindvert, M., Patel, P.C., Wincent, J.: Struggling with social capital: Pakistani women micro entrepreneurs’ challenges in acquiring resources. Entrep. Reg. Dev. 29(7–8), 759–790 (2017) 14. Dhameja, S.K., Bhatia, B.S., Saini, J.S.: Women entrepreneurs—their perceptions, about business opportunities and attitudes towards entrepreneurial support agencies 15. Gupta, D.D.: The effect of gender on women-led small enterprises: the case of India. South Asian J. Bus. Manage. Cases 2(1), 61–75 (2013) 16. Hisrich, R.D., Brush, C.G.: Women entrepreneurs: a longitudinal study. Front. Entrepren. Res. 187–199 (1987) 17. Manolova, T., Brush, C., Edelman, L., Elam, A.: Pivoting to stay the course: How women entrepreneurs take advantage of opportunities created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Int. Small Bus. J.: Res. Entrepren. 38(1) (2020) 18. Bargotra, N., Bhatotia, K.: How did India’s Women Enterprises fare during the covid-19 lockdown? 56(19) (2021) 19. Nursiani, N., Angi, Y.F., Fanggidae, R.: Women, entrepreneurs and online business (analysis of factors that motivate entrepreneurial women through online business). In: International Conference on Indonesian Social & Political Enquiries (2018) 20. Kausar, T.: Women‘s contribution to the family budget: informal labor market in Pakistan (a case study of Bahawalpur)

The Effect of Mentorship and Funding Support on Entrepreneur’s Motivation in Bahrain Hanin Aref Marsal, Allam Hamdan, and Salem Aljazzar

Abstract This paper discusses the effect of mentorship and funding support on entrepreneur’s motivation in Bahrain. Entrepreneurship plays an important part in a country’s growth for its innovation and creativity, which is seen as a stimulus to economic progress. Mentorship and funding support contribute to creating an impact on the entrepreneurship journey. This article will look at a number of research publications and journal articles in order to explore the impact of mentorship on the entrepreneur’s motivation under which the mentoring function was clarified in addition to identify the effect of funding support as well. The support provided by the Kingdom of Bahrain aimed to empower entrepreneurship, this article describes the government support programs and the mentorship programs that are currently available in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Keywords Economy · Entrepreneurship · Mentorship and funding support

1 Introduction According to a poll conducted by the Youth International Business (YBI), 37% of youth entrepreneurs around the world consider their mentor to be more important than money in the survival and success of their business, while 93% of SMEs recognize that mentoring can help them succeed, but only 28% of entrepreneurs presently use business mentors [1, 2].

H. A. Marsal College of Business and Finance, Manama, Bahrain A. Hamdan (B) Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] S. Aljazzar Jeddah College of Engineering, University of Business and Technology, Jeddah 21448, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_12

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The notion of entrepreneurship has risen in popularity as a result of multiple benefits it may provide in terms of increasing economic wealth and lowering unemployment [3]. In the past, Bahrain’s economy depended on the pearl industry and marine trade. Bahrain was a significant country due to its strategic location in the heart of the gulf and it was referenced as “Gateway to the Gulf” by many. In 1932, the first oil discovery was made in Bahrain. Bahrain economy bolstered by this finding, but due to its limited oil reserves, it was projected to become the very first country to exhaust its oil reserves [4]. Bahrain needed to diversify the country’s economy; as a result, His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa introduced the Economic Vision 2030 in October 2008 with the goal of creating a coherent strategy to developing Bahrain’s economy and focusing on increasing the standard of living for Bahraini citizens [5]. Currently, there is a scarcity of suitable abilities and jobs. Approximately 4000 fresh graduates are currently seeking for work. Moreover, if this trend remains, there will be insufficient employment opportunities to meet the staffing needs of this number [4]. Government of Bahrain has realized the unstable oil income to the economy. Therefore, the government made the important steps towards promoting the privatesector economic development and investment. This included improving the infrastructural and regulatory environment, making government procedures simpler to comprehend, attracting FDI from other countries, assisting the private sector and the labor market [6]. Activating other economic sectors has been an obvious thus optimizing the use of available resources, where vision has tended to shift. The rise of the public knowledge and advocacy of economic growth and development aided the essential function of entrepreneurship [7–9]. This paper discusses the effect of mentorship and funding support on entrepreneur’s motivation in Bahrain. Entrepreneurship plays an important part in a country’s growth for its innovation and creativity, which is seen as a stimulus to economic progress. The Kingdom of Bahrain is currently undergoing a new economic growth and fiscal balance plan which included initiatives like reforming the labour market and regulatory package. The new plan also facilitate a $30 billion investment on strategic projects. Moreover, the plan also has identified six sectors which the Kingdom will focus on to develop the non-oil sector contribution to the GDP [10]. To achieve the goals from the strategic plans, the Kingdom of Bahrain will need to attract and increase the investment in the market. Mentorship and funding support contribute to creating an impact on the entrepreneurship journey. This article will look at a number of research publications and journal articles in order to explore the impact of mentorship on the entrepreneur’s motivation under which the mentoring function was clarified in addition to identify the effect of funding support as well. The economic reforms in the country are aimed at empowering entrepreneurship, this article describes the government support programs and the mentorship programs that are currently available in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

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2 Literature Review 2.1 Bahrain’s Economy Bahrain discovered oil in 1932 and transformed its economy in to a modern one (EDB). For decades, natural gas and oil have played a critical role in Bahrain’s economy. Kingdom of Bahrain was worried about the long-term viability of its petroleum earnings as oil and gas supplies depleted; as a result, the government devised strategies and plans started the economic diversification [11], becoming one of the Gulf’s most diversified economies and a key destination for foreign investment (EDB) (http://www.bahrain.com/economic-development-board.aspx).

2.2 Bahrain’s Economic Development In order to boost non-oil revenue contributions to the GDP, Bahrain’s government established the Economic Development Board (EDB) in the early twentieth century. The EDB’s mission is to improve Bahrain’s investment climate by assisting existing and potential investors [12]. The Bahraini government has concentrated upon the private sector, among several measures, with the conviction that it will fuel the growth of entrepreneurial in Bahrain. Tamkeen is a public authority that was formed by the government in 2006 to strengthen Bahrain’s private sector as a key engine of economic development. Tamkeen was established to help the private sector expand and restructure, laying the way for Bahrain’s continued diversification into a educated-based, internationally competitive, and long-term economy. Tamkeen has two main goals: first, to support corporate development and expansion, and second, to improve national labor efficiency and preparedness [13]. The EDB established the Economic Vision 2030 in 2008, which presents a longterm economic development strategy. The vision’s goal is to transform Bahrain’s economy from one that is reliant on the oil industry to one that is globally competitive and driven by private sector innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as to give a clear economic growth path to enhance Bahrainis’ living standard. The vision will lead to a transition that will generate adequate employment by recruiting FDIs and developing SMEs, as well as improving the quality of Bahraini manpower to prepare them for the prospective positions produced by local enterprises and FDIs [12, 14].

2.3 Definition of Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship was defined by the researchers [9] as the “examination of how, by whom, and with what effects opportunities to create future goods and services

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are discovered, evaluated, and exploited”. The investigation of opportunities and the foundations from which they emerge; the many procedures of identification, appraisal, and exploitation of chances; and the persons who learn, evaluate, and achieve them, commonly identified as entrepreneurs are all part of the entrepreneurship discipline [9]. An entrepreneur is someone who starts an original business in the marketplace. Many researchers demonstrate entrepreneurs as self-employed people who needed a wide range of managerial skills to flourish since they function as a complement to the entrepreneur’s own strengths. Some have stated that entrepreneurship necessitates bravery and the capacity to deal with the unpredictability that comes with the process of the entrepreneurial [15].

2.4 Entrepreneurship’s Importance Entrepreneurship was recognized as a dynamic contributor to long-standing economic growth subsequently, as of it’s not only provides careers but also increases market consumption, innovation generator, knowledge transfers, in addition to creates employment. Entrepreneurship appears to have a major role in building diverse economic structures, as well as acting as important economic shock absorbers [16].

2.5 Motivation in the Entrepreneurship Journey Motivation is recognized as being the most crucial role in the establishment of new entrepreneurial businesses, and driven entrepreneurs to start a well-established company creation, most entrepreneurs begin with a strong desire to reach their predetermined objective for their firm, which eventually becomes inspiration for them all to take the next step and proceed as it was highlighted by Segal et al. [17]. As it was stated by Block et al. [18], throughout the pre-phase stage of the entrepreneurial process, People have a propensity to imagine the results of their near future businesses to be, which are usually great and desired ends that they would confidently do and attain without considering if the road to those goals is viable or not. As a result, the act of motivation begins since their future position may be far more appealing than their current situation [19].

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2.6 Factors Affecting Entrepreneur Motivation Supporting and motivating entrepreneurs, as well as fostering entrepreneurship, are well-known topics of public interest [20]. Various variables contribute to the development of entrepreneurs in the entrepreneurship Journey, certain factors may have a greater impact than others, either positively or negatively. As there are always various factors that motivate the entrepreneurs to establish their new business during the pre-phase period [21]. These factors that affect the motivation and the encouragement of the entrepreneur in the pre-phase stage may be many, but they were limited by Canedo et al. [21] to factors that have an internal influence, such as the entrepreneur’s background and educational level, and others that have an external influence, such as s culture, social networking, resources and opportunities accessibility, and regulations.

2.7 Entrepreneurial Motivation and Mentorship According to Vukotich [22], many novice entrepreneurs feel lost and inexperienced as they have to make various critical decisions and initiate a lot of important processes. Such undertakings can be intimidating and frustrating given that most novice entrepreneurs have little experience and intuition to guide their decision-making in an unfamiliar environment [23]. This lack of experience severely limits a novice’s ability to assess and predict the outcomes of their business decisions. Consequently, the novice’s entrepreneurial motivation suffers the most at the pre-phase of creating a venture [24]. Mentorship for novice entrepreneurs is highly important to their empowerment through skill and knowledge acquisition, role modeling, addressing unique entrepreneurs’ needs and concerns, as well as the development or refinement of business ideas or goals [25]. Skills and experience help an entrepreneur to navigate emerging challenges confidently and effectively. When novice entrepreneurs meet and interact with businessmen who are successful in their industry, they learn different business lessons and strategies, which help resolve their uncertainty while running an enterprise [26]. Mentorship allows beginners to experience first-hand the struggles and triumphs of industry leaders, which motivates them to actualize their business ideas [27]. The novice’s ability to plan and set up business operations as well as the feelings of fellowship or colleagueship improves greatly through mentorship, which enhances confidence in decision-making and motivation to undertake critical and challenging business activities. Therefore, many novice entrepreneurs have difficulties turning their ideas into a functional business plan by exploiting the skills and resources they possess [28]. Mentorship helps novices focus their imagination on generating profound insights, which greatly enhances their motivation to succeed [29].

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2.8 Definition of Mentoring Over time, the term ‘mentor’ has come to be connected with the concept of an older, highly experienced person being as a mentor and guide to a younger person, with less experience perspective. The mentor, unlike a coach, is generally in the same profession or business as the mentee and has a broader guiding impact [30]. Although the phrases mentoring and coaching are sometimes used interchangeably, they are separate professional development practices that provide significant advantages above traditional training techniques [31]. Instead of only trying to come up with a definition, Morgan and Rochford [31] looked at the distinctions between coaching and mentoring by comparing the focus and types of activities and characterizing them as indicated in the table below. A mentor is a valuable asset to a growing business. They may alert entrepreneurs to potential difficulties, assist them in developing solutions, and serve as a sounding panel for the entrepreneur. With only a few words, a mentor’s many years of knowledge may rescue an entrepreneur from huge blunders and costly mistakes. According to the research, appearance of a mentor at the pre-start and start-up stages of a firm can help lower the known high failure rates [32].

2.9 Business Mentoring Mentoring is critical for entrepreneurs and small company owners to establish sustainable businesses that create employment. They characterized it as a form of social learning for both the company and the individual entrepreneur or small business owner, because mentors’ dialogue and observation may highlight ambitious entrepreneurial conduct [33]. It is the process of transforming knowledge and experience while assisting, with the goal of empowering the business’s growth. Mentoring can result in the acquisition of new skills and advice from professionals. Furthermore, obtaining skills enables entrepreneurs to become more aware of all business chances, improve their business vision, and achieve their objectives. This leads to better account management, operations management, and human resource management. Entrepreneurial resilience, on the other hand, has the impact of validating selfperception, increasing self-efficiency and confidence, and supporting entrepreneurial culture and personal progress [34]. Since entrepreneurship is defined as the act of transforming possibilities using existing resources, it entails discovering a business opportunity, developing a product, expanding the company, taking risks, and generating profit for the entrepreneur. Every entrepreneur or small company owner is unique, and they require different types of mentoring assistant and expertise [33].

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2.10 Entrepreneurial Funding Support An entrepreneur cannot realize his ideas and plans without proper funding. The greatness of the idea does not matter as long as there is no funding to realize it. Lack of funding negatively affects both the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of entrepreneurs [35]. The entrepreneur’s intrinsic motivations such as the desire to make a difference in the community or world do not involve any financial rewards for the entrepreneur [36]. For example, an entrepreneur may start a water supply venture based on a desire to avail clean water to a community. Such intrinsic motivations are the foundation for every successful business. Nevertheless, funding support is essential to realize the ideas built around intrinsic motivations. Entrepreneurs can focus on different industries depending on their interests. For instance, those targeting the service industry may have a lower start-up cost compared to those interested in manufacturing and construction. Consequently, the funding needs will vary depending on the industry. Entrepreneurs can utilize different funding sources for their ventures including personal savings, investments, borrowing from friends, and grants and loans from private and public institutions [37]. Nevertheless, the demoralizing effects of lack of funding affect all businessmen equally [38]. Those without adequate personal savings will feel as hopeless and helpless as those who cannot qualify for grants and loans.

2.11 Entrepreneurial Support Programs in Bahrain Bahrain has a number of initiative programs and organizations, both in the public and private sectors, aimed at promoting entrepreneurship. The focus is not just on Bahraini businesses, but also on attracting other nationals and nations to invest in Bahrain, with the ultimate objective of improving the economy and creating a market for all. As a result, not only does Bahrain’s strategic position assist it in accomplishing this aim, but so does the country’s globalization, as well as its population’s awareness and high level of education. Bahrain’s objective is focused on empower the youth by instilling confidence in them to develop their abilities in ways that would benefit not only themselves, but also Bahrain and society as a whole. As Tamkeen wants to help individuals before they achieve the entrepreneurial stage, they empower them via various programs such as “Mashroo3i” program and by supporting them with courses that they are interested in gaining a professional certificate and fundamental skills [39].

2.11.1

Tamkeen

Tamkeen’s strategy focuses on diversification of offers, speed up production, and sustaining effect to achieve its goals. Many innovative initiatives are available to

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Bahraini persons and enterprises in many sectors of the economy, including training, funding, grants, consulting services, entrepreneurial assistance, and so on. Such programs contribute to the development of Bahraini individuals and enterprises. Tamkeen has served over 234,000 Bahraini people and enterprises [13].

2.11.2

Bahrain Development Bank—BDB

Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) started operating as a specialized financial development institution in Early 1992. The government of Bahrain has tasked BDB with the important duty of encouraging investment in Bahrain by targeting the small and medium-sized business funding support and help their growth, as well as fostering and supporting entrepreneurship in Bahrain in order to diversify the economy. BDB has grown its creative mix of financial services to serve a wide range of businesses in a variety of economic sub-sectors, such as manufacturing industry, tourism sector, healthcare, education sector, agricultural industry, professions, and other significance service activities [40].

2.11.3

Economic Development Board—EDB

EDB is another body that helps entrepreneurs, EDB is a proactive government organization tasked with encouraging inbound investment into Bahrain, with an emphasis on certain economic areas where Bahrain excels, it is an investment promotion entity with general duties for recruiting investment and supporting efforts that improve the investment environment in Bahrain [41]. EDB focuses on industries that take full advantage of Bahrain’s comparative edge and provide considerable investment prospects such as manufacturing sector, information and communication technology (ICT), transportation and logistics services. Bahrain’s financial sector characterize strong, and the EDB facilitates the banking industry’s and major sub-sectors’ continued growth, such as Islamic financial institutions, investment management, insurance, reinsurance [42].

2.11.4

Export Bahrain

Export Bahrain was created in 2018 with the aim of providing an optimal environment to encourage and expand local exports in order to realize Bahrain’s 2030 objective of “boosting our export-oriented industries to guarantee that Bahraini firms embrace global markets for products and services.”, Export Bahrain collaborates with local partners as well as partners around the world to provide more substantial international possibilities, exposure, expertise, and solutions for Bahraini businesses to compete on a global scale [43].

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3 Conclusion This paper discussed the effect of mentorship and funding support on entrepreneur’s motivation in Bahrain, this article outlines the government assistance programs and mentoring programs that are now available in the Kingdom of Bahrain in order to boost entrepreneurship. As a conclusion, motivation is acknowledged as playing the most important role in the start-up of new entrepreneurial firms, as well as driving entrepreneurs to develop a well-established organization. Most entrepreneurs begin with a strong desire to achieve their firm’s pre-determined goal, which generates inspiration for them all to take the next step and go forward. Mentorship and funding support are believed to be significant factors positively affecting the success and viability of the entrepreneur’s journey.

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Impact of Covid-19 on Digitalization Aspect on India’s MSMEs Pooja Khatri, Hemant Kothari, and Laxman Ram Paliwal

Abstract Covid-19 pandemic has brought severe health and economic shocks globally. World economy shrank. Businesses especially MSMEs faced severe brunt which even challenged their survival. The importance of MSME sector for Indian economic development cannot be ignored. This sector contributes to industrial production, GDP growth, export earnings, employment generation, regional development, economic diversification and social stability. This exploratory research paper aims to study the impact of pandemic on economy in general and on MSMEs specifically. It also studies how the pace of digitalization of MSMEs have been impacted by the pandemic. It explores the various benefits digital tools and technologies have for MSMEs; what challenges come in the way of successful transformation. And despite many challenges why is it now easier for willing businesses to digitally transform themselves. The present study also discusses various initiatives that have been taken by government and private players to help MSMEs recover. This is an exploratory paper based on secondary data. Recent literature has been reviewed, various reports by World Bank, OECD, UNCTAD, Deloitte, IBEF, ITC, McKinsey, etc. have been analyzed. Newspaper articles from Economic Times, Entrepreneurship India, Times of India and Business Today have also been referred. Keywords MSME · Digitalization · Covid-19 · Recovery · Economy · Transformation and Initiatives

P. Khatri (B) · H. Kothari Pacific Academy of Higher Education and Research University, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India e-mail: [email protected] H. Kothari e-mail: [email protected] L. R. Paliwal Swami Shraddhanand College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_13

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1 Introduction Covid-19 is a respiratory illness caused by SARS-CoV-2; a type of coronavirus identified in 2019. SARS-CoV-2 first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. It was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. It quickly spread around the world. As it spreads through droplets and virus particles released into the air, mask-wearing, hand hygiene and physical distancing are essential to prevent COVID-19. Globally, as of 8th September 2022, there have been 612,178,266 confirmed cases of COVID-19. It turned out to be a health crisis as well as an economic shock globally. The world economy shrunk by 4.4% and global trade by 5.3%. The WTO estimates world merchandise trade in 2020 to fall by 13–32%. There were job losses and cross-border supply chains were badly disrupted. As per the World Bank reports, poverty worldwide is expected to increase by around 11 million people. India reported its first Covid-19 case on January 27, 2020 and on March 24, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a complete lockdown of the entire nation for 21 days which was extended for months to come by. During the lockdown phase, only less than a quarter of India’s $2.8 trillion economic movement was functional. Up to 53% of businesses in the country were significantly affected. India’s growth in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2020 went down to 3.1%, income levels fell, jobs were lost, fiscal deficit zoomed, exports and imports and global investments declined. Manufacturing in the economy also declined because of supply chain bottlenecks. Several sectors of the economy like hospitality, tourism, aviation and travel, automobile, real estate and construction, transport companies, start-ups, daily wage earners, farmers, etc were damaged. Covid-19 brought the MSME sector under severe stress. There is the burden of loss of customers, canceled orders, liquidity crunch, payment burden, constraints to accessing new finance, solvency issues, etc. MSMEs suffered a major decline in demand, increased operating costs, interrupted knowledge flow, logistic disruptions, input shortage, disrupted production lines, increased vulnerability, restricted labor mobility and labor shortage. All this made their existence difficult. These small units are not very digitized and lack advanced technical skills leading to a redundant kind of work environment which made it difficult to survive in the pandemic. MSMEs are central to India’s economic development and thus its recovery will ensure India’s economic recovery post-Covid. This pandemic has shown many cases in which the MSMEs involved in the digital business for a long time experienced noticeable growth during the pandemic. This paper discusses many such benefits that digitalization has for small businesses as it is observed that this rapid pandemic-driven digitalization is going to be the new normal. There is an increasing trend of businesses adopting the latest technologies like cloud computing, data analytics, analytical algorithms, social media, artificial intelligence, Industrial internet of things (IoT), fintech and technology 4.0.

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2 Objectives of the Study Following are the objectives of the study: • To study the impact of Covid-19 on the economy in general. • To study the impact of Covid-19 on Indian MSMEs. • To analyze how the pace of digitalization in MSMEs has been impacted by the pandemic. • To analyze various actions taken by the government and private players to help MSMEs sail through the pandemic.

3 Review of Literature Three interrelated challenges that MSMEs are facing in Covid-19 are identified as cost and finance-related, disruption of activities and existential difficulties. The study provides recommendations like collaboration, openness, taking advantage of opportunities and durability [1]. Problems faced by MSMEs in Covid-19 also included employee layoff, financial crunch, employees’ health, and fall in sales and demand. Technology4.0 has emerged as the best help during the pandemic in the form of Artificial Intelligence, 3D printing, machine learning, big data analytics, etc. [2]. Fintech and analytical algorithms are current and important technologies. The absence and non-adoption of digital technologies in MSMEs is one of the reasons why they were shut down during the pandemic [3]. The pandemic has created specific, urgent, and new financial needs for the handicraft sector. Some of the main challenges that MSMEs faced during Covid-19 in the initial days were declining demand and broken supply chains [4]. Both developed and developing economies have been negatively impacted by the economic crisis but with considerable differences both between and within countries. Economic and social impact is severe in structurally weak developing countries. The decline in GDP and percentage decline in FDI flows is higher for developed economies. The pandemic has highlighted pre-existing challenges of the e-commerce ecosystem [5]. Updated sourcing policy, incorporation of new vendors, streamlining of product portfolio and more responsive evaluation of supply chain resilience are suggested [2]. A conceptual model based on the relationship between Covid-19 and digital marketing, customer relationship management and business performance conclude that Covid-19 hurts business performance, but this can be resolved if businesses adapt to digital marketing and start building Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The pandemic encouraged MSMEs to adopt digital marketing and build good CRM strategies [6]. Organizational readiness, lack of infrastructural support by the government, technological inadequacy and financial crisis are identified as the main barriers affecting firms during the pandemic. To overcome these, founders took to marketing and strategic networking [7]. High uncertainty, inappropriate marketing strategies, knowledge gap and reduced demand are the biggest challenges with the most immediate concern being about cash flow and

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working capital [8]. Artisans are suggested to adopt digital platforms because of the various benefits like social media usage, a massive ecosystem of online marketplaces, connection with a global audience, connection with fellow artisans, etc. [9]. A detailed review of past literature in a longitudinal manner spread over the last twenty years to explore the importance of technology adoption brings out five main challenges which are the cost of technology and infrastructure, the dearth of technical skills and efficiency, adoption challenges, and lack of organizational support and government support. It is easier for MSMEs to transform because of more inherent flexibility when compared to big firms [10]. MSMEs’ readiness toward digital transformation through multiple perspectives involving six constructs and twenty-four sub-variables from the economic and IT perspectives reveals transaction construct involving text, sounds and visual images to enhance service’s production and innovation as the most important factor in measuring MSMEs’ readiness [11]. Using Theory of Consumption Value (TCV) and Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) essential factors influencing mobile-app-based business process acceptance in Sustainability Performance (SSP) of MSMEs are concluded to be perceived behaviour control, personal attitude, top management encouragement and competitive pressure [12]. New digital tools and platforms can help MSMEs to revive their global demand [13]. Adoption of online resources can help in the sustainable growth of Indian MSMEs by providing benefits like enhanced marketing skills, fulfilling CSR concerns, competitive advantage, access to new information, effective advertising, and communication [2]. A three-staged process for technology decision makers to thrive profitably postpandemic i.e., Respond, Recover and Thrive have been developed. Decision makers have already responded with significant choices. Next is Recovery stage to learn and emerge stronger from its responses. Last stage is to thrive by focusing on long-term priority areas which are focused on human-centered design to bridge the physical and digital world and establish trust as a key business value [14]. MSMEs affected by Covid-19 have a high awareness of social media as well as high intentions to adopt it. Such intentions are impacted by technological, organizational, and environmental content [15]. Covid-19 has brought both a threat and a cautious optimism for market offerings. A ‘need-based, action-oriented and affiliation-centric’ strategy mix for survival along with robust, personalized, cohesive and dramatic experiences to keep the customers engaged is the need of the hour [16]. A significant increase is observed in remote working, changed customer needs and customer preferences for remote interactions. Remote working and cloud migration are the two most effective changes introduced by enterprises [17]. This is much needed as Covid-19 has created an environment for MSMEs where the agile and adaptable have more chances of survival [18]. Compliance with international standards and access to export opportunities is emerging as a key determinant of competitiveness for the handicraft sector. The Covid-19 pandemic should be perceived and utilized as an opportunity for revisiting the vision for the Crafts and Creative Enterprises (CCE) in the quest for more intersectional and sustainable models [19]. The new normal for MSMEs will be about resilience to change, more digitalization, inclusiveness, and sustainability [20]. But analyzing the trend of diffusion of digitalization in the global economy brings about that it is not beneficial for everyone. Digital system brings with it the negative effects

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of the digital divide creating a more restricted economic and social environment in form of challenges for the labor market. It is suggested that public policy and digital technology should complement each other and needs joint efforts of government, businesses, and people [21]. Increased resilience on digital solutions has raised concerns about privacy and digital security along with the widening of the productivity gap between digital adopters and digital laggards. There is a need for inclusive digital transformation with coordinated and comprehensive strategies [13].

4 Methodology and Analysis The present study attempts to explore the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the digitalization aspect of MSMEs in India. We also study the impact of Covid-19 on the economy in general and specifically on MSMEs. There has been enough study on the importance of digitalization for these small businesses, but the current paper tries to study the role digitalization plays in the survival of MSMEs in the hard times, challenges that come forward in digital transformation, why it’s now easier to digitize after the pandemic and the initiatives that have been taken by the government and various private players.

4.1 Impact of Covid-19 on the Economy Covid-19 has led to an unparalleled health crisis globally and has exposed the economy’s pre-existing weaknesses. The world economy shrunk by 4.4% and global trade by 5.3%; job losses occurred to the tune of 75 million. According to UNCTAD, global foreign trade is estimated to shrink by 5–15%. The WTO estimates world merchandise trade in 2020 to fall by 13–32%. World bank predicted that South Asia could face its worst economic performance in 40 years with half of the countries falling into a deep recession. India reported its first Covid-19 case on 27th January 2020 from Kerala. On 24th March 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a complete lockdown of the entire nation. There were four phases of such lockdowns. Phase 1 was from 25th March 2020 to 14th April 2020 (21 days), phase 2 was from 15th April to 3rd May (19 days), phase 3 was from 4th May to 17th May (14 days) and phase4 was from 18th May to 31st May (14 days). This lockdown was lifted in phases allowing the opening of the economy slowly. During the lockdown phase, only less than a quarter of India’s $2.8 trillion economic movement was functional. It halted production activities on a very large scale and resulted in the contraction of aggregate demand in the economy. Up to 53% of businesses in the country were significantly affected. Income levels for individuals, workers and businesses declined. About 10 million jobs were lost according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. Ltd. This had a devastating impact and lead to the slowdown of the economy along with many social, mental and economic challenges for the entire

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population. As per the ministry of statistics and program implementation, the Indian economy contracted by 7.3% in the April–June quarter which was the worst performance since independence. India’s GDP contraction in the above-mentioned period could have been above 8% if the informal sectors were also considered. Growth in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2020 went down to 3.1%. Fiscal deficit for 2020–21 skyrocketed to 9.5% of GDP as against 3.5% projected earlier. Exports in April 2020 fell by 36.65% and imports fell by 47.36% when compared to April 2019. There was a decline in global investments. Manufacturing in the economy also declined. The financial system got many new defaulters which led to lower confidence in the economy and thus a reduction in the financing of business and trade. Covid-19 for sure brought the third shock to the economy after demonetization and GST.

4.2 Pre-pandemic Slowdown According to the World Bank, Covid has “magnified pre-existing risks to India’s economic outlook”. The Indian economy was witnessing a pre-pandemic slowdown. The growth rate in GDP fell to an 11-year low of 4.2% in 2019–20 which was the lowest since 3.1% in 2008–09. It was a near-recession situation. In January 2020 which was before India reacted to the pandemic, IMF reduced India’s GDP estimates for 2019 and 2020. Several economic indicators pointed to a bad situation. Gross Capital Formation remained low. According to National Statistical Office data, the manufacturing sector grew by a mere 0.03%. The economy saw a decline in industrial output of all the core sectors which was the worst in the previous 14 years. Savings declined and the growth of deposits in banks declined to 7.9% as compared to 10% in the previous fiscal. These were down by more than 8% over the previous decade. Bank credit growth halved to 6.1% against 13.3% in 2018–19 leading to a fall in purchasing power. Private consumption spending was low as well as a private investment as a share of GDP was low and almost unchanged since 2014. The economy saw contractions in investments by 2.8%, a fall in exports by 3.6%, shooting inflation, worsened exchange rates, declined FDI flows, and high global trade tensions. The Government’s Periodic Labour Force Survey of 2017–18 revealed an unemployment rate of 6.1% which was an all-time high otherwise it has remained around 2% for several decades. Reforms were being introduced at a great pace which led to shaken policy predictability, low confidence, and low spirit in the economy. MSMEs and other informal sectors were already disrupted by demonetization in 2016 and the introduction of the GST regime in 2017. Many sectors of the economy like aviation, transportation, textile, chemicals, pulses processing, construction, travel, tourism, hospitality, automobiles, telecom, etc. were already in a poor state before the Covid pandemic came. Indian financial sector was also not very healthy because of many challenges like the twin balance sheet problem, high levels of NPAs, inadequately capitalized banks, mergers & acquisitions, Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Leasing (IL & FS) crisis, etc. The income crunch already existed for both rural

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and urban populations. In short, the Indian economy was unhealthy and just not prepared for any further shocks.

4.3 Impact of COVID-19 on MSMEs Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) make an enormous contribution to the socio-economic development in India. But their survival and functioning have been seriously threatened by the pandemic worldwide. According to an ILO SCORE Programme survey, MSMEs represent more than 70% of global employment and 50% of GDP and thus cannot be ignored in this situation where even the largest of businesses have been severely impacted. Indian economy heavily depends on the flourishing of these small units, at least for the last few decades as follows: • • • • • •

Contribution to total exports: 50% Contribution to total GDP: 30% Share in total industrial units: 95% Contribution to total employment opportunities: 45% Contribution to total manufacturing output: 45% Share of manufacturing MSMEs in India’s total manufacturing Gross Value Output: 33% • Equity funds raised by first 16 MSMEs via IPO route in 2020 for the first time: US $ 13.74 Million. Covid-19 crisis severely disrupted this very crucial sector. It led to disorientation of normal business structure of small businesses. This effect is more visible in developing countries. MSMEs lack new technological skills leading to a redundant kind of work environment that was not suitable enough to survive the pandemic. It suffered a major decline in their demand because they commonly deal with nonessential products and services. Operating costs for these units increased because of required changes in work processes, precautionary measures taken, learning of new skills, etc. However, Capacity utilization of MSMEs fell sharply which led to temporary closures and in some cases complete shutdown. Logistic disruptions were common globally which led to supply chain deadlocks, input shortages in form of both raw materials and labor, disrupted production lines, increased vulnerability of suppliers and transportation challenges. MSMEs faced major challenges related to labor like fleeting workforce, restricted labor mobility, communication barriers and labor shortage. Most of the work is manual in MSMEs and could not be performed from home. Also, Export firms suffered great losses as the export destinations were also on lockdown. Production levels for MSME units went down because of many challenges they faced like logistic disruptions, cash flow challenges, labor shortage, and restricted input availability. This has disturbed the demand and supply mechanism. The cash flow problems have weakened the entire functioning of SME units. Cancellation of orders, pending payments, unsold inventory, stuck orders in transit, wage pressure, fall in sales and turnover, etc. created a liquidity debt trap. Income of

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these units has fallen severely and Shortage of working capital was reported as a major challenge by several studies. Also, Recovery rate of MSMEs is slower compared to big business units, especially in developing countries. Access to finance also became difficult because of lower confidence in the economy.

4.4 Role of Digitalization for MSMEs in Covid Times A Cisco India SMB Digital Maturity Study 2020 concludes that digital transformation of MSMEs might improve and include $158–$216 billion to India’s GDP by 2024. This can be a great help for Indian economy to recover from the pandemic. This pandemic has shown many cases in which the MSMEs involved in digital business from long time experienced noticeable growth because they could capitalize on the few opportunities’ the pandemic presented and experienced enhanced functionality, efficiency and accessibility. MSMEs were most disrupted in the economy but the ones which were digitized could come out with less harsher shocks. According to Gartner Glossary, Digitalization is the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities; it is the process of moving to a digital business. It means turning interactions, communications, business functions and business models into (more) digital ones which involves a mix of digital and physical like omnichannel customer service, integrated marketing, or smart manufacturing. It spreads throughout the organization in various fields like communication, collaboration, production, marketing, accounting & finance, operations, human resource management, payment gateways etc. Technology’s strategic importance has now become a critical component of businesses and not just a source of cost efficiencies. Also, absence and non-adoption of digital technology in MSMEs of most emerging economies explain why they were shut during the pandemic. Various benefits that digitalization offer for MSMEs are discussed here. • Marketing and Sales: Increased business penetration, enhanced marketing skills, massive ecosystem of the online marketplace, help to revive lost demand in global market, increased customer interface processes, better customer relationship management, enhanced connectivity with fellow artisans, effective advertising and communication, better exploration of types of business and channels, more scope for customization, access to trade and public services, information gathering and analysis. • Operational: Operational efficiency, better productivity, smoother operations, improved functionality, better capacity utilization, improved image of the company, enhanced cooperation with suppliers, scope for sustainable growth, innovation and competitive advantage, helps to fulfill CSR concerns, better virtual presence, aids automation-based manufacturing, can overcome the liability of smallness, and newness, more resilience, agility, adaptability, and flexibility.

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• Finance related: Cost efficiencies, economies of scale, financial inclusion and increased funding, helps in business expansion with limited finance, spread of digital payment system, aids capital analysis, etc. • Logistics related: Increased supply chain resilience, corporate networking for profitable value-chains, maintenance of logistics operations, etc. The pandemic pushed many MSMEs to digitalize themselves to survive the pandemic as these units could see that those who were already into digital operations performed better. Now the MSMEs affected by Covid have higher than ever knowledge about social media, e-commerce, online payment platforms, etc. There is an increasing trend of businesses adopting the latest technologies like cloud computing, data analytics, analytical algorithms, social media, artificial intelligence, Industrial internet of things (IoT), fintech and technology 4.0. Big data, predictive analytics, disruptive computing technologies, remote working, cloud migration and virtual reality are no more the features of only big business houses. Digital tools in different areas made businesses more agile, flexible and adaptable and provided more chances of profitable survival in the pandemic. The pandemic has led to greater adoption of social media and growth of sales through e-commerce websites [20]. According to a study, third-party marketplaces performed better than e-commerce companies in the pandemic which means wholly digital business models have been more resilient to the crisis. This makes us conclude that the new normal for MSMEs is resilience to change, more digitalization, inclusiveness and sustainability.

4.5 Challenges in Way of Successful Adoption of Digital Tools and Technology Adoption of new technologies in businesses especially MSMEs provides many benefits which are now important for survival and not just to achieve any competitive advantage but it’s not an easy process. There are many barriers in the way of successful adoption of digital services and practices as discussed below. • Technical challenges: Lack of technical skills and expertise, difficulty in management of virtual infrastructure, system integration complexities, different formats to exchange data and inherent inconsistencies, dynamic nature of digital technologies, environmental uncertainty, unequal diffusion rate, disinterest in perceived relative advantages and compatibility, perceived complexity, weak cyber laws, etc. • Knowledge related challenges: Lack of awareness of digital transformation, lack of social media awareness, negligence, lack of proper guidance and practical knowledge, insufficient knowledge in using ICT, lack of fact-based information, lack of skill development programs and supportive education for employees and

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business owners, dearth of innovative skills, absence of online sales competencies, lack of customer interfacing skills, weak linkages between institutions and MSMEs, etc. Financial challenges: Lack of Financial support., cost of technology and infrastructure, switch-over costs, resistance to incur upfront investment, etc. Privacy and security challenges: cybersecurity, payment gateway security problems, mistrust in the IT industry, privacy issues, etc. Organizational challenges: fear of radical changes in business operations, adoption challenges, owner’s characteristics, lack of organizational support, lack of time for trial and error insufficient operational support and administration, organizational structure, lack of resources, cultural shocks (unwillingness to change, ignorance of things), etc. Human resource challenges: lack of competencies and skills in using digital technologies, ambiguity of information, personal attitude, lack of skilled and affordable manpower, language barriers, no understanding of perceived ease of use and facilitating conditions, employee’s attitude, etc.

4.6 Initiatives by Government and Private Sector Players Despite so many challenges in the way of MSMEs to digitalize their businesses, MSMEs are eager to learn and adapt this new normal to thrive in the pandemic. Covid gave harsh shocks but at the same time taught lessons about new survival strategies. This made policymakers think about the helpful environment that is needed for better utilization of technologies. The business environment has changed by itself and is now easier for willing MSMEs to transform. According to a Mc Kinsey report, rate of adoption of digital channels to interact with customers is years ahead of where they were before the pandemic. There is acceleration in digitization of customers interface processes, core internal operations, supply chain interactions that too from a long-term point of view. This is the pandemic-driven digitalization process which is being facilitated by contributions of policy makers and private sector players. Several companies have come forward to support struggling MSMEs. E-commerce companies like Amazon, Flipkart, Jabong, Nykaa, Myntra, ShopClues, Snapdeal, TradeIndia etc attempt to provide online platforms for MSMEs. There is acceleration in technological changes, increased internet connectivity in underserved areas and cheaper access to internet. Electronic payment costs have reduced, and epayments have experienced fast growth. Now, small enterprises can be seen conducting digital transactions through QR scan codes and other apps in tier-2 and tier-3 markets as well. Fintech companies are providing customized working capital solutions to small businesses. Online sales have shot high. Also, there is increase in funding for digital initiatives. Financial incentives, liquidity support and skill training programs have been major support measures that many economies have focused upon to help the MSMEs. MSMEs are eager to board the digitalization train to survive and thrive. Some of the initiatives that have been taken by government as well a private-sector

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players in India to help MSMEs grow faster, recover faster, retain their customers and improve profitability are as following: 1. Government: Finance RBI announced a list of Covid-19 operations and business continuity measures for financial institutions. 2. Government: Digitalization Ministry of MSMEs launched a robust Single Window System with features of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning named CHAMPIONS (Creation and Harmonious Application of Modern Processes for Increasing the Output and National Strength) portal. 3. Government: Finance (liquidity) SBI opened a special credit facility for MSMEs to address their liquidity concerns. 4. Government: Finance (tax burden) The last date for filing income tax returns for FY 2018-19 extended from March 31 to June 30, 2020. Similar extensions for GST. 5. Government: Finance (credit) Credit facilities for small, informal businesses and street vendors with 2% interest subsidy on micro loans for 12 months on loans up to INR 50 thousand under the existing MUDRA scheme. 6. Government: Logistics Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) signed an MoU with Aramex India (logistics services provider) to support MSME exporters. 7. Government: Finance (credit) Special Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (SCLCSS) is launched by M/o MSME for services sector. It provides 25% capital subsidy with an overall investment ceiling of Rs. 1 crore for SC/ST enterprises. 8. Government: Manufacturing SAMBHAV Scheme by M/O MSME is a national-level awareness program to promote entrepreneurship and domestic manufacturing. 9. Government: Digitalization (exports) ‘India Export Initiative’ and ‘IndiaXports 2021 Portal’ to accelerate MASME exports in India.

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10. Government (Finance): AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan Various programs launched under this umbrella scheme are Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme, Credit Guarantee Scheme for Subordinate Debt, Fund of fund for MSME scheme, Rs. 20 thousand crore Subordinate debt for stressed MSMEs, and Self-Reliant India (SRI) fund Scheme. 11. Government: Finance SIDBI launched Assistance to facilitate Emergency Response against Corona Virus (SAFE) scheme aimed to aid MSMEs involved in manufacturing of medical products or services related to Covid-19. 12. Government: Digitalization (marketing) NSIC launched MSME Global Mart which is a one shop digital solution to all business needs of MSMEs and make them competitive in global market. It aims to increase visibility as well as provide value added services. 13. Government: Digitalization Virtual trade events and virtual buyer-seller meets are being organized by government of India to provide necessary visibility, support, information, opportunities and experiences. 14. Government: Finance/marketing International cooperation scheme launched by m/o MSME is a demand drive scheme to provide financial assistance on reimbursement basis to eligible state/central government organizations, registered industry associations, societies/trusts engaged in promotion and development of MSME sector. These organizations are facilitated to promote visits and participations of MSMEs in international exhibitions/trade fairs/buyer-seller meets and hold conferences/seminars/workshops. 15. Government: Digitalization (entrepreneurship) MSME Bank of Ideas, Innovation and Research is a portal launched by M/o MSME to help MSMEs gain access to all schemes of union, state and UT governments. It provides a provision for uploading ideas, innovations & research related to the sector. 16. Government: Digitalization Every district has a MSME Facilitation Centre which are dedicated service providers to act as a single point to receive all applications made by entrepreneur to government entities for compliances, government incentives, application forms etc.

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17. Government: Digitalization MyMSME is a web-based application module which provides help to make applications and track them via mobile to facilitate enterprises to take benefits of various schemes. 18. Government: Digitalization (finance) 59 minute loan portal is launched by a public ltd company ‘online PSB loans’ and SIDBI as Psbloansin59minutes.com which is an automated and intelligent fund-raising platform for MSMEs in the quickest, simplest and easiest way. 19. Private: Digitalization (marketing) Amazon launched local shops on Amazon.in where more than 11,000 sellers have enrolled. This is a part of Amazon’s $1 billion investment pledge. 20. Private: Digitalization (logistics) Walmart launched ‘Walmart Vriddhi’—a supplier development program aimed to empower MSMEs for domestic and global supply chains through an all-digital e-institute for MSMEs. 21. Private: Digitalization (finance) TradeIndia launched ‘TradeKhata’, a B2B ecommerce portal for cloud-based invoice and payment solution. 22. Private: Finance Google India Pvt Ltd brings a corpus of US$ 15 million for micro enterprises as a crisis response to Covid pandemic. 23. Private: Digitalization (logistics) Digital freight forwarder Freightwalla launched a shipment tracking service for MSME exporters and importers based on predictive analysis. 24. Private: Finance (logistics) Supply chain financing platform, Cash invoice announced to help MSMEs with over US $ 1.33 billion worth of financing. 25. Private: Finance (skill development) Sundaram Finance and the MSME Development Institute (Chennai) provided marketing assistance to MSMEs through an incubator scheme for development of managerial and entrepreneurial skills. 26. Private: Digitalization Flipkart introduced ‘Flipkart Boost’ to help digitalize brands and empower MSMEs.

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27. Private: Digitalization (finance) Facebook India with Indifi announced ‘Small Business Loans Initiative’ to support MSMEs in getting quick access to credit via independent partners. 28. Private: Digitalization (entrepreneurship) Indian Bank introduced ‘MSME Prerana’, an online business-mentoring programme in Odisha. 29. Private: Logistics Amazon India expanded nine fulfillment centers and launched 11 new centers to create new job opportunities. 30. Private: Digitalization (finance) Razorpay acquired TERA Finlabs to financially develop MSMEs in areas of data-driven risk management, capital solutions and credit underwriting. 31. Private: Digitalization (entrepreneurship) Amazon India introduced Digital Kendra in Surat to assist kiranas and small businesses to go digital. 32. Private: Digitalization (marketing) Google launched Poly9, a technology powered platform using artificial intelligence and 3D technologies to enable brands to showcase products in interactive 3D, create immersive online shopping experiences for customers and manage digital content across their supply chain. 33. Private: Digitalization (finance) Myforexeye company launched Myforexeye app which is India’s first full service mobile app to simplify Forex exchange for traders, business communities and individuals. 34. Private: Digitalization (operations) Amazon Business launched ‘MSME Accelerate’ online event to help MSMEs showcase their products to enterprise clients to get large quantity orders at exclusive deals, bulk discounts, cashbacks and GST input tax credit. 35. Private: digitalization (marketing) Flipkart launched ‘Flipkart Samarth’, an e-commerce platform to help NGOs, government bodies, rural women, specially-abled, artisans, weavers and social enterprise to showcase their products in the most efficient. It also provides benefits in the areas of cataloguing, warehousing, account management, marketing, etc.

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5 Analysis and Interpretation We observe that most of the initiatives are to promote digitalization. The enrolment in these schemes is also sufficiently high which points out that these small businesses are now inclined towards digital transformation. Much research has been done before Covid-19 highlighting the importance of digitalization for MSMEs, but the pandemic has proved to be a blessing in disguise which has resulted in a large-scale transformation. Digital businesses performed far better than non-digital businesses. This has also been realized by the policymakers who have introduced structural policy changes to aid technology adoption, e-commerce enabling measures, new online consumer protection measures, closer international cooperation, etc. Much is being done to ease credit availability, enhance the role of NBFCs and other financial intermediaries to promote credit availability and increase the scope for experimentation in MSMEs. But with increased digitalization in businesses will come the risk of the productivity gap between digital adopters and digital laggards so there is a need for inclusive digital transformation with coordinated and comprehensive strategies to build resilience and bridge the digital divide post-Covid era. A collaborative ecosystem is the need of the hour to deal with rising digital inequalities. MSMEs should focus on more interactional and sustainable models of digitalization. We can conclude that recovery from the pandemic will be accelerated with the adoption of digital tools and technologies, but this process should involve multi-level and multi-dimensional actions. Private sector initiatives can prove to be major factors to ease accessibility and providing a supportive environment. There is a need for market integration of both online, offline and informal e-commerce. Efforts of private players, public policy decisions, MSME intentions and digital technology should complement each other for quick recovery.

6 Conclusion Covid-19 proved to be an existential crisis for MSMEs. India’s growth in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2020 went down to 3.1%. Income levels fell, jobs were lost, and manufacturing in the economy also declined. The MSME sector faced lost customers, supply chain disruption, cancelled orders, liquidity crunch, constraints to accessing new finance, increased operating costs, etc. MSMEs are central to India’s economic development and thus their recovery will ensure India’s economic recovery. MSMEs which were digitized could come out with lesser shocks. Digital technology’s strategic importance has now become a critical component of businesses and not just a source of cost efficiencies because of the various benefits that digital tools and technologies have to offer in various areas like increased business penetration, enhanced marketing skills, better export performance, increased customer interface processes, etc. Adoption of new technologies by MSMEs is now important for survival but it’s not an easy process. There are many barriers in the way to successful

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adoption of digital services and practices in MSMEs in areas of technology, knowledge, finance, privacy, security, human resource and organizational characteristics. Covid taught lessons about new survival strategies. This made policymakers think about the helpful environment that is needed for better utilization of technologies. The transformation process has been made easier for willing MSMEs. There is acceleration in the digitization of customer interface processes, core internal operations, and supply chain interactions that too from a long-term point of view. Several companies like Amazon, Flipkart, Jabong, ShopClues, Snapdeal, TradeIndia, etc. have come forward to support struggling MSMEs. This study tries to explore many initiatives that have been taken by the government as well as private-sector players in India to help MSMEs recover faster. We observe that most of the initiatives are to promote digitalization. Digital businesses performed far better than non-digital businesses in the hard pandemic times which have forced non-digital businesses to adopt digital tools.

7 Limitations and Scope for Further Research The study has data limitations as only secondary data and reports have been used for analyzing the impact of the Covid pandemic on the digitalization aspect of Indian MSMEs. A primary survey to understand first-hand experiences of MSMEs during the pandemic and how they look forward to the recovery process could have provided a more realistic understanding. Also, it is the time when new variants of Coronavirus are coming up. The economy is in the recovery phase. There is scope for an in-depth longitudinal study spread across various stages of the pandemic.

References 1. Zutshi, A., Mendy, J., Sharma, G., Thomas, A., Sarker, T.: From challenges to creativity: enhancing MSMEs resilience in the context of Covid-19. Sustainability 13, 6542 (2021) 2. Kumar, A., Syed, D., Ali. A., Pandey, D.: How Adoption of Online Resources Can Help Indian MSMEs in Improving Performance During Covid-19 pandemic, pp. 3394–3400. The Mattingley Publihing Co. Inc (2020) 3. Akpan, I.J., Udoh, E.A.P., Adebisi, B.: Small business awareness and adoption of state-of-theart technologies in emerging and developing markets and lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic. J. Small Bus. Entrepren. (2020) 4. Pati, A.: Covid-19 impact on handicrafts sector: a struggle that only got harder, Business Today Article, 20 Aug 2020 5. UNCTAD. Covid-19 and e-commerce, impact on businesses and policy responses. In: UN Conference on Trade and Development (2020) 6. Nyoman, K.Y.N., Wayan, N.W., Laksmita, D.R.: The effects of Covid-19 on digital marketing, customer relationship management and business performance. Bus. Manage. Entrepren. Acad. J. 3(10), 1–10 (2021) 7. Chaturvedi, R., Karri, A.: Entrepreneurship in the times of pandemic: barriers and strategies. FIIB Bus. Rev. 11(1), 52–56 (2021)

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8. Khemchand Verma, M.K.: Impact of Covid-19 on small and medium enterprises. Soc. Sci. Learn. J. 6(5), 468–479 (2021) 9. Kumar, S.: Traditional handicraft business can preserve its losing grip. entrepreneur India. Management and business performance. Bus. Manage. Entrepren. Acad. J. 3(10) (2021) 10. Shaikh, A.A., Kumar, A., Shaikh, M.Z.: A two-decade literature review on challenges faced by MSMEs in technology adoption. Acad. Market. Stud. J. 25(3) (2021) 11. Okfalisa, O., Anggraaini, W., Nawanir, G., Saktioto, S., Wong K.Y.: Measuring the effects of different factors influencing on the readiness of MSMEs towards digitalization: A multiple perspectives design of decision support system. Decis. Sci. Lett. 10, 425–442 (2021) 12. Rakshit, S., Islam, N., Mondal, S., Paul, T.: Mobile apps for SME business sustainability during Covid-19 and onwards. J. Bus. Res. 135, 28–39 (2021) 13. OECD. Digital transformation in the age of Covid-19, Building Resilience and Bridging divides. Digital Economy Outlook 2020 Supplement (2020) 14. Deloitte.: Covid-19, shaping the future through digital business, Leveraging technology to support the recovery and produce lasting change 15. Effendi, M.I., Sugandini, D. and Istanto, Y.: Social media adoption in MSMEs impacted by Covid-19: the TOE model. J. Asian Financ. Econ. Bus. 7(11), 915–925 (2020) 16. Kaur, G., Kaur, C.: Covid-19 and the rise of new experience economy. FIIB Bus. Rev. 9(4) 239–248 (2020) 17. McKinesey. How Covid-19 has pushed companies over the technology tipping point and transformed business forever (2020) 18. Parameshwaran, N.: Digitalization of MSMEs is the need of the hour. Times of India, 28 Oct 2020 19. Mozumdar, S.: Revitalizing the crafts and creative enterprises sector. State of Indian Livelihood Report, pp. 113–124 20. International Trade Centre (ITC). SME competitiveness outlook 2020. Covid-19: the great lockdown and its impact on small business. ISBN:978-92-1-103677-0 21. Daniele, S.: Digital transformation, Covid-19 and the future of work. Munich Personal RePEc Archive, Department of Economics, University of Messina (June 2021)

Determinants of Small Business Success: A Harmonization Between Resources and Strategies Noor Ul Hadi , Naziruddin Abdullah, Sotirios Zygiaris, Ghayur Ahmad, Malik Fawaz Saleh, and Muhammad Muazzem Hossain

Abstract This study proposes a conceptual model to address the condemnation concerning organisation valuable resources and its measurement as expounded by resource-based view. Needless to say, an organisation strategic resources play a crucial role in competitive advantage. Notwithstanding, the growing number of small scale businesses caused raging competition among smaller firms. Thus, small scale businesses have to preserve their existence and expand their activities. Since, the role played by the small-scale businesses in job creation, income generation and therefore poverty alleviation has been recognized worldwide, we propose a conceptual model and measuring scale for organisation valuable resources so as to make it more considerable to entrepreneurs to do better than others.. A special feature of this paper lies in its attempt to propose a new measuring scale for organisation valuable resources. Resources valuable attribute is then served to analyse the sustainable success factors of SMEs. In conclusion, we managed to unravel how the concept of organisation valuable resources can be used as strategies to determine whether or not a business entity is successful. The pre-requisite, however, is that both, the resources and strategies, have to co-exist harmoniously. Keywords Valuable Resources; Measurement Scales · Business Success · RBV

1 Introduction In an attempt to answer the most frequently asked research questions, “Why do several firms constantly do better than others?” [35] highlighted two paradigms,internal and external environments. Taking cues from them it is, therefore, important to note that environment can play an important role as it contributes positively to the betterment N. U. Hadi (B) · S. Zygiaris · G. Ahmad · M. F. Saleh · M. M. Hossain College of Business Administration, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] N. Abdullah Universiti Kuala Lumpur Business School, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_14

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of SMEs, let alone large firms. For one, this could be due to greater susceptibility of SMEs to environmental influence. In fact, in a study by Mulheran (1995) it has been found that the SMEs had positively influenced the economies of all countries, especially that of developing countries. He specifically stated that “the micro and smallscale manufacturing industries have been a major driving force in the economic development, technological progress and innovation of these countries”. Furthermore, it has also been stated by [1] that “the role played by SMEs in job creation, income generation and poverty alleviation has been recognized worldwide”. In the same vein, [15] also emphasized the importance of environment and have proposed two types of environment (internal and external), which affect an organisation performance. They further clarified that while internal environment includes; things, situations and events that occur within an organisation and are under the control of the organisation, external environment is out of control of the organisation Faisal et al. (2022) and includes; things, events, and situations that occur outside the organisation and are hard to control [17]. With this in mind, the purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual model based on the traditional resource based view paradigm with valuable (V) attribute (as the V attribute is embedded in VRIN approach) to explore the sustainable success of SMEs. [10] in their cross-sectional study concluded that “Pakistani small businessmen strongly believed that business success lies within their internal environment” (RBV perspective). In addition, the strategy, which refers to the upper management plans to achieve results that is consistent with the missions and objectives of the organisation, is effective if only it is based on organisation valuable resources. This observation is found in studies (e.g., Bhide, 1996; [13, 17] where they concluded that for a business to achieve high-performance it must adapt strategies to their environment and employ the right resources where with such a harmonious condition that will in turn set a stage for SME to perform successfully. In Pakistan, as the SMEs comprise “nearly 99.06 percent of all economic establishments and providing 80 percent of the nonagricultural labor force” and thus reckoned as the lifeblood of its economy [24]. Therefore, we propose the same scheme with valuable (V) attribute be added to explore the strategic success of Pakistan’s SMEs. To put it differently, coupled with strategy, the owner or management should be able to identify and organise the resources, particularly with V attribute, in order for the organisations to enhance the business performance for longer period of time. In addition, unlike other studies we also propose a measure for measuring the Valuable attribute of organization resources. Indeed, this is the unique feature of this study. The organisation of the study is as follows. In Sect. 2, there is a literature review on RBV and firm performance. In Sects. 3, a summary of the main framework of the RBV, namely the firm valuable resource and classification of organisation valuable resource will be elaborated. The section mainly contains the criticisms on RBV. In Sect. 3, the new conceptual framework used to measure the sustainable business success is proposed. Finally, in Sect. 4 there is outcome and conclusion of the study.

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2 Literature Review 2.1 RBV and Firm Performance RBV came into existence in response to the critique that firm or business performance may not be dependent on organisation specific resources. On the contrary, and consistent with RBV, recent studies have shown that “the strategic diagnostic by an analysis of organisation resources rather than industry characteristics is a prerequisite to determine business success” [37], D’Aveni et al., 2010). Specifically, firms will enjoy continuing superior financial performance when they have access to resources that are inimitable, having no substitute and are immobile in the factor markets. In the study of high performing firm in the financial services industry [8] found that it was the intangible assets, capabilities, valuable, unique and complex resources which affected firm’s performance. Project quality performance is the result of inimitability [skills, [36]]. [4] concurred and argued strongly in favor of the RBV where according to them the idea that firms differ in their resource positions, and such resource heterogeneity is a source of business performance. Viewed the RBV from a different perspective, [39], however, demonstrated that the theory is applicable when the moderating effect of environmental volatility is ignored. Other empirical studies that were conducted to verify the validity of RBV include, among others, by [3, 25, 34, 40, 41] and [30]. In their study, Lin and Wu found VRIN resources are positively related to firm performance and hence can improve the performance of business, however, measuring of these attributes are challenge for entrepreneurs and managers. More interestingly, [40] when measuring “the relationship between organisational functional capabilities and firm performance have detected a positive and significant relationship between the former and the latter”, especially with respect to marketing capabilities and functional capabilities, and firm performance. Using RBV as a theoretical backdrop, [14] identified a positive relation between strategic planning and UK’s manufacturing SMEs performance. This paper, apart from evaluating the relevancy of RBV, is to extend [15] conceptual framework. Specifically, it is built upon the Resource Based Theory (RBT or RBV) in which the study proposes that resources with valuable (V) attribute lead to business success. The contribution of this study lies in its attempt to explore the way in which firms can identify their valuable resources, i.e., the resources which have the ability to enable firm to respond to environmental uncertainty (dynamisms and complexity).

2.2 The Criticism on RBV To begin, the framework advanced by RBV is questionable, as it relies too much on qualitative analysis with scanty and infirm empirical supports. According to Sanchez (2008), and Priem and Butler (2001a, 2001b) a major question-mark on the face of

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RBV is its generalizability [28], mainly due to lack of scientific method to test the core concept of RBV. Moreover, the strategic assets in RBV perspective are positive sides of ledger account, which tells only half of the story (Arend, 2004). On the contrary, manufacturing technology, which is mostly common asset of organisation and have the ability to reduce cost, increase sales and deliver (PUV), perhaps, due to its rarity, is ignored by traditional RBV. The same observation is also made by Seidu (2009) and Breznik and Hisrich (2014) where they opine that the traditional RBV ignored the dynamic aspect in a knowledge-based economy as learning, innovation and knowledge creation contribute to business performance as well. Another aspect of the determining factors of business performance that eluded from the RBV radar is strategic resources, i.e., the outcomes of other resources. In this relation, [20] argues that as firms grew and matured they must have changed the resources over time, which is consistent with the product life cycle literature. Meanwhile, in seeking to address research question “how to extend resource based view, including the contributions of other resources (ordinary and junk)” [37] identified three reasons why the RBV is no longer useful,all are related to how a manager manages the strategic resources. They are: firstly, the manager does not understand which strategic factor (antecedent) causing superior performance; secondly, the manager cannot systematically manage and influence this strategic factor on the business operation; and, thirdly, the manager wrongly specified the self-complementary resources or capabilities as homogeneous. In other words, while RBV propagating the idea of minimizing managerial role and establishing direct association between strategic resources and firm performance, in reality it shows that in order for businesses to succeed they are required: to incorporate managerial role; and, to acquire accumulate and exploit resources. Furthermore, although it is a well-known fact that at some level of operations all firm resources are rare, it is illogical to use the criterion of rarity to distinguish resources that have the potential to be a source of competitive advantage from resources that do not. Finally, according to Seidu (2009), Makadok (2011) and Sanchwez (2008), by ignoring the complex processes such as accumulating and maintaining strategic valuable resources the theory is nothing but “a resource picking theory rather than a resource accumulating one”. In other words, RBV is nothing but a half-baked theory when it failed to appreciate the fact that the value of resources is depending upon the presence of other complementary resources. In his recently published article, Ployhart (20,121, p. 1782) call for RBV 2 to precisely specify, “Resources for what?” Having outlined and revealed the drawbacks of RBV, this study will exhibit how firms can identify their valuable resources, i.e., the resources which have the ability to enable firm to respond to environmental threats and opportunities, and hence tracking them on the path to succeed.

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2.3 Valuable Resources As the views and expectations pertaining to valuable resources are numerous, only a few of them are herein discussed. While according to [9] “resources are valuable if they contribute to the production of something customers want at price which they are willing to pay”, Miller and Shamsie (1996) define it as anything that enables organisation to do things that affect its economic value. In fact, resources are valuable if they allow an organisation to get better market position as compared to its competitor, as [21] opined. However, [5] pointed out that “resources are valuable if they lead to high margin, high sales, low cost or resources, which will be an added financial value to the firm. He goes further to argue that resources are valuable when they enable a firm to implement strategies that improve its effectiveness and efficiency”. In this study, a resource is defined as valuable if it enable the firm to respond to environmental threats and opportunities, and the attribute of resources will be measured by knowledge and beliefs of entrepreneur or manager.

2.4 Classification of Organisation Resources Recent study by [12] shows that the resources of the organisation is those that an organisation can use to fulfill their strategies. Organisation resources are the tangible or intangible assets a firm possesses or has access. However, by merely possessing the resources without the capability to exploit them would mean nothing but a waste. As such, the capability of a firm is a phenomenon where the resources can be classified and the result is measurable. Mills and Platts (2003), for example, have classified them into three, namely, knowledge resources, cultural resources, and values resources, which, to some extent, is not quite similar to Marino’s (1996) and [6] classification as the latter researchers decomposed it into organisational resources, physical and human resources. However, [39] divided resources into two groups, VRIN resources and non-VRIN resources. [37], on the other hand, classified organisation resources into three categories; strategic resources, ordinary resources and junk resources. Unlike others, this study will classify organisation resources into five categories: (i) financial resources (capital, cash, equity and retained earnings; (ii) human resources, which include training, experience, judgment, intelligence and relationships of individual employees; (iii) intellectual resources comprises of patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets; (iv) organisational resources that consist of relationships with other organisation, suppliers, buyers, creditors, channels of distribution and corporate culture; and, (v) physical resources which contains physical technology, plant and equipment, geographic location and raw materials. With the newly proposed classification of resources, the study provides a fresh and unique dimension as how resources should be perceived and measured with respect to business success.

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2.5 Business Success An extensive amount of literature has been available on success. Generally, it means accomplishment of organisation plans (goals and objectives). According to Pasanen (2003), success in business studies implies firm outstanding financial performance. Day et al., (1995), pointed out that sales and profitability are core components of business success. There are several ways to assess or quantify business success like; measurement of financial performance, evaluation of marketing inputs and consideration of effectiveness and efficiency of business (Neely, 2002). Objective and subjective measures was used by Žáková and Scalera (2015) for measuring firm performance. Balance score card method for measuring performance was found in prior study of Matti Jaakkola (2006), which consists of four constructs. Similarly, Anggadwita and Mustafid (2014) proposed financial and non-financial measures for business success. Three measures were adopted by Panagiotis Liargovas and Skandalis (2010) for the success of business; sales and profitability, return on equity and return on assets. Accounting based measure was used by [22], and [27]. For successful SMEs we are proposing subjective measures as advanced by [2, 15, 18] and [16] in the context of manufacturing SMEs. Among others, in the study the respondents were asked to compare their performance with that of their main competitor(s) in terms of sales, profit, and increase in capital assets, and increase in cash flow.

3 A Newly Approach Used to Evaluate the V Attribute of RBV In this study, our preferred approach will be based on our proposed measurement scale as detailed below. Technically, the proposed measurement scale used in this study is to examine the organisation valuable resources is based on the well-established five point Likert. The scale ranges from 1 = “Strongly disagree” to 5 = “Strongly Agree”.1 Based on this categorisation of organisation resources we then propose the following criteria for the measurement of valuable organisation resources. Each item below indicates the extent to which the respondents agree or disagree to a description of how their organisation uses its resources and capabilities. 1 = “strongly disagree” 2 = “disagree”3 = “neither agree nor disagree”, 4 = “agree”5 = “strongly agree”The way in which the firms combine resources and capabilities enable them to respond to environmental threats and opportunities will be measured in terms of the followings.a. “Financial Resources and Capabilities” 1 2 3 4 5b. “Human Resources and Capabilities” 1 2 3 4 5c. “Intellectual Resources and Capabilities” 1 2 3 4 5d. “Physical Resources and Capabilities” 1 2 3 4 5e. “Organisational Resources and Capabilities” 1 2 3 4 5. 1

We note, according to [37] the attribute of resources are measured by knowledge and beliefs of an entrepreneur or manager.

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Human resource

Intellectual resource

Capabilities

Pakistani SMEs Success

Financial resource

Physical resource

Fig. 1 Conceptual framework of Pakistani SMEs Success

Alternatively, we propose the measurement to be in the following format where each item indicates the extent to which the respondents agree or disagree to a description of how their organisation uses its resources and capabilities. 1 = “High negative impact” 2 = “Negative impact” 3 = “No impact”, 4 = “Positive impact” 5 = “High positive impact”. How effective the organisations combine organisation resources and capabilities which in turn have influence on its ability to response to environmental threats and opportunities is measured in terms of the followings (Fig. 1). a. “Financial Resources and Capabilities” 1 2 3 4 5b. “Human Resources and Capabilities” 1 2 3 4 5c. “Intellectual Resources and Capabilities” 1 2 3 4 5d. “Physical Resources and Capabilities” 1 2 3 4 5e. “Organisational Resources and Capabilities” 1 2 3 4 5. In the above conceptual model we have five unobserved exogenous variables and Pakistani Business Success as an unobserved endogenous variable. Each unobserved variable is measure by their observed variables. Like, human resource is measure by training, experiences, education, intelligence, and social contact (modeled as formative construct), intellectual resource is measure by trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights, and patents (modeled as formative construct), organization capabilities are measure by abilities, know how, expertise, and skills (formative construct), financial resource is measure by capital, cash, retain earning, and equity (formative construct), follow by physical resource which is measure by raw material, plant and machinery, and location of business (formative construct). Lastly, the dependent unobserved variable in our conceptual framework is Pakistani SMEs success, which is the variable of primary interest. This construct is measure by four observed variables (sales, profits, increase in cash flow, and other assets- modeled as reflective construct). The five paths emanating from each organization resource to Pakistani Business Success represent the contribution of each construct. It is here we hypothesized that the SMEs whose resources and capabilities are embedded with the value may positively influence success of a business entity. As RBV suggests, “the resources

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possessed by a firm are either the primary determinants of its performance” [6, 19, 23, 38] or valuable resources are capable to benefit the firms that bring competitive advantage to them (Hulland et al., 2007). To that extend, it can be discovered that the proposed framework is new and effective in a sense that it can scientifically test the core concept of RBV (V attribute of resource-based view) which is a major question-mark on the face of RBV.

4 Conclusion Organisation valuable resources un-doubtfully play a crucial role in the success of SMEs. Therefore, in this article, we attempted to clarify the concept of organisation valuable resources and its measurement scale to address the condemnation identified in literature from developed and mature markets. From critical literature review it was found that the core concept of RBV in the field of research is divergent in terminology, meaning, and opinions. But, based on resource classification, operationalize definition and measuring scale we proposed the resources that should be regarded as valuable resource and how they should be measured in a context of a specific industry. We than linked the valuable resources with Pakistani SMEs success. Since, small and medium enterprises are the lifeblood of Pakistani economy and they are the object of our study, it enables us to uncover how the concept of organisation valuable resource can be operationalized and how it can be measured to outdo their competitors. It is with this finding we conclude that an organisation will be performing well if it has resources with right attributes and there are combined harmoniously with the appropriate strategies.

4.1 Limitation and Future Research Direction The conceptual nature of the paper is its first limitation. However, the proposed conceptual model and measuring scale will make entrepreneurs to do better than others. Secondly, the proposed model can be used for specific industry. The outcomes of the real data might be distinct. Therefore, the model must be cautiously applied. To measure the v attribute of organization resources we strongly recommend empirically study on the phenomenon mentioned above.

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Structure Analysis of Islamic Microfinancing, Social Capital and ICT Usage Towards on Women Micro-entrepreneurs’ Performance in Malaysia Nur Hazirah Hamdan, Salina Kassim, Nur Diyana Mustapha, and Shahri Abu Seman Abstract The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of Islamic microfinancing, social capital, and Information Communication and Technology (ICT) usage on the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs in Islamic microfinance institution (IMFI) in Malaysia. The study employed a quantitative approach and conducted a cross-sectional survey on 115 women micro-entrepreneurs under Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM). Through the partial least square-structural equation model (PLS-SEM), it was found that Islamic microfinancing, social capital, and ICT usage had significant influences on performance of women micro-entrepreneurs who were financed by AIM. There are some limitations of this study including the scope of the study and sample size. However, the results of this study extended and enhanced the entrepreneurship theory of resource-based view (RBV), emphasizing the critical nature of comprehending a firm’s competitive advantage in terms of performance and growth achieved via its resources and capabilities. This study would assist IMFIs and governments in improving infrastructures, devising comprehensive business strategies and educating women micro-entrepreneurs on the benefits of the digital economy towards business sustainability and growth. Keywords Islamic microfinancing · Social capital · ICT usage · Women micro-entrepreneurs’ performance

N. H. Hamdan (B) · N. D. Mustapha Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang Raub Campus, Raub, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] S. Kassim IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance (IIiBF), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia S. A. Seman Kolej Universiti Poly-Tech MARA, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_15

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1 Introduction Developed and developing nations place a high value on the success of microentrepreneurs for economic development [1]. As a result, more attention has been channelled toward entrepreneurship in recent times, especially enterprises owned and operated by women [2, 3]. Statistics on women empowerment in selected domains in Malaysia published by the Department of Statistics Malaysia [4] revealed that the labour force participation rate had increased significantly in Malaysia, reflecting a significant improvement in gender equality, with much more women’s participation in economic activities. As a result, Malaysia has risen to 70th place out of 144 countries, increasing from 104th place the previous year. As part of its efforts to advance gender equality and economic opportunity, the government has committed RM2.3 billion in programmes to encourage women’s business ownership. This implies that the government recognizes the critical role women play in the development of the economy [4]. Nevertheless, women micro-entrepreneurs face numerous obstacles that limit their ability to succeed, particularly in running the business [5, 6, 7, 8]. In tradition, women are frequently burdened with family affairs, parenting, and other family responsibilities, and they find it difficult to strike a balance between their professional and domestic obligations [3, 9]. Nugroho and O’Hara [10] exerted that women entrepreneurs outperformed their male counterparts in terms of business performance and profitability. However, Ahmed Nadzri [11] pointed out that women were the most vulnerable group, accounting for 70% of global poverty. One of the most significant challenges that women micro-entrepreneurs encounters is financial constraints, precisely the inability to obtain capital from formal financial institutions [12, 13, 14]. Additionally, women micro-entrepreneurs face challenges such as a lack of social network and technological illiteracy when commencing their businesses [15, 16, 17, 12]. By considering these challenges, the aspirations and roles of microfinance institutions have been defined as providing financial assistance to underprivileged and low-income communities, as well as those who do not have access to formal financial aid, in order to commence small businesses and achieve economic independence [18]. Women’s economic empowerment is a top priority for microfinance institutions, which they place a strong emphasis on it. Previous studies have been carried out to determine whether microfinance has a beneficial effect on the economic performance of its clients personally and financially [19, 20]. In spite of the fact that many studies have concluded microfinance has a positive effect on increasing income and, as a result, decreasing poverty, other studies have concluded that the microfinance programme does not reach the poorest of the poor [21]. Furthermore, many studies on financial assistance from microfinance institutions have focused on the impact of the assistance on the clients’ economic performance. As a result, they have been preoccupied with worries about what will happen to them “before and after” they participate in the programme [22, 23,20].

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Consequently, given the inconclusive findings regarding the impact of microfinance on the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs, it is necessary to consider other aspects of facilitation, such as providing entrepreneurs with resources [12]. According to Nordin et al. [12] and Islam et al. [24], business development can be achieved through resources and capabilities, including the provision of microfinancing, entrepreneurs’ social capital and ICT usage. For this reason, a significant amount of academic research on microfinance institutions has failed to recognize the critical role that resources play in upholding overall entrepreneurial growth [25]. As per the Theory of Resource-based View (RBV), the resources used by a firm to produce products and services are considered valuable, distinctive, and difficult to imitate and substitute [26]. The performance of women-micro-entrepreneurs has been persistently influenced by numerous factors such as focusing on demographic factors [2], government support [18] and political factors [27]. However, a limited series of research has been conducted to investigate the effects of Islamic microfinancing, social capital, and ICT usage on the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs that reflected tangible and intangible resources. According to Nordin et al. [12], microfinance and social capital were two variables that could have an impact on the performance of women micro-businesses. On the other hand, Yee Ong et al. [9] asserted women entrepreneurs that integrated IT into business procedures and practices would accelerate their business growth. Despite this, there was a dearth of research that empirically and jointly linked the combined effect of these variables into one model. As a result, the majority of previous research has concentrated on a single variable or a subset of a few variables at a given time. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of Islamic microfinancing, social capital, and ICT usage towards women micro-entrepreneurs’ performance in Islamic microfinance institution (IMFI) in Malaysia. This study bridged the gap by incorporating these attributes into a single model that reflected tangible and intangible resources influencing the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs.

2 Literature Review 2.1 Resource-Based View Theory According to Wernerfelt [28], RBV views a firm as a collection of resources and capabilities. He stated that a resource might be “anything that could be considered a strength or weakness” that has an effect on the firm’s growth. The tangible and intangible resources owned by the firm or as a firm’s factors are considered the central concern in the RBV framework [29]. In this study, the resources of Islamic microfinancing, social capital and ICT usage were potentially influenced the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs.

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2.2 Previous Studies 2.2.1

Women Micro-entrepreneurs’ Performance

Women are becoming the key to the expanding economic cluster, which guarantees rapid economic development. The entrepreneur is an individual who has the ability to organize, manage, and take on risks while establishing a business [30]. Women entrepreneurs in Malaysia are a powerful instrument for economic development; they commit and contribute markedly to the global economy, and their numbers have increased over time [31]. However, in recent legislative and scholarly discussions, particularly in Malaysia, the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs has come to the forefront due to its significant importance [11, 12]. Performance can be defined as a complex, multifaceted phenomenon with many dimensions that is difficult to manage without combining objective and subjective measures [32]. Numerous researches on the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs utilize business growth as a metric for performance [33, 34, 35, 12]. Lerner et al. [36] assessed women entrepreneurs using a variety of parameters, including profit, revenue, total employee, and personal income.

2.2.2

Islamic Microfinancing

The shortage of funds and limited finance at the extremity of the pyramid generates a vicious cycle of poverty [37]. This is due to the availability of finance ensures the profitability of businesses for fixed assets, manage working capital, and finance preliminary activities [2]. Thus, initial invested capital strongly correlates with growth and venture survival [2, 27]. Similarly, for women, micro-entrepreneurs from poor and low-income groups depend on capital to start their businesses. As a result, the convenience and obtainability of financing and supportive government policies that promote the establishment and development of women micro-entrepreneurs have aided in establishing and expanding their businesses [38]. However, funding these groups is difficult as they often lack collateral to back up their loans and lack comprehensive financial reporting evidence as well as information to support their loan and credit applications [17]. As a result, the contribution of IMFIs in promoting financial inclusion and empowering women micro-entrepreneurs is fundamental and critical. The primary objective of the microfinance program is to alleviate poverty via microcredit, enabling company start-up and growth. Formal banking creditors and microfinance institutions are different based on several variables: the degree of formality and collateral. For microfinance institutions, the business operations are less formal. As a result, the institutions put a high level of trust in their clients, with no need for rigorous collateral [33]. Additionally, in addition to consumption, microfinance is available to the poorest individuals to establish or expand existing micro-enterprises.

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For instance, research by Al Mamun et al. [39] and Ismail [40], which indicated that participants in microfinance programmes produce higher income. Ismail [40] measured the provision of microfinancing in terms of loan amount granted, repayment rate, and monitoring system. The study found that financial access from microfinance programmes has a substantial impact on client business development compared to conventional banks. Thus, in the context of this study, the provision of Islamic microfinancing has effects on the women micro-entrepreneurs’ performance. As a result, the following was hypothesized: H1: Islamic microfinancing has a significant positive relationship with the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs.

2.2.3

Social Capital

Social capital is considered an intangible resource that influences microentrepreneurs’ performance [41, 12] [42, 43]. According to Coleman (1988), social capital is a notion embedded in the relationship structure that explains how the group could act as a resource for the social structure. Furthermore, Ahmad Nadzri [44] cited Davidson and Honig [45], categorised social capital as a structure for bridging ties and bonding ties. The study defined bonding as strong ties formed by spouses, parents, friends and relatives, while bridging referred to weak ties formed by business partners, suppliers and competitors. The ability of actors to build networking supported from the strength of those ties. Past studies revealed that social capital offered many advantages, including networking opportunities for new ideas and solutions, potential entrance into new markets, as well as ability to compete with other market players [46, 12]. Additionally, Teoh and Chong [47] claimed that a poor social network in business would make it more difficult for micro-entrepreneurs to get resources and expand their goods and services locally and globally. Social capital as intangible resource was found as essential factor to influence women micro-entrepreneuers’ performance [12, 48, 49, 50]. However, past studied yielded mixed findings with regards to the association between social capital and business performance. For instance, Manesh [51] found a positive relationship between social networks and a company’s international performance. This supported by Nordin et al. [12] that carried out a study on women micro-entrepreneurs’ performance in Islamic microfinance has been influence by social capital. From the studied, social capital from internal ties such as family, relatives and friends are among the backbone for the women micro-entrepreneurs’ business growth. Littunen [52] and Atieno [53] find that not all measures of social capital enhance business performance. Nevertheless, Ekpe et al. [54] suggested that exposing microentrepreneurs to a broader social network exposes them to new markets via internal and external sources. As a result, businesses cannot ignore this kind of social capital while obtaining the resources necessary for survival and growth. As a result, the following was hypothesized:

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H2: Social capital has a significant positive relationship with the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs.

2.2.4

Information and Communication Technlogy Usage

Technology creates new possibilities in today’s globalizing world by propelling the new global economy forward via innovation and entrepreneurial initiatives founded on novel concepts, perspectives, and business strategies [9]. As resources under RBV theory, information and communication technology (ICT) are critical components of business strategy, promoting competitive advantage and providing distinctiveness that adds value to the business [41, 55]. Malaysia is experiencing an increase in the utilization of the internet and mobile technologies. According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission [56], 66.6% of Malaysians use the internet, while 87.9% of Malaysians own a smartphone. This demonstrates an upsurge in internet usage among Malaysians. As a result, this may provide another avenue for women entrepreneurs to reach out to customers. According to Ong et al. [57], modern women micro-entrepreneurs should embrace ICT to overcome business constraints. As exerted by Mohamad Radzi et al. [58], ICT usage can help decrease the transaction costs associated with information sharing, particularly the time required to acquire market information (e.g., pricing) and conduct and agree on transactions. Additionally, Islam et al. [24] stated that ICT usage could lower expenses, increase revenue, and reduce uncertainty and risk, all of which were regarded indicators of business success. Compared to the landline platform, the mobile phone has been acknowledged as the primary mode of communication for businesses in the modern days. The fast proliferation of mobile phones has resulted in substantially increased communication access and usage [59]. Furthermore, Ismail et al. [60] discovered a mixed effect of using ICT to boost women micro-entrepreneurs’ productivity. According to prior research, using technology as a resource increases business performance [61, 62, 63, 64, 65]. Therefore, this study has emphasized using ICT and mobile device technologies for women micro-entrepreneurs’ business management to sustain their businesses in the market. As a result, the following was hypothesised: H3. ICT usage has a significant positive relationship with the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs.

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3 Methodology 3.1 Data The population of this study concentrated on Islamic microfinance institutions in Malaysia, namely Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM). The institution was selected as the research population because they had the most considerable proportion of women clients of any institution in all of Malaysia’s states. Additionally, the role of AIM is consistent with the government’s objectives to alleviate poverty in Malaysia through nurturing entrepreneurs among the poor and low-income groups, particularly women entrepreneurs. According to the power analysis (G*Power) version 3.1 developed by Hair et al. [66], 78 respondents were needed for testing the model with three predictors. However, it was decided to collect a total of 120 data sets from women microentrepreneurs who gave their permission to participate in this study in order to avoid any possible constraints that might arise from having a small sample size. This study used a convenient sampling method to distribute questionnaires in Selangor state after consulting with AIM officials and evaluating areas known to have a low prevalence of COVID-19. However, researchers came up with a final sample size of 115 respondents for data analysis. Concerning the construct’s assessment, the performance of women microentrepreneurs was assessed using seven items adapted from Ahmad Nadzri [67]. In addition, Ahmad Nazri [40] provided a six-item questionnaire on Islamic microfinancing for independent variables, and Naala et al. [46] provided five items for social capital, which the researcher has adopted. Furthermore, five items of ICT usage by Ong [68] were incorporated in this research. The evaluation of variables in this study was using a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree.

3.2 Conceptual Framework Based on previous studies, this research argued that the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs would be increasingly successful when they integrated tangible resources from Islamic microfinancing and intangible resources of social capital and the use of ICT. Thus, the proposed framework was shown in Fig. 1.

3.3 Method This study used a quantitative method and employed a cross-sectional survey. For preliminary analysis (descriptive analysis), the data were analyzed using IBM

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Islamic microfinancing Social capital ICT usage

H1

Women micro-entrepreneurs’ performance

H2

H3

Fig. 1 Proposed conceptual framework. Source Author

SPSS. For analyzing the research model, Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis was performed, employing SmartPLS 3.2 software [66]. As Anderson and Gerbing [69] recommended, this research tested the constructed model in two steps of measurement model for validity and reliability. Following that, the structural model was considered in order to test the hypothesis established in this study using bootstrapping method (5000 re-samples) [70].

4 Results 4.1 Demographic Characteristics Table 1 summarises the demographic characteristics of the sample used. This study included business profiles of woman microentrepreneurs, including the business period, the number of employees, and involvement in microfinance programmes. The majority of respondents (36.5%) were between the ages of 41 and 50. The least were aged 61 and above (3.5%). Women micro-entrepreneurs mainly were married (88.7%), with 5.2% being single and 7% being widowed. In addition, 73.1% of respondents have completed secondary school. Three to four (41.7%) women microentrepreneurs have dependents or children, with the majority working in the food industry (62.6%). The food industry has historically been a preferred business sector for women micro-entrepreneurs, as it is an immense market opportunity. Additionally, when the COVID-19 epidemic struck, the food industry was less damaged; thus, entrepreneurs continued to increase their reliance on the food industry.

4.2 Common Method Variance As recommded by Kock and Lynn [71] and Kock [72], data that gathered in a single source, should testing using standard method variance to address the problem of Common Method Bias and examine complete collinearity. The cutoff value of VIF

Structure Analysis of Islamic Microfinancing, Social Capital and ICT … Table 1 Demographic characteristics of the respondents

171

Categories

Description

Age

Between 20 and 30

11

9.7

Between 31 and 40

34

30.0

Between 41 and 50

42

36.5

Between 51 and 60

24

20.9

61 and above

4

3.5

6

5.2

Marital status

Single Married

Frequency Percentage (%)

102

88.7

Divorced

8

7.0

No formal education

0

0

Primary school

7

6.1

Secondary school

82

71.3

College

13

11.3

University

11

9.6

Other

1

0.87

None

13

11.3

1–2

27

23.5

3–4

48

41.7

5–6

23

20.0

7–8

3

2.6

More than 8

1

0.9

Food

72

62.6

Groceries

11

9.6

Agriculture

15

13.0

Fisheries

10

8.7

8

7.0

Services

23

20.0

Manufacturing

10

8.7

Others

14

12.2

Business period Between 1 and 2 (year)

8

7.0

Between 3 and 5

33

28.7

Education level

No of dependents

Type of business

Craft

(continued)

172 Table 1 (continued)

N. H. Hamdan et al. Categories

Description

Frequency Percentage (%)

Between 6 and 10

47

40.9

Between 11 and 15

13

11.3

Between 16 and 20

10

8.7

4

3.5

54

47.0

24

20.9

2

22

19.1

3

7

6.1

4

6

5.2

5

2

1.7

More than 20 Number of None staffs employed 1

Note N = 115 Table 2 Full collinearity testing

IM

SOC

ICTU

WMEP

1.814

1.792

1.519

1.390

IM islamic microfinancing, SOC social capital, ICTU ICT usage, WMEP women micro-entrepreneurs’ performance

is 3.3. As shown in Table 2, all variables in this study met the cutoff value of less than 3.3 indicated that the data had no serious issue with single-source bias.

4.3 Measurement Model The researchers evaluated the loadings, cronbach’s alpha (CA), composite reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE) in the measurement model. According to Hair et al. [73], loadings should be more than 0.5, AVE should be more than 0.5, and CR should be more than 0.7. As shown in Table 3, all AVEs are more than 0.5, and all CRs are greater than 0.7. Additionally, the loadings were appropriate, as they were all greater than 0.5. Then, as Henseler et al. [74] recommended, the discriminant validity was evaluated using the HTMT criteria. In order to meet the stricter criteria, HTMT values should be ≤ 0.85 but ≤ 0.90 for the more lenient criterion [75]. According to the results in Table 4, the HTMT values were lower than the stricter criteria of ≤ 0.85, indicating that respondents perceived the three constructs differently. Thus, a combination of these validity tests resulted in valid and reliable measurement items.

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Table 3 Measurement model Construct

Item

Loading

CA

CR

AVE

Islamic microfinancing

IM1

0.763

0.855

0.891

0.580

IM2

0.660

0.880

0.912

0.676

0.859

0.898

0.639

0.863

0.894

0.548

Social capital

ICT usage

Women micro-entrepreneurs’ performance

Table 4 Discriminant validity (HTMT) 1 1. IM 2. SOC 0.617 3. ICTU 0.416 4.WMEP 0.586

IM3

0.861

IM4

0.792

IM5

0.785

IM6

0.690

SOC1

0.852

SOC2

0.868

SOC3

0.852

SOC4

0.739

SOC5

0.792

ICTU1

0.830

ICTU 2

0.725

ICTU 3

0.722

ICTU 4

0.865

ICTU 5

0.843

WMEP1

0.738

WMEP2

0.709

WMEP3

0.704

WMEP4

0.803

WMEP5

0.832

WMEP6

0.695

WMEP7

0.686

2

3

0.475 0.606

0.568

4

WMEP women micro-entrepreneurs’ performance, IM Islamic microfinancing, SOC social capital, ICTU ICT usage

4.4 Structural Model As recommendation by Hair et al. [76] and Chin et al. [77], the researcher evaluated the multivariate skewness and kurtosis. The results indicated that the data were

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Table 5 Hypothesis testing Relationship

Std beta

Std error

t-values

p-values

BCI LL

BCI UL

f2

Result

H1

IM → WMEP

0.280

0.090

3.097

0.001

0.123

0.420

0.097

Sig

H2

SOC → 0.282 WMEP

0.102

2.785

0.003

0.119

0.452

0.092

Sig

H3

ICTU → WMEP

0.090

3.597

P < 0.001

0.154

0.452

0.156

Sig

0.318

IM Islamic microfinancing, WMEP Women micro-entrepreneurs’ performance, SOC social capital, ICTU ICT usage

not normal multivariate; Mardia’s multivariate skewness (β = 3.05, p < 0.01) and Mardia’s multivariate kurtosis (β = 31.07, p < 0.01) were not present. The coefficient of determination, R2 , was 0.516 (Q2 = 0.251), indicating that the Islamic microfinancing, social capital and ICT usage explained 51.6% of the variance in women micro-entrepreneuers’ performance, indicating a moderate level of predictive accuracy as a guideline by Hair et al. [76]. Islamic microfinancing (β = 0.288, p < 0.01), social capital (β = 0.282, p < 0.01), and ICT usage (β = 0.318, p < 0.001) were all positively related to women micro-entrepreneuers’ performance, indicating that H1, H2, and H3 are supported. Further support for this is presented by evaluating confidence intervals bias corrected 95% upper limit and 5% for the lower limit, which revealed no intervals straddling a value of 0, hence providing significant support for the research findings (Table 5).

5 Analysis and Discussion In general, this research supported and expanded the usage of RBV in the current context. It has been determined that at least three aspects can be added to the existing body of work to boost the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs in the context of Islamic microfinance’s clients. To begin with, the significant association between Islamic microfinancing and the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs suggested that credit provided by AIM has benefited a large number of women micro-entrepreneurs in earning money and escaping poverty. Additionally, it is congruent with the RBV theory, which claims that entrepreneurs wishing to create and expand their enterprises need finance in the form of physical resources [41]. This is crucial for microbusiness owners to sustain operations and contribute directly to their performance. This finding corroborated those of [11, 2, 58, 12]. Second, the significant association between social capital and the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs demonstrated the crucial importance of social capital as

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an intangible resource. In this study, respondents who were AIM clients perceived social capital as a critical factor in their business’s growth. The positive and supportive social capital derived from internal relationships such as family and friends and external relationships such as customers, suppliers, and competitors can help business owners boost their entrepreneurial spirit, thereby increasing their business performance. Additionally, as far as AIM’s group lending approach is concerned, a support group of five individuals collectively accountable for all members. This would develop significant social capital in the community and encourage the entrepreneurial spirit among business owners due to others’ success stories. This result was consistent with previous research on the impact of social capital on business development, primarily women micro-entrepreneurs [44, 12, 48]. Finally, the significant association between ICT usage and the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs revealed that business owners who effectively incorporated IT into their business operations and practises would see their development accelerate. Women micro-entrepreneurs would benefit from using an e-marketplace to venture into new markets and identify suppliers providing affordable services and goods. This result corroborated past studies suggesting a favourable correlation between ICT use and firm growth performance [78, 58, 79].

6 Conclusion Women micro-entrepreneurs have contributed significantly to the socio-economic development of low-income households, which ensures long-term economic prosperity. The findings of this research indicated that the provision of microfinancing from IMFI, social capital and ICT usage had a substantial influence on the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs. The empirical evidence in this study extended and strengthened the entrepreneurship theory of resource-based view (RBV), emphasizing the critical nature of comprehending how a firm’s competitive advantage in terms of performance and growth was achieved via its resources and capabilities. This study is essential for microfinance institutions and policymakers to develop policies that would benefit micro-entrepreneurs in the long run.

7 Recommendations This study’s findings provide theoretical and managerial implications in comprehending the determinants of women micro-entrepreneurs’ performance in the context of IMFI’s clients. Furthermore, the respondents’ response may assist researchers in determining the needs of women entrepreneurship and assist other institutions providing different programmes and assistance to help women entrepreneurs perform better.

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This research demonstrated that Islamic microfinancing influenced the business progression of women micro-entrepreneurs. Moreover, the utilization of social capital and ICT has a beneficial influence on the performance of women microentrepreneurs. The findings of this research may assist policymakers, such as IMFIs, in developing comprehensive business strategies and educating their clients about the benefits of the digital economy. Furthermore, the findings would assist the government in making proper policy decisions and taking necessary action to provide an enabling environment, infrastructural facilities, and financial assistance for women micro-entrepreneurs. For women micro-entrepreneurs, this research was intended to provide valuable insight and guidance on entrepreneurship knowledge and the critical variables affecting the performance of women entrepreneurs. Additionally, it will be able to foster a positive business environment and healthy competitiveness. However, there were some limitations in this research. First, it was limited to the state of Selangor and AIM’s clients, owing to the fact that the researcher collected data during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, it is suggested that future research focus on several states in Malaysia and expand the sample size of women micro-entrepreneurs in other microfinance institutions across the nation. Moreover, given that unanticipated crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic substantially influence business performance, future research should evaluate the crisis’s impact on the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs both before and after the crisis. Finally, it is recommended that future research examine the effectiveness of women micro-entrepreneurs across various demographic profiles in relation to the nation’s economic growth and achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

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The Allegory of the Glass Ceiling and Reverberance of Woman Leadership in Politics: The Case of Arya Rajendran Anantha Ubaradka, Vigraanth Bapu, Ajay Siby, and S. Chandra

Abstract The glass ceiling is regularly associated with the inefficiency of women to accomplish a task of greater magnitude, regardless of their inherent potential. Nevertheless, the country is witnessing a subversive change in many avenues where women are reaching greater heights in their occupations and pursuits. Politics has witnessed revolutions over the course of time by dint for many reasons: may it be philosophical or sociological. Consider any activity, from international to a local body election, you can find how much marginalization and related issues women are facing. In India, we can find very few female political activists who are at the forefront to lead any parties and activities Still and all, witnessing a radical insurgence in politics concerning gender is thin on the ground. India has witnessed many women entering into politics since the early days of independence. It took approximately 20 years post-independence that a woman leader had come into power to be in the highest elected office. The suggested research discusses the contemporary perspectives of the glass ceiling encountered by women in politics and the theoretical concerns of related areas. The study likewise aims at conferring the unique paradigm of young women joining politics with a case study and thus stands as a beacon in spreading the light of ‘New and Egalitarian India’. Keywords Glass ceiling · Women in politics · Egalitarianism · Case study

A. Ubaradka Indian Institute of Technology, Indore, India V. Bapu (B) Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru, India e-mail: [email protected] A. Siby Mount Zion International School, Pudukottai, India S. Chandra The Cue, Kochi, India © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_16

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1 Background The glass ceiling effect is a restraint that impedes women as a group from achieving the highest positions in society. The popular view of the glass ceiling effect entails that gender prejudices are sharper at the top of the hierarchy and the disadvantages become worse again in an individual’s career [1]. Many prominent, white-collar professions are offered to/performed by men in most instances while keeping female counterparts out of them. In grappling with social obstacles such as gender prejudices, the glass ceiling is an eminently obvious factor that plays an important role in determining the social dynamics. While it looks like the glass ceiling is a woman’s problem, it is confronted by every minority group in one or the other way. The term ‘glass ceiling’ was coined in a speech by a French feminist writer Marilyn Loden (1987), where the term ‘ceiling’ was subsequently depicted as a sequence of discriminatory promotion [2]. In March 1986, a column was promulgated in the Wall Street journal where Carol Hymowitz and Timothy D. Schellhardt introduced the phenomenon through an article titled, “Glass ceiling: why women can’t seem to break the invisible barrier that blocks them from the top jobs” [3]. It was in the United States where this phenomenon had some judicial scrutiny when the glass ceiling effect was included as part of Title II of the 1991 Civil Right Act and the commission was formed for the same. It was composed of 21 members that accumulated data from different workplaces and advocated their primary opinions in an investigation as, “barriers to the advancement of minorities and women within corporate hierarchies to issue a report on its findings and conclusions, and to make recommendations on ways to dismantle the glass ceiling.” The United States Federal Glass Ceiling Commission defines the glass ceiling as “the unseen, yet unbreakable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements.” These actions had a robust effect on the American populace, where the future research reflected a brisk upsurge in the proportion of female representation in the loftiest positions in the private sector. In the later period, when feminist movements were remarkably eminent, the glass ceiling effect likewise produced a substantial and persuasive impact [4]. People spoke about causes that were not noticeable in the vanguard but still dragged a minority group out. The glass ceiling effect was also well-considered and debated in the socio-political sphere, along with minority politics and identity politics. It was criticized for allowing special allowances which had been given to women, with varying ideas and views. Some advised that the concept was a fallacy because women preferred to stick around home and showed less responsibility to executive roles. It was considered that to determine the qualities of employment, people need not consider other socio-demographic aspects. Cotter et al. described four primary factors which make the mark of an existing glass ceiling effect: (1) a gender or racial difference that is not explained by other job-relevant characteristics of the employee; (2) a gender or racial difference that is greater at higher levels of an outcome than at lower levels of an outcome; (3) a gender

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or racial inequality in the chances of advancement into higher levels, not merely the proportions of each gender or race currently at those higher levels; (4) gender or racial inequality that increases over the course of a career [1]. Given these glass ceiling factors, it must be expressed that analogous forms of bigotry occur in many sectors and many communities. In different circumstances, this creates an arduous and disquieting situation for any underprivileged people. The present study is an attempt to explore the facets involved in the political glass ceiling and how young Indian women are trying to break the shell in some parts of the country. The study formalizes the hope of resonance that has been witnessed in the local politics of Kerala and stresses the importance of generalizing the phenomenon.

2 Glass Ceiling and Politics Women in the political field are also facing the same. Consider any activity, from international to a local body election, you can find how much marginalization and related issues women are facing. In India, we can find very few female political activists who are at the forefront to lead any parties and activities. It is very clear in the Indian context where political power is distributed unequally. We have many men in leadership where a woman’s representation is just for a namesake even when considering the same from different levels of political activities. When talking about National politics, we have women representing many constitutional assemblies, but what significant contribution do they make in the articulation of law or justice? Though all members of parliament are elected through the same system, the power in hand differs. It was not until the 1980’s the bone of contention on gender differentiation came to the public eye [5]. Most of the historians paid half-pint attention to the issue and considered women playing second division roles. The contemporary democracies have been witnessing a lopsided political dispensation where women account for 21.8% of the world’s parliament. Surprisingly, from that minuscule populace, only 7.8% are heading the centre and 5.9% are taking the state leadership roles [6, 7]. As there is a separate mechanism that governs the dissemination of power in hand, what influences a woman’s role in the political field becomes apolitical and it is the social stereotype of impugning the abilities of the other gender. In India, there are very few states which are led by women Chief Ministers. Though there are representations at the ministry level, in most instances they are not being chosen to be in a larger picture. Even with elected women representatives, are they independently working? It must be answered as no. Though they are taking part in the election processes, mostly the election works are done by men including promotion and campaigns. This marginalization of women to take part in an open forum is nothing but a male ego dynamic. When considering current political marches, debates, or any activities, representation of females is pale and male roles are evident. The present study focuses on these impediments through the case study of Ms. Arya Rajendra and how the aforementioned factors prepared her to take up the responsible positions at the youngest age. In a society where women protest

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for themselves to get caged, the case of s Arya Rajendran is setting a fresh path of liberation.

3 The Case of Arya Rajendran The national Media have discussed a remarkable triumph of a young woman, after the local body election in Kerala. It is the ascent of Ms. Arya Rajendran, still a 21year-old as the municipal Mayor of the capital city of Kerala from 28th December 2020. Despite all differences and to the dismay of many, she now seizes the national record of being the youngest municipal Mayor in the nation’s history. Ms. Rajendran in recent statements has detailed out a discernible approach for her regime as the Mayor outlining the need for the holistic development of all the constituencies under the cooperation of the ward members. She has put forward immediate to distant plans for her tenure with admirable examples from forming an effective task force for cleaning the water sources for children to a long-term vision for designing a viable policy for waste management in the city of Trivandrum. But the highlights of the news reports run on her age and gender. These details when scrutinized take up multiple turns: being a spirit of sheer inspiration and depicting her as a young experimental candidate as per the heuristics of the Media. A meticulous summary of this trend could reveal the relevance of breaking gender discrepancies which are nothing but the absolute barriers to glory, experienced by Indian women. The anecdote of Arya Rajendran is not a smooth narration of a young woman becoming the prime citizen of a metropolis, but a story of an individual who nearly broke the gender stereotype into pieces and stood above the glass ceiling. She is the president of ‘Balasangam’, which is the world’s largest organization for children established on 28th December 1938, which owns over 20,000 units across Kerala, hosting Asia’s largest children’s theatre. Ms Rajendran is a reasonable figure to lay a finger on the gravity of institutional membership needed to tow out the hurdles confronted by young women in any working domain. A few of the questions faced by Ms. Rajendran will provide us with an idea of how young women are viewed in leadership roles. Much emphasis over the narrative will not be finished without delving into the repercussions when Arya was asked if she was afraid of becoming a rubber stamp (an image for proxy leadership). This proves the underlying misogyny and the incredulity in women’s administration carried by the contemporary Indian media. She was even asked if she needed an experienced person backing her in the office, which was another blow to the common perception that the Indian media and their psyche had rushed through. Furthermore, queries like whether she would face difficulty in dealing with intricate nuances of the political atmosphere because of her young age and inexperience, not only reveal the disbelief in the women’s leadership but also ageist elements in character evaluation. A print journal reported how Ms. Rajendran was a backup selection as two of the Left Democratic Front’s Mayor candidates failed to bring the election home. Any attempt to undermine Ms. Rajendran’s credibility only reveals the cherry-picking of the detail

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by the specific media houses, as they cannot emphasize that the other two candidates were still women with the same experience. To blame her eligibility, we could see Ms. Rajendran holds her ground and responds with equanimity and details. She fended off the chances of proxy leadership as just smear campaigns during the polls for a tang advantage of political antagonism. She stays with an idea of unity and calls forward to all 100 representatives of the ward regardless of their party banners to work collectively as it’s time for establishing a better community. The second inquiry on her inexperience with the nuances of politics was confronted by Ms. Rajendran by acknowledging her involvement with the children at Balasangam. She insisted that the capability to communicate with the children will enable a person to reach out to those who are genuinely striving in the community. Arya Rajendran symbolizes progress as she in her ascension had single-handedly prized many historically non-privileged demographic sections into the authority. Her feat has multiple ingredients that have supported her trail, which encompass her familial background and their political affiliation, her institutional connection, her upbringing in a left-oriented environment etc. The barrier for women includes the paucity of support at their grassroots level and societal expectation creates a rough patch for the girls who are moving towards the limelight by circumscribing them to conventional gender roles and by ill-provision of appendages. The scenario of women dropping out from their households seems imperative on the course of development in community skills like how Ms. Rajendran grew in tenacity and reached the communal view. It is laudable that Ms. Rajendran focused her administration to bring in transformations in the lives of those in need and those who call for a platform. In her initial interview, she emphasized the need for those who are de-platformed and provided no opinions because of discrete factors. This is told in her response to the role of youths in public policy and office. She restates the fact that the choice of her party to give her tenure should be viewed as their vote of confidence and a step that should be mirrored by politics as a whole. Viewing qualified candidates as lacking in requirements based on age and gender being a common theme in the questions asked to her were replied quite eloquently by Rajendran, plotting out how they are not the exact markers on eligibility. The minimum age to run for office in local body elections is 21 years old, which she said she has and those who are asking this are discounting her experience working with individuals of different strings of society, quite easily. A notable factor in Ms. Rajendran’s case is that apart from the cultural indignation she and other people from the same gender must face. She had to strive past the smear campaigns by the opposition parties to make her lose her credibility. The same narrative was carried forward by the allied news media who in the events after the election asked her the same. Even when her case is highlighted to be a revolutionary change and victory as per the media, Ms. Rajendran remains grateful for the trust the party and comrades have put in her. She declared that she is not the mayor of her party but the Mayor of all 100 wards of Trivandrum and is planning for the entire municipality, so shall follow her policies too. An outstanding element about Ms. Rajendran is, apart from the cultural indignation the women face, she had to go all out, face the slander campaigns of the opposition parties to make her lose

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credibility. When her case is affirmed to be a radical transformation and triumph as per the media, Ms. Rajendran remains beholden to the party and compatriots.

4 Conclusion In world politics, the evolution of women leaders has been on the upswing since the 1960s and subsequent Indian women leaders have risen since the 2000s. India has witnessed many women entering politics since the early days of independence. It took approximately 20 years’ post-independence that a woman leader had come into power to be in the highest elected office. But India has failed to restate an identical result since the death of the iconic Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi. The factors leading towards reduced women’s participation and prosperity in politics have been referred to as socializing and negative stereotyping of women. Some of it includes stereotyping women through media, which emphasized the bias for political decision-making to persist in the domain of men. Along with this, the underrepresentation of women in decision-making competence in areas such as art, sports, media, education, and law has forbidden women from owning a considerable impact on the seething-root status. The second factor strengthening the glass ceiling effect started with discriminatory attitudes and practices a woman face in society. The inequitable distribution of labour and authorities within the household limits women’s potential to find the time and promote skills required for participation in politics. Though many such paradoxes are existing in this socio-political situation, we can identify women who reach beyond their glass ceilings. Though it cannot even be compared with the representation of men, some women honour the top levels of the power hierarchy. In the political sector, the image finds a hike in the coming time. By taking up the highest responsibilities, they are showing the previous as well the future that the ceilings are breakable. It is truly important to acknowledge such feminine voices here. Even from the pre-independent era in Indian political history, some women were in power and leadership. They contributed as equal as everyone could and considered equal in the fight for a common good. In building a powerful democratic base in India, many had equal roles to play. In a very recent context, we could witness many who made a significant impact in political fields. Safoora Zargar, Ayesha Renna. Nodeep Kaur is a few among those women India discussed in recent times. The present study has tried to pour light on such cases, where the young women are successful in breaking the glass ceiling. In Kerala, Ms. Arya Rajendran marked very significant footprints where she took charge of the District Mayor position, becoming the youngest mayor in India. She showed us the path where a strong reverberance has been created in India which further exposed the breakable corners of the glass ceiling.

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References 1. Cotter, D.A., Hermsen, J.M., Ovadia, S., Vanneman, R.: The glass ceiling effect. Soc. Forces 80(2), 655–681 (2001) 2. Loden, M.: Recognizing women’s potential: No longer business as usual. Manage. Rev. 76(12), 44 (1987) 3. Is there really a glass ceiling for women? https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2011/11/14/ is-there-really-a-glass-ceiling-for-women/?sh=7484bf6d7dae. Last accessed 01 Oct 2022 4. Bullard, A.M., Wright, D.S.: Circumventing the glass ceiling: women executives in American state governments. Publ. Adm. Rev. 189–202 (1993) 5. Zamfirache, I.: Women and politics—the glass ceiling. J. Comp. Res. Anthropol. Sociol. 1(01), 175–185 (2010) 6. Folke, O., Rickne, J.: The glass ceiling in politics: formalization and empirical tests. Comp. Pol. Stud. 49(5), 567–599 (2016) 7. Women, U.N. Women and poverty. Author. Retrieved from http://beijing20.unwomen.org/en/ infographic/poverty (2014)

Pilot Study on Adoption and Usage of AI in Food Processing Industry by UTAUT2 Marvin Paul Frank and Ginu George

Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI) improves the efficiency of work and effectiveness in the output. Currently, food processing industries have started using AI in their business operations. It is crucial to have an in-depth understanding of the adoption and usage of AI systems in food processing industries. Therefore, this paper validates the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) in the context of the food processing industry. This study applied AI to the food processing industries in the Bengaluru region. The study’s objective is to build a clear vision of the factors that affect the user acceptance and behaviour intention of the user by pilot test. The pilot survey collected 62 responses through the questionnaire. The respondents were employees from the food processing industries in Bengaluru. The reliability test of the questionnaire was done by using Jamovi 2.3.16 software. The questionnaire was tested in three ways: Cronbach Alpha, McDonald’s Omega, and Inter-rater reliability. The results of the entire test were reliable since overall Cronbach Alpha of 0.874, which is within the range of 0.80–0.90, and considered good internal consistency. Similarly, McDonald’s Omega is within the range of 0.80–0.90, which is excellent consistency, and Inter-rater reliability is within the range of moderately acceptable scores from 50 to 75%. Keywords UTAUT 2 · Food processing industry · Artificial intelligence

1 Introduction Food Processing products are products that are sold quickly and generally consumed regularly. Products of food processing industries are produced and sold using modern technologies. Artificial intelligence is one of the technologies used widely in the M. P. Frank (B) · G. George Christ (Deemed to be) University, Bengaluru, India e-mail: [email protected] G. George e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_17

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entire supply chain process, like production, distribution, and consumption. On the one hand, modern technological advancements, particularly Conversational Artificial Intelligence and Robots, have increased the demands and expectations of consumers. On the other hand, the same advancement complements the workings of the food processing industries. Thus, AI and other modern technologies leverage the food processing industries and ultimate consumers.

2 Review of Literature 2.1 Evolution of Artificial Intelligence in Business AI can be understood as the ability of a machine to learn from experience and adjust to the new inputs given by human persons. The word AI was introduced in the 1950s. Later, a lot of addition and deletion was made in its evolution. Before the AI-system computer system evolution was born, Babbage invented calculator machines for the first time. The later electromechanical calculator came into existence. In 1936, the birth of automata theory, known as “codebreakers,” simplified manual electromechanical works. The theory of automata in computing gave birth to logical and mechanical operations such as generating, codifying, storing, and using information [22]. Later, in 1970, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funded the project of leading laboratories with a speech recognition system. They created a fully functional speech recognition system with an extensive vocabulary. Mid 1970, some research scholars experimented on AI but succumbed to criticism and budgetary issues, and as a result, there was a delay in the development of AI research. Finally, the refined concept of “Intelligent Agent” emerged in 1990, which perceives its environment and undertakes actions that maximize the chances of success [30]. From 2000 onwards, Big Data came into existence. Big Data involves a significant amount of complex data in one store. Thus, with the advent of Big Data, neural networks were considered. All these advancements created a platform for AI [31].

2.2 Overview of Artificial Intelligence The roots of AI are found in several fields such as Philosophy, linguistics, psychology, and statistics, but significant advancement is found in computer science regarding speed and functionality. The concept of machines showcasing intelligence as human intelligence goes back to several fields like fiction, electronics, philosophy, and computer imagination [6]. Ertel [12] highlights that many fields of AI have been used over the years by leveraging computer processing and Big Data [5] (Fig. 1).

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Fig. 1 Overview of artificial intelligence

AI is classified according to their strength and weakness in the following way. Artificial intelligence (ANI), Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), and Artificial Superintelligence (ASI). ANI is considered a weak AI [2]. They showcased their intelligence in specific domains, like forecasting sales, suggesting movies or events, and language translation [15]. AGI is considered better than ANI. It is regarded as a strong AI, which makes the machines function similarly to humans. The major components of AI are (1) learning, (2) knowledge representation, (3) perception, (4) planning, (5) action, and, (6) communication. All these components of AI carry out tasks just like humans carry out. Machine learning is one of the subfields concerned with programming and using devices for modeling, controlling, and forecasting using past data. The ML includes supervised machine learning, which explains machines’ working decisions using labeled datasets, input, and desired output pairings [23]. A knowledge-based system (KBS) interacts through a knowledge base, an inference engine, and a user interface. The knowledge based is a blended flavour of past cases, experiences, expert knowledge, or other relevant sources [19]. Computer vision is concerned with the artificial simulation of the human visual system. The fundamental purpose of computer vision is to make a machine imitate human intelligence [19]. Robots are yet another subfield of AI, highly automated and specialized devices that carry out physical activities in the real world. Natural Language Processing (NLP) is concerned with creating computation models and imitating the linguistic knowledge of human intellect [3]. NLP is applied in various areas like machine translation, voice recognition, natural test processing, summarization of natural language text, retrieval of cross-language data, and expert system [3]. Automated planning and scheduling are part of AI, which assist in achieving desired goals and objectives by selecting and scheduling actions on the expected outcomes [14]. Automated planning and scheduling provide better solutions to complex applications to fulfill user needs [10].

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The subfield of AI optimization is concerned with decision-making, which provides the best outcomes at set variables. Boyd et al. [4] highlight that optimization is a construct of the problem which makes the best choice from the set of choices.

2.3 Artificial Intelligence in Food Processing Industries Industrial revolution 4.0 has digitalized the world, and technology is considered the future [20]. AI is one of the technologies defined as having the capability of a machine to communicate with and imitate human capabilities [11]. Over the years, artificial intelligence has significantly grown in business operations, processes, and profitability [8]. The food supply chain involves various people, activities, systems, information, and resources involved in the manufacturing, processing, distribution, and disposal of food which moves from farms to ultimate consumers [16]. Manufacturing is one of the components in supply chain management, where the AI system is used extensively for production. The earlier simulation was a widely used visual interactive modeling system in manufacturing. According to Smith [29], simulation imitates descriptive computer models of complex systems and exercises those models to predict the operational performance of the underlying system being modeled. However, over time, manufacturing industries found simulation is timeconsuming, and sometimes it is unrealistic to see the best of the solutions [25], hence most industries thought to shift from simulation to Artificial Intelligence. Rogers and Gorden [27] thought of combining simulation and AI engines to solve problems of uncertainty. Sales are one of the essential components in the chain, which requires an AI system to be deployed well for various purposes. O’Donnell et al. [24] proposed a genetic algorithm (GA) to present an online system that assists sales promotion. Lee et al. [21] proposed an automated system based on an Artificial Neural network (ANN) to forecast sales in the storage industry. After extensive Research, Ketter et al. [17] developed a real-time model to manage sales using agent-based systems (ABSs). Research by Shakya et al. [28] reveals that the AI technique would be effective for pricing systems with multiple products and services. Thus, Using ANN in pricing products can reduce errors and improve precision [26]. Casabayo et al. [9] research highlighted that combining fuzzy models and cluster analyses provides better market segmentation. Food security and safety are vital in people’s daily lives since they are concerned with human health and life. Though tracing food safety is challenging, technology and artificial intelligence have reduced the burden of food safety and security. Therefore, the supply chain of the food processing industry should be observed well since it deals with hygiene and perishable goods. So food quality and safety matter a lot in the entire process of food processing [1]. Maintaining the standard of foods and their safety in consumable food production is challenging [1], but integrating AI into the supply chain can improve efficiency [18].

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3 Methodology 3.1 Research Design The purpose of the study is to test the validity and consistency of an existing questionnaire which will be further used for Research. This Research used the questionnaire developed by Venkatesh et al. in 2012. This study used the questionnaire in the food processing industries in Bengaluru. The questionnaire contained two sections: demographic description and UTAUT2 construct-related closed-ended questions. The UTAUT2 Model has seven independent, one mediating, and one dependent construct. The Model consisted of 32 items, namely; Performance Expectancy (PE) with four items, Effort Expectancy (EE) with four items, Social Influence (SI) with four items, Facilitating Conditions (FC) with four items, Hedonic Motivation (HM) with three items, Price value (PE) with three items, Habit (HB) with four items, Behavioural Intention (BI) with three items, and Use Behaviour (UB) with three items.

3.2 Sample Size and Techniques A convenience, the non-probability sampling method was used to collect data. The existing questionnaire was circulated randomly among the employees of Food Processing Industries in Bengaluru handling Artificial Intelligence in their works. The sample size of the data is sixty-two.

3.3 Research Model Venkatesh, Morris, and Davis combined eight technology acceptance models and proposed the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT 2) model. Under the UTAUT 2 model, there are seven independent variables, namely, Performance Expectancy (PE), Effort Expectancy (EE), Social Influence (SI), Facilitating Conditions (FC), Hedonism Motivation (HM), Price Value (PV), and Habit Behaviour (HB). The four variables can influence Behaviour Intention (BI) and Use Behaviour (UB). The three other variables, gender, age, and experience, play the moderating variable role, and behaviour intention plays as mediating variable, which measures the relationship between the independent and dependent variables (Fig. 2).

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Fig. 2 UTAUT 2 model

3.4 Method of Data Collection and Tools for Analysis The existing questionnaire was distributed physically among the employees of the food processing industries in Bengaluru. A 5-point Likert-type scale was used, from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). A total of 62 responses from employees were received from eleven food processing industries. The collected data was used to validate the questionnaire. The Cronbach’s Alpha, McDonald’s Omega, and Interrater Reliability tests were done to test the reliability and internal consistency. All these tests were conducted by using Jamovi 2.3.16 software. As per Cronbach’s Alpha, a value of more than 0.90 were considered excellent internal consistency, followed by 0.80–0.89 good, 0.70–0.79 acceptable, and below 0.60 expresses the unacceptability of the internal consistency. McDonald’s Omega coefficient suggests more than 0.80 highly likelihood of having the best reliability. Anything lesser than 0.50 is questionable. Inter-rater reliability refers to the extent to which respondents respond similarly to a given phenomenon. Inter-rater reliability is similar to the correlation coefficient, which ranges from − 1 to + 1, where 0 represents the amount of agreement expected from random chance, and 1 represents the perfect agreement between the raters—the closer toward + 1 better the agreements.

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Table 1 Demographic characteristics Variables

Description

Frequency

Percentage (%)

Gender

Male

46

74.20

Age

Experience

Female

16

25.80

Total

62

100

20–29

7

11.30

30–39

20

32.25

40–49

32

51.62

50–59

3

04.83

60–69

0

00.00

Total

62

100

00–05

16

25.80

06–10

29

46.78

11–15

15

24.20

16–20

2

03.22

21–25

0

00.00

26–30

0

00.00

Total

62

100

4 Results and Discussion 4.1 Demographic Characteristics The total number of respondents was 62. Most respondents were males, with 74.20% compared to 25.80% females. Most participants were those aged 40–49 and 30–39, with 51.62% and 32.25%, respectively. The majority of the employees were of having 6–10 years with 46.78% of work experience with AI, less than five years of experience are 25.80%, and around 24.20% were of between 11 and 15 years of work experience (Table 1).

4.2 Reliability Analysis The goodness of measures was evaluated in this study by using a reliability test. The reliability measures internal consistency, measured using the Cronbach’s Alpha test through Jamovi 2.3.16 software. The entire analysis was done by evaluating the appropriateness of the data (Uma Sekaran 2013). The reliability test reveals the overall results of Cronbach Alpha that all the constructs except Hedonic Motivation are reliable since the Cronbach Alpha value is more significant than 0.70, which is considered an acceptable consistency value (Table 2).

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Table 2 Reliability analysis No

Items

Mean

SD

Cronbach’s alpha

McDonald’s omega

Inter-rater reliability

Performance expectancy PE1

I would find artificial intelligence helpful in my job

4.00

0.512

0.965

0.884

PE2

Using artificial intelligence enables me to complete tasks more quickly

4.13

0.527

0.850

0.885

PE3

Using artificial intelligence increases my productivity

4.13

0.527

0.850

0.885

PE4

The use of artificial intelligence will enhance the chance of salary increase and promotion

4.23

0.584

0.875

0.885

4.12

0.481

0.915

0.926

EE5

My interaction 4.23 with artificial intelligence would be clear and understandable

0.584

0.607

0.885

EE6

It would be easy for me to become skillful at using the artificial intelligence

3.98

0.614

0.733

0.890

EE7

I would find artificial intelligence easy to use

4.19

0.568

0.628

0.886

EE8

Learning how to 4.16 use artificial intelligence is easy for me

0.578

0.641

0.890

4.14

0.431

0.716

0.719

0.708

Effort expectancy

0.681 (continued)

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Table 2 (continued) No

Items

Mean

SD

Cronbach’s alpha

McDonald’s omega

Inter-rater reliability

Social influence SI9

People who influence my behaviour think that i should use artificial intelligence in food processing operations

3.97

0.600

0.876

0.890

SI10

People who are important to me think that I should use artificial intelligence in food processing operations

4.00

0.512

0.717

0.884

SI11

The senior 4.13 management of this business has motivated me with artificial intelligence in food processing operations

0.527

0.689

0.885

SI12

In general, the 4.13 organization has supported to use of artificial intelligence in food processing operations

0.527

0.689

0.885

4.06

0.428

0.800

0.838

0.653

Facilitating conditions FC13

I have the resources necessary to use artificial intelligence in food processing operations

3.82

0.713

0.910

0.897

FC14

I know necessary to use artificial intelligence in food processing operations

3.77

0.838

0.867

0.897

(continued)

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Table 2 (continued) No

Items

Mean

SD

Cronbach’s alpha

McDonald’s omega

FC15

The artificial 3.82 intelligence is compatible with other systems I use

0.758

0.889

0.898

FC16

A specific person (or group) is available for assistance with difficulties experienced with artificial intelligence

3.81

0.765

0.923

0.898

3.81

0.693

0.922

0.924

Inter-rater reliability

0.525

Hedonic motivation HM17

Using artificial intelligence is a fun

4.26

0.828

-0.165

-0.178

HM18

Using artificial intelligence is enjoyable

4.37

0.773

0.129

0.139

HM19

Using artificial 4.00 intelligence is very entertaining

0.512

0.145

0.156

4.21

0.428

0.0915

0.110

0.470

Price value PV20

Artificial intelligence is reasonably priced

4.16

0.578

0.690

0.897

PV21

Artificial intelligence is good value for money

3.97

0.600

0.795

0.890

PV22

At the current price, artificial intelligence provides a good value

4.00

0.512

0.612

0.884

4.04

0.469

0.777

0.790

Using artificial 3.97 intelligence has become a habit for me

0.600

0.688

0.890

0.686

Habit behaviour HB23

(continued)

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Table 2 (continued) No

Items

Mean

SD

Cronbach’s alpha

McDonald’s omega

HB24

I am addicted to using artificial intelligence

4.00

0.512

0.520

0.884

HB25

I must use artificial 4.13 intelligence

0.527

0.610

0.885

HB26

Using artificial intelligence has become natural to me

4.27

0.518

0.689

0.893

4.09

0.390

0.701

0.719

Inter-rater reliability

0.633

Behaviour intentions BI27

I intend to continue using artificial intelligence in the future

4.37

0.487

0.576

0.897

BI28

I will always try to 4.45 use artificial intelligence in my daily life

0.533

0.329

0.900

BI29

I plan to continue to use artificial intelligence frequently

4.60

0.557

0.709

0.902

4.47

0.403

0.702

0.716

0.580

Use behaviour UB30

I intend to continue using artificial intelligence in the future

4.69

0.465

0.465

0.902

UB31

I will always try to 4.76 use artificial intelligence in my daily life

0.534

0.534

0.900

UB32

I plan to continue to use artificial intelligence frequently

4.79

0.410

0.410

0.901

4.75

0.408

0.830

0.830

0.601

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4.3 Reliability and Consistency Test The reliability and consistency tests were done using Cronbach’s Alpha, McDonald’s Omega, and Inter-rater Reliability of the responses. The Cronbach’s Alpha values’ outcome showed good consistency apart from Hedonic Motivation. Firstly, performance expectancy (PE) refers to the expected performance of Using AI in food processing industries, measured by four items, and the value is 0.915. As per Cronbach, an Alpha above 0.90 is considered an excellent internal consistency. Secondly, the effort expectancy construct measures the ease of using AI in the food processing industry. This construct consists of four items with a Cronbach Alpha value of 0.716. As per Cronbach Alpha, more than 0.70 is considered an acceptable consistency. Thirdly, the Social Influence construct refers to the individual’s perception that others believe that he or she has to use artificial intelligence while working in the food processing industry. This construct was tested to find the internal consistency with four items and had a Cronbach Alpha value of 0.800, indicating good consistency as per the standard value. Fourthly, Facilitating construct measures the degree to which an individual believes that organizational and technical infrastructure exists to assist the use of the system. The construct Facilitating Condition with four items was tested, and the Cronbach Alpha was reliable at 0.922, considered excellent consistency. Fifthly, Hedonic Motivation is the fun or pleasure of using technology. This construct has three items, and the Cronbach Alpha value is just 0.0915. Among all the constructs of this Model, only Hedonic Motivation has a value below 0.1, which is unacceptable in terms of internal consistency. There could be varied reasons for such a low Cronbach Alpha value for Hedonic Motivation. Hedonic Motivation defines the fun and pleasure derived from using artificial intelligence—the questionnaire administered to the working employees in the food processing industry. Deriving fun and enjoyment is entertainment, but employees make the best use of AI to derive maximum benefit. Using AI for pleasure purposes is something unacceptable for employees during work. Hence the responses from the employees lean towards disagreement. When the Cronbach Alpha value is below the acceptable value, responses must be increased, and need to re-do the reliability test if any improvement in the re-test question can be further used for the Research [7]. Sixthly, in the Price value construct, which refers to the cost of technology, the price value variable was measured using three items. The measured value of the test output was 0.777, again indicating acceptable consistency. Seventhly, Habit behaviour defines “the extent to which people exhibit behaviour automatically because of learning accumulated from their experience using certain technology.” The Cronbach Alpha value of Habit behaviour tested using four items was just above 0.701, which is said to be acceptable.

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Eighthly, Behaviour Intention measures the strength of an individual’s intention to perform a specified behaviour. The intention to use AI in the food processing industry was tested using three items, and the results of Cronbach value was 0.702, which is considered acceptable internal consistency of the construct. Lastly, the Use Behaviour construct measures the frequency of particular technology use. The Cronbach value after using three items in the construct was 0.830, which has good internal consistency. The entire test is reliable since overall Cronbach Alpha of 0.874, which is within the range of 0.80–0.90, and considered good internal consistency. Similarly, McDonald’s Omega test was done and found similar values, rather than greater than Cronbach Alpha values which indicate having good consistency except in Hedonic Motivation. Inter-rater reliability is acceptable if IRR score is ≥ 75%, between 50 and < 75% considered as moderately acceptable, and < 50% is considered as unacceptable [13]. All the inter-rater reliability scores except Hedonic Motivation are within 50– 75%. So that test indicates that the questionnaire is moderately acceptable.

5 Limitations The study has some limitations. The survey was done with only eleven food processing industries in Bengaluru within a short time and got 62 responses. The sample size is too small to make a valid judgment on the validity of the questionnaire. The selected industries were the only food processing industries located within the city of Bengaluru. There was difficulty among the respondents in understanding and differentiating artificial intelligence and technology.

6 Conclusions and Scope for Future Research AI in food processing industries sets a solid foundation to increase efficiency in the entire supply chain management. Adoption and usage of AI can guarantee its effectiveness only if AI is used carefully. Just adopting AI in food processing would not assure total benefit. Hence, measuring the adoption and usage of any kind of advancement assesses the productivity of advancement. UTAUT 2 is one of the Models that measures AI’s adoption and usage in food processing industries. The Research will be further developed by collecting more responses from many food processing industries. There is a possibility of conducting a similar type of Research in different industries of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), and surveys can be extended outside of the city too.

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References 1. Aung, M.M., Chang, Y.S.: Traceability in a food supply chain: safety and quality perspectives. Food Control 39, 172–184 (2014) 2. Baum, S., Barrett, A., Yampolskiy, R.V.: Modelling and interpreting expert disagreement about artificial superintelligence. Papers.ssrn.com (2017) 3. Bilal, M., Oyedele, L.O., Qadir, J., Munir, K., Ajayi, S.O., Akinade, O.O., Owolabi, H.A., Alaka, H.A., Pasha, M.: Big data in the construction industry: a review of present status, opportunities, and future trends. Adv. Eng. Inform. 30(3), 500–521 (2016) 4. Boyd, S., Boyd, S.P., Vandenberghe, L.: Convex optimization. In: Google Books. Cambridge University Press (2004) 5. Brynjolfsson, E., Rock, D., Syverson, C.: Artificial intelligence and the modern productivity paradox: a clash of expectations and statistics (2017). ISBNs 978-978 6. Buchanan, B.G.: A (very) brief history of artificial intelligence. AI Mag. 26(4), 53–53 (2005) 7. Bujang, M.A., Omar, E.D., Baharum, N.A.: A review on sample size determination for Cronbach’s alpha test: a simple guide for researchers. Malays. J. Med. Sci. 25(6), 85–99 (2018) 8. Bughin, J., Brussels, Hazan, E., Paris, Ramaswamy, S., Washington, Chui, M., Francisco, S., Allas, T., London, Dahlström, P., Henke, N.: Artificial intelligence the next digital frontier? (2017) 9. Casabayó, M., Agell, N., Sánchez-Hernández, G.: Improved market segmentation by fuzzifying crisp clusters: a case study of the energy market in Spain. Expert Syst. Appl. 42(3), 1637–1643 (2015) 10. Cortellessa, G., Gerevini, A.E., Magazzeni, D., Serina, I.: Automated planning and scheduling. Intelligenza Artificiale 8(1), 55–56 (2014) 11. Dirican, C.: The Impacts of robotics, artificial intelligence on business and economics. Proc. Soc. Behav. Sci. 195, 564–573 (2015) 12. Ertel, W.: Introduction to artificial intelligence. In: Google books. Springer (2018) 13. Fink, A.: Interrater reliability—an overview. ScienceDirect Topics. www.sciencedi rect.com. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-professions/interrater-rel iability (2010) 14. Ghallab, M., Nau, D., Traverso, P.: Automated planning: theory and practice. In: Google books. Elsevier (2020) 15. Goertzel, B., Wang, P.: Advances in artificial general intelligence: concepts, architectures and algorithms. In: Proceedings of the AGI Workshop 2006. In: Google books. IOS Press (2007) 16. Kaplan, A., Haenlein, M.: Rulers of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence. Bus. Horizons 63(1) (2019) 17. Ketter, W., Collins, J., Gini, M., Gupta, A., Schrater, P.: Real-time tactical and strategic sales management for intelligent agents guided by economic regimes. Inf. Syst. Res. 23(4), 1263– 1283 (2012) 18. Kittipanya-ngam, P., Tan, K.H.: A framework for food supply chain digitalization: lessons from Thailand. Prod. Plann. Control 31(2–3), 158–172 (2019) 19. Kolodner, J.L.: An introduction to case-based reasoning. Artif. Intell. Rev. 6(1), 3–34 (1992) 20. Kumar, V., Ramachandran, D., Kumar, B.: Influence of new-age technologies on marketing: a research agenda. J. Bus. Res. 125, 864–877 (2020) 21. Lee, W.-I., Shih, B.-Y., Chen, C.-Y.: Retracted: a hybrid artificial intelligence sales-forecasting system in the convenience store industry. Human Factors Ergonom. Manuf. Service Ind. 22(3), 188–196 (2011) 22. Lighthill, J.: Artificial intelligence: a general survey. In: Artificial Intelligence: A Paper Symposium. Science Research Council, London (1972) 23. Maglogiannis, I.G.: Emerging artificial intelligence applications in computer engineering: real word AI systems with applications in EHealth, HCI, information retrieval and pervasive technologies. In: Google books. IOS Press (2007)

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Artificial Intelligence in Finance Hasan Isa Jaafar Ebrahim, Husain Mohamed Ali Alaswad, Sayed Mohamed Jaafar Mohamed Fadhul, and Ruaa Binsaddig

Abstract Over the past decade, decentralized cryptocurrencies have gotten a lot of attention. With the creation of bitcoin in end of 2000s, bitcoin has created a disruption that has changed the power dynamic in money markets, that its results are still unknown to us, as their consciences are still to be seen in the future. The advancement in artificial intelligence is hard to mess, especially with a lot of our decisions are left for an algorithm to decide for us what to watch (YouTube, Netflix etc.), what to buy (Amazon, Ali baba etc.), and what to eat (Talabat, UberEATS etc.). We took raw data from the internet about the close prices of 600 cryptocurrencies and then feature engineered the data to suit our research better and to help us find the expected results we want. The Artificial intelligence application used is provided by azure Machine Learning, utilizing both Machine Learning and deep learning, Virtual Machines and the data analysis applications that are built in azure. The final results have met and exceeded our expectations reaching almost perfect predication in multiple experiments on different coins. Keywords Artificial intelligence · Bitcoin · Cryptocurrencies · Prediction · Azure · Auto ML

H. I. J. Ebrahim · H. M. A. Alaswad · S. M. J. M. Fadhul Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain R. Binsaddig (B) University of Business and Technology, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_18

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1 Introduction This study looks at how artificial intelligence and machine learning can be used to analyze cryptocurrency. The capacity to absorb information that is not immediately evident is characterized as intelligence. The two types of intelligence found in nature are individual and collective intelligence. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is made up of two words: artificial and intelligence, therefore it is intelligence that has been developed artificially. Artificial intelligence technologies such as neural networks, support vector machines, and fuzzy logic have been proposed. These methods have helped with missing data estimates, finite element models, simulating interstate conflict, economics, and robotics. Decentralization, upregulation, and anonymity are three features that distinguish cryptocurrencies. In his manifesto, Nakamoto addressed the absence of anonymity and security in transactions and proposed a well-thought-out solution: the blockchain. Due to the nature of blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies are decentralized. The blockchain platform’s data and information are available to and kept on thousands of computers globally as a distributed ledger functioning on peer-to-peer networks, allowing any user, miner, or bystander to view the data. In compared to a centralized organization or system, such as a bank, where there is a single central repository of information subject to security breaches, this considerably minimizes the likelihood of the system being hacked. As anticipated by Nakamoto et al. treat the blockchain protocol as a stochastic game and investigate the equilibrium strategies of rational, strategic miners by mining the longest chain as a perfect Markov equilibrium (2008). The blockchain protocol, on the other hand, is a coordination game with various equilibria, resulting in decentralization.

1.1 The Research Problem With this huge data reflecting blockchain transactions, millions of trades being performed on various exchange platforms, and an increasing number of tweets, posts, and articles about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, automated methods to handle and analyze this big data are clearly needed. Artificial intelligence (AI) methods may learn from this vast quantity of data by analyzing and finding patterns, making trading and mining more convenient and safer. Due to the privacy and security risks that cryptocurrencies face, discovering patterns in money-laundering transactions and other fraudulent activities and trading schemes may help restrict the crimes that involve them. Machine learning (supervised, unsupervised, semi-supervised, and reinforcement) methods are not the only ones used in artificial intelligence (AI), since evolutionary and knowledge-based approaches are also used [8].

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1.2 Research Objectives The fundamental objective of this research is to examine AI from the viewpoint of businesses and organizations in order to fill in knowledge gaps. In addition, to consider the factors that may influence artificial intelligence adoption in the workplace. This study will attempt to fill in the gaps found in the literature review by examining new approaches and solutions that will aid the research in achieving its objectives.

1.3 The Research Questions This study is based on the following exploratory questions: • Can artificial intelligence efficiently predict the future price of cryptocurrencies by utilizing Machine Learning?

2 Literature Review For this study, we investigated articles that revolve around artificial intelligence, the uses of artificial intelligence, and the revelations that happened in the artificial intelligence space, to provide a support for our thesis.

2.1 Machine Learning Machine learning is a growing discipline of computing algorithms that are aimed to mimic human intelligence by learning from their surroundings. Machine learning algorithms are always changing and improving. They are regarded as the workhorses of the so-called age of information technology in which we now find ourselves. In a variety of domains ranging from pattern recognition and computer vision to aerospace engineering and financial modeling to entertainment and bioinformatics to medicinal applications and medical imaging, techniques based on machine learning have been effectively implemented [5].

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2.2 Supervised Learning Supervised learning is the most prevalent kind of machine learning, whether deep or not. Assume we want to create a system that can identify whether a picture contains a home, a vehicle, a human, or a pet. We begin by gathering a big data collection of photos of homes, automobiles, people, and pets, all of which have been labeled with their respective categories. The machine is presented a picture during training and generates an output in the form of a vector of scores, one for each category. We want the desired category to have the greatest overall score, but this is unlikely to happen before training. The error (or distance) between the output scores and the intended pattern of scoring is calculated using an objective function. To minimize this inaccuracy, the machine adjusts its internal customizable settings. These changeable parameters, often known as weights, are real values that act as ‘handles’ to determine the machine’s input–output function. There might be hundreds of millions of these customizable weights in a typical deep-learning system, as well as hundreds of millions of annotated samples to train the computer with [7].

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2.3 Deep Learning Machine learning, a branch of Artificial Intelligence, has exploded in popularity across a broad range of industries. Deep learning, in particular, has piqued the curiosity of many scholars. Deep learning approaches have gained popularity as a result of their effectiveness in fields like image identification and natural language processing (NLP). Deep neural networks (DNN) have become the standard design approach for deep learning. Deep neural networks are made up of vertices linked by edges that accept inputs, compute a result using the activation function, and then create an output by adding the total of the preceding neuron’s input plus a bias [6]. The method’s increased complexity enables it to represent complicated, non-linear interactions [9]. Researchers developed a deep neural network that excelled at detecting handwritten digits [3], which made deep neural networks popular. More complicated and sophisticated imagery, such as differentiating between aircraft and birds, have continued to provide positive results [2]. Deep neural networks have lately piqued the interest of finance experts looking to make forecasts on financial markets [4]. Researchers sought to construct a categorization system for the Bitcoin price by gathering information from other comparable models. We thought deep neural networks would be an ideal study subject because of their nature and the fact that they are, in a way, a black box. They planned to be able to swiftly produce models and test findings with the help of a strong GPU.

2.4 Liner Regression This method uses a linear approach to represent the connection between one or more independent variables and a dependent variable. It uses linear predictor functions to estimate unknown model parameters from input data. In most cases, the linear fit is computed by minimizing the mean squared error between the predicted and actual output [1]. The researchers of Ashayer and Tabrizi [1] employed linear regression to look at the prediction capacity of Blockchain network-based properties on Bitcoin’s future price. They were able to anticipate the price direction of Bitcoin with 55% accuracy using their machine learning model one hour in the future.

3 Methodology This research depends on the data collected about the close prices of specific cryptoassets, which is quantitative type of data.

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Quantitative data is measurable and focuses on measuring and analysing factors in order to get findings. The research will utilize the collected quantitative data by splitting the data then applying train model to teach the Artificial Intelligence using 70% of the collected data, while adding the 30% of data left in the score model Then connect the train model with the score model to test our data in the evaluate model.

3.1 Data Types and Sources In this research we collected our data from secondary source, our source is CoinMarketCap.com, which maintains an index of all accessible cryptocurrencies. They maintain track of all transactions by keeping track of the total number of coins in circulation and the volume of coins exchanged in the preceding 24-h period. Our criteria for the data to be collected is that: • It must be a coin, not stablecoin or token. • The coin must be in circulation for at least 2 years ending on July 31st, 2021. • Doesn’t have a zero-market cap in its last year.

3.2 Data Normalization and Functions Because of the data we collected was volatile we resorted to using multiple normalization functions. ln function. to compress the distorted data into normal distribution which is built in Excel   p1 ln p0 ln Natural logarithm p1 Current Price p0 Previous Price. Standard deviation: / σ =

n i=1 (x i

− x)2 n−1

xi Value of the i point in the data set. x The mean value of the data set. n The number of data points in the data set.

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Z-Score model: By considering the mean value, this approach is comparable to the standard deviation method. z= z x μ σ

x −μ σ

standard score observed value mean of the sample standard deviation of the sample.

4 Results and Analyses 4.1 Voting Ensemble We have done two Voting Ensemble Experiments. A voting ensemble (often known as a “majority voting ensemble”) is a machine learning ensemble model that combines predictions from many models. It’s a method for improving model performance, with the objective of outperforming any individual model in the ensemble (Fig. 1). To perform a proper analysis of the projected data using Voting Ensemble, we will utilize the following statistical measures: Explained variance, mean absolute error, Normalized root mean squared error and r2 . These metrics are used in regression models to make an informed guess at the proportion of error returned by each regression model (Table 1). Bitcoin experiment. Our first Voting Ensemble experiment was done to predict the future prices of bitcoin. Through our observation we have found the following: Top 5 features by their importance: MOAC, PIVX, Electroneum, NativeCoin and POA. The results of the bitcoin experiment were inconclusive as it Seems that in the last two years the movement of bitcoin close price on a daily basis, was total random movement, for that the predication was very low and if we try to feature engineer the

Data Set

Fig. 1 Simple diagram of how the algorithm work

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Table 1 The metrics used to evaluate the experiment Metric

Description

Explained variance (EV)

The amount to which a model accounts for the variation in the target variable is measured by the explained variance. It is the ratio of the variance of the original data to the variance of the mistakes expressed as a percentage. When the mean of the errors equals zero, the coefficient of determination is equal to zero (see r2 score below) Closer to 1 the better

Mean absolute error (MAE)

Mean absolute error is the expected value of absolute value of difference between the target and the prediction Closer to 0 the better

Normalized root mean squared error (NRMsE) The Root mean squared error (RMSE) divided by the range of the data Root mean squared error (RMSE): is the square root of the squared difference estimated between the aim and the forecast. The root mean square error (RMSE) for a neutral estimator is equal to the standard deviation The closer to zero the better the result The coefficient of determination (R2 )

proportionate decrease in mean squared error (MSE) relative to the observed data’s total variance Closer to 1 the better

Spearman correlation (SC)

The Spearman correlation coefficient is a nonparametric indicator of the connection between two datasets monotonicity Closer to 1 the better

data any further it will take a long time, and at this point of the research we do not have any time to spare so we went with Ethereum. Ethereum experiment. The second Voting Ensemble experiment was done on Ethereum. Through our observation we have found the following: The results of the Ethereum experiment are very promising, the full comparison is in Table 2.

Table 2 Results of the Ethereum experiment Coin

Model used

EV

MAE

NRMsE

R2

SC

BTC

Voting ensemble

0.015992

0.59878

0.59878

0.0086307

0.12731

ETH

Voting ensemble

0.99980

0.0013864

0.00024009

0.99978

0.99919

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Voting Ensemble results analysis

4.2 Pipeline Azure ML The Pipeline experiments were done through azure designer (pipelines), by running the data across four regression algorithms, Boosted Decision Tree Regression, Decision Forest Regression, Linear Regression, these three algorithms are part of Machine Learning Algorithms that are coded in Microsoft azure designer (pipelines), and were picked specially because of their compatibility with the desired experiment. The experiments were done the top 10 crypto currencies after bitcoin since the problem with bitcoin prediction we faced in voting ensemble were carried through Pipeline Azure ML as well. Ethereum (ETH). In Ethereum what we can find from the results is that our data works better with Boosted Decision Regression beating DFR by a little with the MAE of 0.121923, RMsE of 0.241609, and R2 of 0.891006 while the worst algorithm is the Liner Regression with MAE of 0.384307, RMsE of 0.508023, and R2 of 0.518114. Mean absolute error

Root mean squared error

Coefficient of determination

LR

0.384307

0.508023

0.518114

DFR

0.05796

0.26192

0.87191

BDTR

0.121923

0.241609

0.891006

4.3 Pipeline Result Analysis To have a proper analyzation of the forecasted data done through azure Designer (pipeline) we will be using the following statistical metrics, MAE, RMSE, and r2 these metrics are used in regression models to make an educated estimate of the percentage of error each regression model returns: Mean absolute error (MAE). the Mean absolute error is a metric that measures the closeness of the of the forecasted amounts the actuals; the closer to zero the better (Figs. 2, 3 and 4). N M AE = MAE mean absolute error Yi prediction

i=1 |Yi

n

− Xi |

-2

-4

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ERROR PERCENTAGE

MAE LR

DFR

BDTR

ETH

LTC

1 0.5 0 ADA

ALGO

BNB

DOGE

LUNA MATIC

XLM

XRP

THE LOWER THE BETTER

Fig. 5 Mean absolute error

Xi n

ture value total number of data points.

When we test the azure designer (Pipelines) algorithms on our feature engineered data, the results were very impressive as the Decision Forest regression model had the highest error percentage just around 10% in DOGECOIN, and a low error percentage of just 3.95% in Cardano coin, and an average error percentage of 5.97%. The Linear Regression was the worst model of the three with the lowest error percentage coming at 28.45% meaning that it’s not a very good model for prediction while Boosted Decision Tree Regression was closer to DFR that LR, with the high of 26.2% and a low of 12.1% (Fig. 5). Root mean squared deviation (RMD). Sum up the error in models using a single value that it creates; the metric ignores the difference that happens between overpredictions and under prediction by squiring the difference (Fig. 6). / RMSD = RMSD ı χı χˆ ı

2 N  ˆı ı=1 χı − χ N

root mean square deviation variable i number of non missing data points estimated time series.

The deviation percentage of each regression model were very close in XRP, Stellar, Polygon, Terra, and Algorand while in Litecoin, Ethereum Binance the difference in deviation between each model is a little bit larger, but there is a big gulf between LR and the other two models. The graph also indicates that Boosted Decision Tree Regression and Decision Forest Regression are very close together with BDTR beating DFR in the results of 3 out of 10 coins and being almost tied in the results of DOGECOIN.

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RMSD DIVIATION PERCENTAGE

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DFR

BDTR

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BNB

DOGE

ETH

LTC

LUNA

MATIC

XLM

XRP

THE LOWER THE BETTER

Fig. 6 Root mean squared deviation

Coefficient of determination (r2 ). This model indicates the power of the model used by how close the scored label to the actual values is, while other metrics indicate a better model at values close to zero, this metrics indicate a better model when it’s value is closer to one (Fig. 7). R2 = 1 −

RSS T SS

R2 coefficient of determination RSS sum of squares of residuals TSS total sum squares.

DETERMENATION PERCENENTAGE

R2 LR

DFR

BDTR

1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 ADA

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DOGE

ETH

LTC

THE HIGHER THE BETTER

Fig. 7 Coefficient of determination

LUNA MATIC

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Based on the graph above the coefficient of determination indicates Liner regression model is the worse model of the three with just 0.0491 determination in DOGECOIN, and 0.1953 in Litecoin, and only breaking 0.8 mark in Stellar coin.

5 Conclusions and Recommendation 5.1 Conclusion We have started our research with the hopes of finding better tools to help financial advisors, companies, financial organization, and banks to better analyse the data, especially with how fast the data keeps growing creating a big data problem across the financial sectors and the industry as a whole. We chose to tackle the cryptocurrency, and that is because of the rise of crypto popularity and the past couple of years and the interest that people have given Cryptocurrencies, Blockchain, and NFTs, the data analysis is done using Artificial intelligence methods through Azure Machine Learning (Pipelines) and Deep Learning (AutoML) applications, and we chose azure for the reason that it does not necessitate any prior coding knowledge, so it’s going to be an easy-to-use tool for financial advisors. Another reason is to help to revolutionize the market through introducing new types of analysis and boost fintech initiative. By comparing our results to those of other researchers, we discovered that Alireza [1] has achieved a 55% accuracy rate when using liner regression to Bitcoin, while the best percentage in our tests was 37% on Bitcoin using another model. In other testing Alireza has achieved 55% accuracy for the Ethereum and the square mean error in auto regression 0.861 [1], while our result in testing in Ethereum the result was provided to as from the square mean error auto regression was very close to zero or 0.0027634 to be exact. On the other hand, testing Another Cryptocurrencies has provides us a very high degree of precision, almost 97% accuracy. This high percent of accuracy is due to the feature engineering that was developed with the help of the project supervisor. The final results have manged to meet and exceed our expectation and have provided us with a glimpse of the future and how this method could lead the next revelation the financial market, and how this method could elevate the financial sector and end a half-century of lack of advancement and stagnation.

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5.2 Recommendation Even though a great deal of effort was put into the study, there is always room for improvement; the following proposals might serve as recommendations: • There need to develop more algorithms to be used in forecasting. • Using different virtual computing host, like Google Cloud Platform, Amazon web services and IBM Cloud to compare efficiency of the Azure platform • Develop batter feature engineering to perform improved predictions.

References 1. Ashayer, A., Tabrizi, N.: Comprehensive literature review on machine learning techniques used in blockchain technology. In: IEEE International Conference on Blockchain (2019) 2. Ciregan, D., Meier, U., Schmidhuber, J.: Multi-column deep neural networks for image classification. IEEE, Providence, RI, USA (2012) 3. Cire¸san, D.C., Meier, U., Gambardella, L.M., Schmidhuber, J.: Deep, big, simple neural nets for handwritten digit recognition. Neural Comput. 3207–3220 (2010) 4. Dixon, M., Klabjan, D., Bang, H.J.: Classification-based financial markets prediction using deep neural networks. Algorithm. Financ. (2016) 5. El Naqa, I., Murphy, M.J.: What is machine learning? https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-183 05-3_1 (2015) 6. Kang, N.: Introducing deep learning and neural networks—deep learning for rookie. 2017. https://towardsdatascience.com/introducing-deep-learning-and-neural-networks-deep-lea rning-for-rookies-1-bd68f9cf5883. Accessed June 2017 7. LeCun, Y., Bengio, Y., Hinton, G.: Deep Learning, 2. Macmillan Publishers Limited (2015) 8. Russell, S., Norvig, P.: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. In: Series in Artificial Intelligence. Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA (2010) 9. Szegedy, C., Toshev, A., Erhan, D.: Deep neural networks for object detection. Adv. Neural Inf. Process. Syst. 2553–2561 (2013)

Driving Innovative, Sustainability and Creative Practices

A Study on Selection of Employers the Business Management Students at Bangalore City Meenadevi, J. V. Santhosh, and Ch. Raja Kamal

Abstract The article focuses on business graduates’ job market choices to aid corporate branding in a changing environment. Case study done at Czech HEIs. The goal is to discover and evaluate age, gender, and study level-specific job selection factors for graduates. A six-year study at Case University surveyed 238 graduates (2015–2021). Graduates’ employer selection criteria varied statistically. Female-important social criteria vary by gender. Master’s graduates concentrate on growth and management criteria (possibility of decision making, challenges, creativity). Age influences social and developmental parameters. Under-30s and over-30s vary. Under-30 graduates concentrate on economic parameters; older responders prioritise development. Keywords Higher education · Quality assurance · Human resource development · Innovation · Employment

1 Introduction Graduates are vital to economic growth. Graduates contribute fresh ideas, approaches, information, skills, and competences. Each new graduation cohort impacts employment patterns. Lower unemployment rates require firms to react. The labour market is dependent on companies’ relationships with workers and job searchers’ views, according to Agarwal et al. [2]. Research reveals that companies viewed as excellent employers not only reach better prospects in less time, but also recruit candidates [12]. Collins agrees with that businesses must recognise job seekers’ needs (2007). Job searchers research prospective employers to ensure they Meenadevi RNSIT, Bangalore, India J. V. Santhosh Seshadripuram Degree College, Bangalore, India Ch. Raja Kamal (B) Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore, India e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_19

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fulfil their needs [13]. Bejtkovsk [4] says job content and working circumstances are the most sought-after details. Franca and Pahor [12] noted the relevance of personal marketing and branding for attracting high-quality job-seekers. Gomes and Neves (2011) found that the attractiveness of an employer is linked to work and organisational culture. Douglas et al. [10] found that workplace branding, culture, and development may influence employee choice. Franca and Pahor [12] cited above-average pay, personal growth, effective leadership, balancing personal and professional life, and company brand as the most significant employment selection criterion. Tanwar and Prasad’s (2017) study backed Franca and Pahor [12] and included additional expectations of prospective workers who want perks and pay, employer ethics, and social responsibility. Berthon et al. [6] found staffing as a determinant in employer selection. Based on the ideas above, the article aims to identify university students’ employment selection factors and examine if their positions match to their degree based on age, gender, and study form. This research analyses part-time and full-time bachelor’s and master’s students at a private Czech business institution. The article also evaluates selection criteria and employment at occupations matching or not matching the students’ degree based on their age and study form. The study offers the research topics and theoretical framework by presenting the issue of job selection criteria and education-related employment based on existing scientific and professional literature. Methodology explains data gathering and processing. Results explain study results and interpretation. The talk compares findings to theory and past research. The report concludes with a summary and research suggestions. This study develops a future job criteria for business graduates based on their age, gender, and educational level. This article proposes strategies for businesses looking to hire business school graduates.

2 Theoretical Background Compatibility between employer criteria, personal marketing, and employer branding all affect future employment [2, 12]. These writers hire by brand. According to Evans and Davis [11], social responsibility boosts an employer’s attractiveness (2013). In contrast to previous writers [4], found social responsibility to be an essential determinant in future employment choices. Styvén et al. say innovation and uniqueness make an employer desirable (2022). Reputation and professional progress are important to Abell and Becker [1]. Cooperation, a friendly workplace, and an engaging work environment are also important (2013). Berthon et al. [6] present employer attractiveness categories; Ambler and Barrow devised this standard [3]. Ambler and Barrow [3] categorise these values. “(1) Interest Value (IV): a stimulating job with innovative working practises, products, and services in an environment that encourages creativity and innovation; (2) Social Value (SV): a positive and pleasant social and interpersonal environment; (3) Economic

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Value (EV): above-average wages, compensation package, job security, and promotion opportunities; (4) Development Value (DV): provides recognition, self-worth, confidence, and skill development; Benson and Brown [5], and Cennamo and Gardner [7] analyse employer selection determinants by age (Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y). Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y (born between 1977 and 1994). Benson and Brown [5], Cennamo and Gardner [7], and Deal et al. [8] found features that appeal to all generations. Company rewards include high pay, leadership, and teamwork. These requirements are always welcomed. Based on the above, theories were formed: H0a: Age affects graduates’ desired job. H0b: Full-time versus part-time studies doesn’t impact business graduates’ chosen employers. H0c: Business university graduates’ age affects their choice to take an unsuitable job. H0d: Full-time versus part-time courses have little impact on a graduate business student’s acceptance of an unsuitable employment. In the findings section, dependencies or differences between qualitative groups are evaluated.

3 Methods The paper analyses 238 business school graduates’ questionnaire responses. The survey design followed the paper’s theoretical contributions. The research focuses on employer selection of business graduates and identifies current trends in the graduate labour market. The questionnaire has multiple-choice, multiple-answer, and Likertscale items. Respondents answered questions about their background (identification questions) and preferred employer, type of employment, type of preferred organisation, deal-breakers, preferred working conditions, suitable corporate culture, benefits and environment, development and growth opportunities, work-life balance, employability of graduates, focus areas of employment, connection with studied programme or field, use of skills, abilities and competencies at work. The whole questionnaire was based on previous research.

226 Table 1 Demographic profile of respondents

Meenadevi et al. Rank of a group according to its size Age (years) Percentage 1

20–25

30.2%

2–3

25–30

21.7%

3–4

30–35

15.4%

4

35–40

12.1%

5–6

40–45

12.1%

6

45–50

3.9%

7–8

> 50

3.7%

8

No answer

0.3

After testing on a smaller sample, the final questionnaire was used to survey graduates. Recent business school grads were polled. All respondents were contacted based on the alumni programme with the approval of graduates via email message with information about the survey, its motive, expectations, anticipated results, and their execution and link to an online survey. Disman deemed the 27% return rate typical [9]. Only chosen graduates with a web connection may access the anonymous surveys. First, the data were cleaned, missing answers were deleted, and descriptive statistics were applied. Consistency and two-dimensional analysis of the data matrix were next examined. We performed correlation analysis and the X test to verify our hypothesis after confirming the data file’s consistency. Respondents’ characteristics were: 34% men, 66% women. It’s the university’s gender structure. 122 respondents had bachelor’s degrees (51.3%), master’s degrees (29.4%), both (13.5%), MBAs (5%), a three-month programme (0.4%), or neither (0.4%). 62 graduates were full-time and 174 part-time (26%) students. Table 1 shows respondent ages. Online survey results were examined using average, mode, median, and standard deviation. Then, correlation analysis tested sample dependencies. Our assumptions were tested using Spearman correlation and Pearson Chi-Square. Variables determined the statistical methods used. Spearman’s coefficient employs nonparametric correlation, which is unaffected by other values and departures from normality. This study’s relevance to a larger community is restricted since the survey was only given to students at the particular business university. The study’s sample was representative, inspiring other universities, organisations, and scholars.

4 Results The case study results of criteria affecting graduates’ employer preferences are based on testing hypotheses stated on a theoretical background to identify the most important relations between tested variables and to find the best solution for practical

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Table 2 Correlation analysis of the criteria of preferred employer of graduates (N = 238, p = 0.05) Hypothesis

Spearman correlation

p-value

Educated jobs are respected

0.329

0.002

Participation in management

0.246

0.001

Possibility of further development

0.237

0.042

Participation in management

0.248

0.026

Gaining experience

0.227

0.042

Friendly team

0.263

0.012

Independent work

0.244

0.031

Salary and remuneration

0.306

0.002

implications of differences in graduates’ job requirements, Tested factors and their relationships impact graduates’ choices. Statistical tests were used to determine the influence of graduate age, gender, study type, and study level on job preferences. Table 2 presents hypothesis outcomes. Statistically significant relationships were confirmed, validating employer selection criteria. The primary qualities of business graduates in the employment market are: 95 graduates out of 220 polled received a management or specialised employment, which was higher than before graduation; 210 (97.5%) graduates had worked throughout studies, in brigade-works or part-time or full-time jobs. Only six grads didn’t work while school. 187 (79.9%) of surveyed graduates work in their study specialisation, and 48 (17.57%) work outside of It. 92 responders (39%) are managers. 192 (81.5%) respondents liked studying (using acquired knowledge in business education and environment). Innovativeness, creativity, challenges = Interest criterion; rewards and compensation = Economic criterion; relationships and friendliness at a workplace = Social criterion; management and decision-making, development = Development criterion; and ability to apply new business knowledge and skills obtained through business studies = Development criterion. For detailed theories, see Theoretical Background. H0a: age; H0b: study form (full time vs. part time); H0c: age in relation to accepting a job that doesn’t match education level; H0d: study form in relation to accepting a job that doesn’t match education level. Whether graduates work in their studied speciality does not alter any of the researched parameters, according to study. No statistically significant differences between the job and employer selection criterion (see five criteria listed above). H0c and H0d are valid. Employer selection is unaffected by education level (H0d; r = 0.074) or gender (H0c; r = −0.045). No employer criteria is impacted by study form (H0b; r = 0.180). None were statistically significant. Master’s versus bachelor’s

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degree influences mainly firm management involvement. Degree doesn’t affect other requirements. Under-30 graduates’ age (H0a) influences development (p = 0.043). (correlation 0.247). The firm management criteria also gained (correlation 0.258, p = 0.027). Age impacts graduates’ choice of workplace in terms of acquiring experience (correlation 0.247, p = 0.043), a pleasant team (correlation 0.273, p = 0.013), and autonomous work (workers over 30 wish to work independently, p = 0.032). Differences appear between responders under 30 and over 30. Age of graduates and employer selection criterion for awards was statistically significant (correlation 0.316, p = 0.001). All age groups differed. For all other parameters, no age-related association was discovered. H0 can’t be dismissed since results vary by criteria. Table 2 rejects all nocorrelation hypotheses H0. In conclusion, gender affects the Social criteria (females concentrate on social elements of a workplace more than males) and age affects the Development criterion (graduates under 30 pay more attention to development than older workers), as well as the Application, Social, and Economic criterion. Table 3 shows statistically significant differences between education level and graduates’ interest in corporate objectives (p = 0.013), company management (p = 0.000), capacity to work creatively and implement own ideas (p = 0.009), language abilities (p = 0.017), and difficult employment position (p = 0.019). In all these categories, a master’s degree has a statistically significant greater frequency of preferred employers’ selection for graduates (at the significance level of 0.05). Job-life balance (p = 0.007), work fulfilment and joyful work (0.002), and a friendly team were statistically different for men and women. Females prefer these qualities (p = 0.025). No statistically significant gender differences were detected for the other criteria. Education level affects Application, Interest, and Development criteria. Always master’s degree grads are more interested in these topics during job hunting. Again, women were socially oriented.

5 Discussion The compatibility of possible employers’ requirements has a large impact in graduates’ choice of a future employer [4, 12, 13]. This research found statistically significant variations in favoured criteria by graduate degree and age. Graduate students (master’s degree) pick their future career positions to effect company management and decision making, they expect originality and innovation, and they opt for hard work more frequently than undergraduates (bachelor’s degree). According to Styvén et al. (2022), the ability to use creativity and innovation is a major determinant in an organization’s appeal.

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Table 3 Chi-square test of the criteria of preferred employer of graduates (N = 238, p = 0.05) Hypothesis

Chi-square test sig

The role matches education—steady, established firm

0.003

Possibility to participate on company goals

0.012

Participation on management of company

0.001

Ability to apply language skills

0.016

Ability to work creatively, to apply ideas

0.008

Challenging work

0.018

Work-life balance

0.006

Friendly collective

0.024

Work fulfilment and enjoyable work

0.001

Possibility of further development

0.042

Participation on management of company

0.026

Gaining experiences

0.042

Friendly collective

0.012

Independent work

0.031

Salary and remuneration

0.002

These criteria were not significant for the examined sample of university graduates compared to Evans and Davis [11]. Maheshwari and Yadav (2015), Gomes and Neves (2011), and Ramasamy et al. (2008) found that social responsibility is not a determinant in future job choices. This research also supports Berthon et al. [6] in their criteria that matter when finding future employment: (1) Interest criterion defined by challenging and stimulating job, innovative work, and encouragement of creativity; (2) Social criterion defined by positive social environment, which matters especially to females; and (3) Economic criterion defined by adequate wages, benefits, and compensation, which is demanded mainly by graziers (graduates vs. undergraduates). The research results agree with those of other authors [4], who stress the importance of personal and career development, creative opportunities, the content of work tasks and management’s approach to employees, financial and non-financial rewards, a suitable work environment, quality relationships, and work-life balance. Benson and Brown [5], and Cennamo and Gardner [7] concur that employer selection factors vary by graduate age. Self-development, skill applicability, job environment, workplace interactions, and pay. The hypothesis can be tested. We may reject H0a since the age of business school graduates affects the employer’s standards, which varies. H0b cannot be rejected since investigations found no differences or relationships between study form and employment preferences of business school graduates. Thus, the kind of education doesn’t affect employer criteria. H0c can’t be refused since business school graduates’ age doesn’t matter when taking a job below their level of study. H0d got the

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same result and can’t be rejected. Full-time or part-time studies have little bearing on whether a business school graduate accepts an unsuitable job. H1a can’t be refused. H1a says the age of business school graduates influences their career hunt. H1b may be denied. Form of study does not alter business school graduates’ employer requirements. This study’s weakness is its concentration on one Business College. This research focused on business-savvy graduates. The sample reflects the studied university and shows the major characteristics of business graduates entering the labour market.

6 Conclusion The article discusses ideal job characteristics. This study examines the methods of private university graduates in business, as well as their preferences, attitudes, and relationships based on gender, age, form, and degree of studies as career predictors and their impressions of university education. The article evaluated gender, age, study form, and level on graduates’ occupational choices. There are statistically significant variations in favoured criteria by graduate level and age. Master’s students chose their future jobs to affect company management and decision making, demand creativity and innovation, and seek demanding work. Self-development, skill applicability, job circumstances, workplace interactions, and compensation are also assessed differently by employers. Age of graduates influences growth, experience, and need for a pleasant team. These parameters vary between responders under 30 and over 30. Over-30s seek autonomous employment. Age of graduates and employer selection criteria for awards and remuneration/compensation differed statistically. Males and females differed in work-life balance, job satisfaction, and a pleasant team. Females prefer these qualities.

7 Limitations and Further Research Our research was a case study of one Business University in Bangalore, limiting its applicability. All participants volunteered. This article explains how business graduates choose employment. Future employment criterion may be categorised as follows: Interest criterion defined by challenging and stimulating job, innovative work, and encouragement of creativity; – Social criterion defined by positive social environment, which matters especially to females; – Economic criterion defined by adequate wages, benefits, and compensation, which is demanded mainly by graduates until age 30; – Development criterion described by self-confidence and development of skills and career, which also matters (graduates vs. undergraduates).

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This study formulates the prospective employment criterion for business graduates based on their age, gender, and degree of education. This article suggests ways for firms to recruit business school graduates.

References 1. Abell, D., Becker, K.: Enhancing university employer attractiveness for the next generation of academics. J. High. Educ. Policy Manag. 43(5), 457–473 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1080/136 0080X.2020.1847241 2. Agarwal, T., Arya, S., Bhasin, K.: Employer branding and its impact on employee engagement: a literature review. Int. J. Adv. Sci. Technol. 29(4), 1438–1446 (2020) 3. Ambler, T., Barrow, S.: The employer brand. J. Brand Manag. 4, 185–206 (1996) 4. Bejtkovský, J.: Factors influencing the job search and job selection in students of Generation Y in the Czech Republic in the employer branding context. Manage. Market. Challenge. Knowl. Soc. 13(3), 1133–1149 (2018). ISSN 1842-0206 5. Benson, J., Brown, M.: Generations at work: are there differences and do they matter? Int. J. Hum. Resour. Manag. 22(9), 1843–1865 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2011. 573966 6. Berthon, P., Ewing, M., Hah, L.L.: Captivating company: dimensions of attractiveness in employer branding. Int. J. Advert. 24(2), 151–172 (2005) 7. Cennamo, L., Gardner, D.: Generational differences in work values, outcomes and personorganisation values fit. J. Manag. Psychol. 23(8), 891–906 (2008) 8. Deal, J., Altman, D., Rogelberg, S.: Millennials at work: what we know and what we need to know (if anything). J. Bus. Psychol. 25, 191–199 (2010) 9. Disman, M.: Jak se vyrábí sociologická znalost: p íru ka pro uživatele, 372 p. Karolinum, Prague (2018) 10. Douglas, A.R., Hill, L.A., Conger, J.A.: Winning the race for talent in emerging markets. Harv. Bus. Rev. 86(11), 62–70 (2008) 11. Evans, W.R., Davis, W.D.: an examination of perceived corporate citizenship, job applicant attraction, and CSR work role definition. Bus. Soc. 50(3), 456–480 (2011) 12. Franca, V., Pahor, M.: The strength of the employer brand: Influences and implications for recruiting. J. Market. Manag. 3(1), 78–122 (2012) 13. Ghielen, S.T.S., Cooman, R.D.E., Sels, L.: Refining employer branding research: Linking employer attractiveness to clear and targeted employer brands. In: 78th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (2018)

The Impact of Corporate Culture on Incubator Success: The Moderating Effect of Information and Communication Technology Tools Qadri Alzaghal

and Omar Salah

Abstract Business incubators (BIs) are powerful tools for creating opportunities, economic growth, and entrepreneurship, providing entrepreneurs with valuable support in their early stages to help them survive. This study investigated the role of information and communication technology (ICT) tools in moderating the relationship between corporate culture (COC) and incubator success (INS) in Palestinian incubators. The use of ICT tools in a wide range of industries has facilitated the creation and growth of new enterprises, thereby improving competitiveness and market transparency. Correlations between factors in this study were investigated using a quantitative technique. COC, ICT, and INS factors. The survey questionnaire collected data from 96 participants in 23 incubators in Palestine. Seventy-nine respondents completed the survey. The partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach was used to examine the required models. The results showed that COC has a significant impact on INS in Palestine. In addition, ICT tools were found to moderate the relationship between COC and INS. This study provides practitioners with knowledge of one of the new and important factors that has an impact on INS in Palestine and highlight the importance of using ICT tools to enhance the relationship between INS and COC. It may also provide incubator managers with new ideas on how best to ensure the success of incubators. Keywords Corporate culture · SMEs · Business incubator · Incubator success · Palestine · Information and communication technology

Q. Alzaghal (B) · O. Salah Palestine Technical University—Kadoorie, Tulkarm, Palestine e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_20

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1 Introduction Due to the huge economic recession, Arab countries in particular are facing a very challenging time, especially with the outbreak of various regional wars and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. These poor conditions have increased the unemployment rate in these countries and lowered the gross domestic product (GDP) relative to developed countries [1–3]. Similarly, Palestine is also facing a complicated political and economic situation due to the aforementioned reasons, exacerbated by Israeli occupation. According to statistics issued by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the unemployment rate in Palestine is very high at 17.3% in the West Bank and 41% in Gaza, and the Level of income per capita is also very low. The average monthly household spending in Palestine for an average household size of six persons is equal to 934.9 Jordanian dinars. Moreover, every year, a large number of young people graduate from Palestine. For instance, in 2018/2019, 42,773 students had graduated from Palestinian universities. However, graduates have a shortage of employment opportunities, resulting in brain drain [4]. One of the solutions that has been tested elsewhere and that Palestinians believe is to develop and enhance new small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through the support provided by business incubators (BIs). Such incubators are considered important assets, as they can provide important guidance for entrepreneurs, thereby enhancing economic development and employment growth. They have also been used as part of a successful strategy to promote Innovation, support entrepreneurship, develop new social and economic opportunities, and develop new business models that in turn intersect with business incubation models [5–8]. Small-and medium-sized businesses are thought to play an important role in boosting domestic economic growth, especially since the financial recession of 1998 [9–11]. These enterprises are considered an important part of a nation’s business environment as they have been shown to improve productivity, job growth, and competitiveness. Incubators have a significant opportunity to play a strategic role in forming new businesses and helping them survive during their first stages of development [9, 12–14]. Several models have been proposed and used to assess the effectiveness of BIs. However, no general model can be used in any country or incubator type. Therefore, this study developed a new success model that includes factors collected from global literature and valuable recommendations made by incubator experts in Palestine. One of the important factors proposed and accepted as corporate culture. Corporate culture is an important driver of corporate identity and credibility. It is also characterized as a complicated system of shared beliefs and values that affects the behavior of organizational stakeholders [15–18]. Another factor considered important for business and economic success is ICT. It supports and promotes the establishment of new businesses and can increase both productivity and market reach across all sectors [19]. Numerous studies on the economic impact of ICT development have been done studies have been conducted

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on the economic EFFECT of ICT development. These studies have found that ICT tools facilitate economic growth by accelerating information and knowledge sharing, increasing market competitiveness, and improving job matching [20, 21]. As a result, BIs can play an essential role in new businesses’ use of ICT resources because they provide access to ICT tools and assist entrepreneurs and incubator teams in effectively using these services and tools [6, 22, 23]. As previously mentioned, this study aims to help resolve the poor economic conditions that have resulted in an increase in unemployment and decrease in GDP in developing Arab countries. Particularly Palestine. One of the solutions that have been proposed is job creation through businesses that have graduated from an incubator [6, 24]. In Palestine, numerous incubators provide good facilities, and thousands of graduates, entrepreneurs, and creative ideas emerge from universities and incubators each year. However, the number of jobs created by incubators in Palestine is low. Hence, their contribution and importance to GDP are weak, with only a few success stories reported thus far [16, 25]. As a result, more research is needed to find ways to improve the Palestinian incubator system’s success. Although substantial studies on incubator performance have been undertaken, few studies have been conducted in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in both developing and developed countries, with a particular scarcity of studies in Palestine [2, 26–28]. As a result, this study aims to fill this gap in the literature and make theoretical and practical contributions to this area.

2 Model and Hypotheses Development Based on the discussion in this paper, the following describes the main factors that were selected for inclusion in the proposed research model. The study model will be created and finalized by using these selected factors. Then, all the hypotheses will be extracted according to this model. All the steps will be discussed in detail below.

2.1 Incubator Success (The Dependent Factor) As found in the literature, incubator success has been defined differently. Some researchers explained incubator success regarding the lease space and the incubator’s ability to meet monthly expenses. Others have defined it in terms of the tenant company’s expansion. Also, others have described it based on how the incubators are designed and managed. The literature has been searched carefully in order to extract the most used items from different studies in different countries to measure the incubator’s success. In parallel, an email interview was conducted with many incubator managers in Palestine in order to collect the most important and used items to measure the incubator success in Palestinian incubators as real cases on the ground. These collected items

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from both sources were summarized and discussed carefully with some experts in Palestine to finalize the final items which can effectively measure the incubator’s success. These selected items were: (i) increasing the employment growth, which represents the number of the jobs created by incubated firms; (ii) increasing the number of the incubated firms; (iii) Achieving successful graduates, such as increasing the number of tenants’ firm’s graduates, raising the survival rate of incubators, expanding the incubator space, and growing the services provided by incubators; and (iv) increasing the Level of funding and grants offered by incubator.

2.2 Corporate Culture Culture is a rich common set of thoughts and values that impact organizational stakeholders’ behavior. Culture is described as a rich common set of views and values that impact organizational stakeholders’ behavior. A rich system of values and beliefs might be termed a corporate culture. It is a critical driver of company identity and a significant indication for establishing and maintaining a corporate reputation [15]. Furthermore, according to Denison and Neale [29], organizational culture is a set of beliefs and principles that serve as the foundation for an organization’s management system, as well as a set of management practices and behaviors that exemplify and reinforce those basic principles, which serve as survival strategies. This type of culture is important for all leaders because it influences how their organizations respond to changing business demands. It is heavily influenced by previous successes and lessons learned about how to adapt and survive. The relationship between an organization’s culture and corporate performance is one of the most critical issues in developing its culture. Many studies have found a link between organizational or corporate culture and corporate performance, which has grown in importance in recent years [30]. There are many reasons why the researcher was encouraged to include this factor as one of the success factors in the research model: (1) corporate culture has not been used as one of the key success factors in incubator success; (2) three out of the 15 Palestinian incubator experts recommended it as a factor in the email interview phase (a frequency rate of 23%); (3) the incubator in most its activities is very similar to a corporation or organization [31]; (4) innovation is one of the important outcomes of the incubator, and there is a very strong relationship between Innovation and culture in any corporation or organization because culture is very important in supporting people to use corporate resources in an innovative way, and any innovation corporation needs a culture that can support it to force employees to let go of old values and beliefs, and to adopt new ones which is not an easy task [32]; and (5) entrepreneurship and culture are closely related together, and can explain the differences in entrepreneurial growth across countries [33].

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In light of the above and after discussing the above results many times with some incubator experts in Palestine, corporate culture was selected as one of this study’s success factors because it was expected to be positively related to the success of incubators in Palestine. Increasing the mentality of the corporate culture for incubators’ staff and incubated tenants is very important. They can significantly increase the number of the incubated firms, increase the number of firms’ graduates, increase the incubator survival rate, enhance the services and office spaces offered by the incubator, increase the number of jobs created by these firms, and increase the Level of funding and financial support for the incubated tenants. Therefore, the following hypothesis was developed: H1: There is a significant relationship between corporate culture and incubator success.

2.3 Information and Communication Technology Tools As mentioned before, information and communication technologies (ICT) are concerning in how they enable access to information and how they can affect society. So, ICT does not lie in the technology itself; however, it resides in the potential to improve underprivileged communities access to information and communication. The existence of ICT has also encouraged the formation and growth of new ICTbased enterprises., which is considered a tool that increases productivity, market reach, and transparency across all sectors [19]. As a result, business incubators are crucial in properly providing access to these services through the use of ICT technologies and training entrepreneurs and incubator employees on how to use these tools and services effectively [22]. Business incubators are essential for the growth of ICT SMEs and can also help to accelerate the growth and development of technology-based SMEs [34]. A technology business incubation program is an excellent way to ensure the survival and expansion of a business and an effective economic development strategy, especially for developing countries [35]. In light of the above, and after discussing these issues and the results deeply with some incubator experts in Palestine, ICT tools were selected as a moderator in this study because ICT tools are expected to be used in every part of our daily lives. ICT will moderate the relationship between the selected success factors and incubator success. Using ICT tools in all incubation processes should increase the Level of services offered by incubators. These applications of ICT tools can be used in the suggested factor: the corporate culture. For that, Using ICT tools in all incubators activity can strongly significantly increase the number of the incubated firms, increase the number of firms’ graduates, increase the incubator survival rate, enhance the services and office spaces offered by the incubator, increase the number of jobs created by these firms, and increase the Level of funding and financial support for the incubated tenants. Therefore, the following seven hypotheses were developed.

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H2: ICT tools moderate the relationship between corporate culture and incubator success. A conceptual framework is a collection of principles and ideas drawn from relevant fields of study to organize and structure subsequent presentations [36]. Based on the results discussed before and which are reported by Alzaghal and Mukhtar [16], a conceptual framework and group of hypotheses were extracted and developed for the current study, as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 Conceptual framework

Fig. 2 Moderating effect of ICT on the relationship between COC and INC

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There are still very few studies have investigated the effects of ICT tools and corporate culture on incubator success, particularly in Palestinian incubators. As a result, the purpose of this study was to fill that gap by looking into the success factors or factors that influence the effect of corporate culture on incubator success in Palestine. As a result, the following hypothesis are summarized: • H1: There is a significant relationship between corporate culture and incubator success. • H2: ICT tools moderate the relationship between corporate culture and incubator success.

3 Method An instrument was created to examine the effect of the literature review and email interviews of corporate culture (COC) on incubator success among Palestinian incubators. A mixed-mode approach was adopted to collect the data and propose the research model. The qualitative aspect involved interviewing leading figures in Palestine’s incubator field. Using a multi-method approach is beneficial because the survey method can provide information that is lacking from the case study, and vice versa [12]. The quantitative element of the research involved using a structured questionnaire administered to all incubator staff in Palestine. This study used two instruments—a questionnaire and an email interview based on the literature review results and experts’ opinions—to collect the data needed to verify the proposed model. All questions were collected from the literature and then selected and recommended by four experts in the academic and incubator fields. On a five-point Likert scale, each issue on the survey was evaluated as follows: 1 = extreme disagreement, 2 = disagreement, 3 = slight agreement, 4 = agreement, and 5 = agreement. All factors’ items were arranged in many tables separately depending on the research factors. Each factor started with a brief definition of this factor. The following paragraphs describe all the latent factors and the items collected from the literature used for the measurement scale for the model factors. The questionnaire was randomly distributed to all incubator managers, team members, and experts in Palestine as the target sample via the online Survey Monkey website, email, and face-to-face meetings. Ninety-six questionnaires were distributed. A total of 82 responses were collected; however, only 79 were suitable for the analysis. Thus, the survey collection rate was 85.4% and the valid survey rate was 96.3%. Only one case was excluded. Sixty-one (77.2%) male and 18 (22.8%) female responses were received. Therefore, the sample in this study was predominantly men.

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4 Analysis of Data and Presenting Results The PLS-SEM assessment process includes two critical steps: (1) Investigate the measurement model; (2) Assess the structural model [37]. A comprehensive structural equation model can be generated when combined with structural and measurement models [38]. We adopted their approach in analysing the collected data. In order to determine their reliability and validity, the study measures should be assessed using the following approaches. The term “reliability” refers to how well an instrument can measure the same thing every time it is used under the same circumstances [39]. No indicators were eliminated because their outer loading values exceeded the prescribed Level of 0.7 by a factor of two [40]. Two assessment approaches were utilized to determine the internal consistency reliability. The Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability were. Composite reliability must be 0.7 or above in order to demonstrate the consistency of the items measuring the same construct [40]. Both tests guaranteed that the items in the same factor had internal consistency, indicating that the construct items were correctly organized. i.e., over 0.7. The level of correlation between the two assessments of a single notion was examined using the convergent validity test. It is possible to find a different way to quantify a notion associated with the summated scale [40]. Factor loadings (outer loading), construct reliability (as described above), and extracted average variance are the three ways to determine item measures’ relative convergent validity [40]. Average variance extracted (AVE). The AVE value is a condensed version of the convergence indicator calculated by excluding the mean variance of items loaded on a construct. Convergence is defined as an AVE value of at least 0.5 [40]. Both constructs had AVE values between 0.693 and 0.721. As shown in Table 1, convergent validity was set for all factors, and no items had to be eliminated. Table 1 Factor loading Factor

Item

Outer loading

Composite reliability

Cronbach’s alpha

AVE

Corporate culture (COC)

COC1

0.788

0.900

0.858

0.693

0.928

0.858

0.721

Incubator success (INS)

COC2

0.898

COC3

0.733

COC4

0.898

INS1

0.803

INS2

0.801

INS3

0.916

INS4

0.899

INS5

0.820

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Table 2 Hypothesized direct effects of the factors Hypotheses H1

COC → INS

Path coefficient

t statistics

p-value

0.721

18.846

0.000

Supported

Table 3 Hypothesized direct effects of the factors Hypotheses H2

Moderating Effect of ICT on COC → INS

Path coefficient

t statistics

p value

-0.113

2.184

0.029

Supported

We then use 5000 bootstrap subsamples to evaluate the significance of direct relationships (one-tailed test) with t-values greater than 1.65. The results indicate H1 Hypothesis significantly supported at p 0.05. Table 2 presents the corresponding value that was used to test the related hypotheses.

4.1 Testing of the Moderation Effects of ICT Tools A factor known as a moderator influences the relationship between the two factors. That is to say, the degree to which the moderator impacts the dependent factor varies with the independent factor [41]. SEM was used in this study to investigate the moderating effects of ICT on the impact of corporate culture (COC) as an independent factor and incubator success (INS) as a dependent factor. ICT has statistical significance for COC to INS, as shown in Table 3.

5 Discussion and Conclusion The primary goal of this study is to determine whether corporate culture influences incubator success in Palestinian incubators. The results in Table 1 show that the first research hypothesis (H1), stating that corporate culture (COC) will positively influence incubator success, is supported by the model proposed in this research paper. According to the statistical data, the t-value and p-value of corporate culture (COC) in predicting incubator success (INS) were 18.846 and 0.000, respectively. This suggests that there is a 0.000 chance of attaining an absolute T-value of 18.846. In other words, at the 0.000 level, the regression weight for corporate culture (COC) in the prediction of incubator success (INS) differs considerably from zero. Thus, H1 is supported. A good relationship is indicated by a path coefficient of 0.721. This means that for every one standard deviation increase in corporate culture (COC), incubator success (INS) increases by 0.721 standard deviations.

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This result is consistent with the results of other studies [42–46]. Kim Jean Lee and Yu [44] found that the power of culture has an impact on a variety of organizational processes and performance among Singaporean companies. Furthermore, Karim Suhag [43] stated that organizational Innovation and organizational culture positively impact organizational performance in the telecommunications sector, and organizational culture as a moderator has a moderating effect on the connection between process innovation and organizational culture performance. The same result was confirmed by Al-Tit [42], who found a significant relationship between organizational culture and organizational performance in a study conducted on a group of firms in Jordan. The same result was found in a study conducted in Pakistan’s banking industry, which found that organizational culture has a significant relationship with business performance [46]. The second research hypothesis (H2) stated the moderation effect of information and communication technology (ICT) tools on the relationship between corporate culture (COC) and incubator success. It was found that there had a statistically significant moderating effect on the relationship between corporate culture (COC) and incubator success (INS) at 0.05 (t-value = 2.184, p-value = 0.029). This result indicated that information and communication technologies (ICT) tools moderates the relationship between corporate culture (COC) and incubator success (INS). Thus, Hypothesis H2 is accepted. From the discussion conducted with incubator experts in Palestine for this study’s purposes, most experts agreed that organizational culture is usually not easy to change, and it depends very much on management. Instilling an organizational culture in incubator staff and tenants is very important, but training and teaching are still required. According to the experts interviewed, incubators should conduct more courses and activities for incubator staff to increase their sense of belonging in the workplace, and thus improve the organizational culture of incubators. Incubators should also adopt the outcomes of successful international case studies on incubators and organizations. To achieve all the activities mentioned above, incubators should adopt ICT tools to increase the efficiency of these issues in all incubator activities. Acknowledgements The researchers thank Palestine Technical University/Kadoorie (PTUK) for their constant moral and financial support for this research as well as scientific research in general.

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27. Lose, T., Tengeh, R.K.: The sustainability and challenges of business incubators in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Sustainability 7(10), 14344–14357 (2015) 28. Theodorakopoulos, N., et al.: What matters in business incubation? A literature review and a suggestion for situated theorising. J. Small Bus. Enterp. Dev. 21(4), 602–622 (2014) 29. Denison, D.R., Neale, W.S.: Denison organizational culture survey. Ann Arbor, MI: Aviat. (1996) 30. Cui, X., Hu, J.: A literature review on organization culture and corporate performance. Int. J. Bus. Adm. 3(2), 28 (2012) 31. Verma, S.: Success factors for business incubators: an empirical study of Canadian business incubators. In: Management Studies. Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario (2004) 32. Blank, S.: Hacking a corporate culture: stories, heroes and rituals in startups and companies. Steve Blank Blog, Steve Blank (2016) 33. Soetanto, D.P.: Does culture affect the effort to endorse technological entrepreneurship? CMU. J. 4(2), 239 (2005) 34. Khalid, F.A., et al.: Third-generation business incubation practices in Malaysian ICT incubators—a bridge too far? Am. J. Manag. 12(2/3), 88–107 (2012) 35. Obaji, N.O., et al.: Enhancing a future version of the Nigerian SME technology incubation model: lessons for other developing countries. Int. J. Sci. Res. Publ. 2(6), 1–3 (2012) 36. Young, N.: Understanding the research process and methods. In: An Introduction to Research Methods (2009) 37. Soltani, Z., et al.: The impact of the customer relationship management on the organization performance. J. High Technol. Managem. Res. 29(2), 237–246 (2018) 38. Urbach, N., Ahlemann, F.: Structural equation modeling in information systems research using partial least squares. J. Inf. Technol. Theory Appl. 11(2), 5–40 (2010) 39. Kangu, M.A.: The role of customer relationship management dimensions on customer loyalty in the hotel industry in Kenya Maureen Adhiambo, Cohred, Jkuat (2017) 40. Hair, F.J. Jr., et al.: Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) an emerging tool in business research. Eur. Bus. Rev. 26(2), 106–121 (2014) 41. Haneem, F., et al.: Determinants of master data management adoption by local government organizations: an empirical study. Int. J. Inf. Manage. 45, 25–43 (2018) 42. Al-Tit, A.A.: Factors affecting the organizational performance of manufacturing firms. Int. J. Eng. Bus. Manage. 9, 1847979017712628 (2017) 43. Karim Suhag, A., et al.: The relationship of innovation with organizational performance. Int. J. Res. Granthaalayah 5(2), 292–306 (2017) 44. Kim Jean Lee, S., Yu, K.: Corporate culture and organizational performance. J. Manag. Psychol. 19(4), 340–359 (2004) 45. Obaji, N.O., et al.: Innovative policies in technology business incubation: key elements for sustainable entrepreneurship development in Nigeria. Int. J. Sci. Res. Publ. 4, 1–7 (2016) 46. Umrani, W.A., et al.: Organizational culture and business performance: an empirical investigation in the Pakistani context. Int. J. Acad. Res. Econ. Manage. Sci. 6(1), 93–107 (2017)

Frugal Digital Innovation on Agribusiness: An Emergent Concept Developed Through a Bibliometric Analysis Abrar Alhomaid and Wided Ragmoun

Abstract Agribusiness is currently facing many challenges related to frugal innovation in the era of digitalization. The aim of this study is to explore and analyse the existing literature on agribusiness and digital innovation from all relevant studies published in the Web of Science and Scopus databases between 2011 and 2020 in order to identify the opportunity of such concept as well as its development. Bibliometric methods were used in order to define the main research lines within this field and identify the gap in the existing literature to consider the future research agenda in agribusiness. To visualise the network analysis adopted here, VOSviewer software was used. Through this methodology the existing literature reporting on frugal innovation, digitalization and agribusiness is explored to explain the development of frugal digital innovation in agribusiness and delimit the future research axis. The results allow some determinant lines of research related to agribusiness and digital innovation to be established. Keywords Frugal innovation · Digitalization · Agribusiness · Bibliometric technique

1 Introduction Much research related to agribusiness concludes that innovation in this field can increase competitiveness and efficiency, but this process, independently of its nature (innovation through products or management) remains difficult to generate due to limited financial capacity and a lack of efficiency in research, especially in small units [1]. This means that although there is a need for innovation for competitive A. Alhomaid (B) · W. Ragmoun Department of Business Administration, College of Business and Economics, Qassim University, Buraidah 51452, Saudi Arabia e-mail: [email protected] W. Ragmoun Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Management of Nabeul, University of Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_21

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agribusiness activities, unfortunately innovation requires financial investment that can exceed the financial capacity of agribusiness organizations or farmers. So, in some cases, although there is a need to innovate, this can be very difficult. In this case, frugal innovation may constitute the best solution to take advantage of innovation at a lower price. The disparity between countries in the use and development of digital innovation, as well as in its impact [2, 3], allows frugal innovation to be considered as a stimulator of positive potential in the adoption and exploitation of digital innovation in developing countries. Sahay et al. [4] present frugal innovation as the best way to contextualize digital innovation. In fact, frugal innovation, as demonstrated by the majority of related research, permits the individual or group to do more with less. Bhatti [5] argues that this kind of innovation is situated at the intersections between technological, institutional, and social innovation. He adds that frugal innovation can solve social problems and generate social values. To illustrate this concept, a contextual approach to innovation is adopted. The general idea debated here is how the combination of different benefits related to both digital innovation and frugal innovation can serve agribusiness. The use of technology in this sector is debated by several researchers, as will be detailed through the systemic literature review, but it should be remembered that exploitation of technology, especially in the agribusiness field, remains limited, and there are multiple disparities between countries. To address this gap, the study will demonstrate how mechanisms related to frugal innovation in agribusiness can work to maximise the contribution of technology in agribusiness and identify across-literature aspects which require additional and deeper analysis. First, it is clear that there is a real need to consolidate this relation and to develop an operational process to define it. Technology is developed by advanced countries and adopted by developing countries, and must be useful for all because its integration and use become inevitable for competitiveness and sustainability. To address this objective, a bibliometric analysis is conducted, which will be discussed in detail in the methodology section. The following section will present the literature review and general aspects related to the research concept as a composite variable composed of the superposition of two main fields of research, digital innovation and frugal innovation in agribusiness. Then, the data, collected using appropriate methodology from two databases as sources of relevant literature, will be analyzed and the results regarding authors, citation and co-citation discussed, along with maps visualizing the research structure. Finally, conclusions and limitations derived from this research will be presented in order to define future directions for research related to this theme.

2 Frugal Digital Innovation in Agribusiness To define frugal digital innovation (FDIN), this section will first define the elements which constitute this concept; frugal innovation and digital innovation. Dijk and

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Hacker [6] argue that digital innovation needs access to digital technologies for its occurrence. This can stimulate the social and economic requirements to release sustainable development goals [7]. Barrett et al. [8] show that the digital innovation has emerged from western countries and is still considered as a future perspective for developing countries. Despite the contribution of some developing countries to digital innovation, they are mainly situated on the fringes of the innovation ecosystem, as simply adopters, disconnected from the context of digital innovation development [2]. In this field of analysis, frugal innovation can have a determining role in fitting and adopting the right level of digital innovation according to the specific context. Frugal innovation is associated with the intersection between different innovation approaches, as Bhatti [5] asserted, which means that this kind of innovation tries to achieve an equilibrium between the benefits of innovation and the conditions in which it is generated or defined. Therefore, Walsham [9] suggests a three-pronged approach to frugal innovation, as associated with: business innovation, in terms of technology that is capable of combining different resources and enabling entrepreneurs, social innovators, to define solutions for the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ and ensure their wellbeing and quality of life; and institutional innovation, related to the transformation of existing approaches to define a new conception of political, legal and technological aspects. Independently of the internal composition or actions which define frugal innovation, all researchers insist on its important outcomes. So, frugal digital innovation is associated with a superposition of digital innovations, characterised by a technological aspect able to generate innovation, and institutional and social innovation. In other words, frugal digital innovation can be associated with a socialization process for digital innovation. The researcher will try here to determine the best way to materialize digital innovations in practice and to determine how this can contribute to solving challenges related to development, especially in social terms. The key to success in this type of innovation is related to the context in which it is adopted and operationalized [4]. Avgerou [10] adds that the effectiveness of digital innovation depends on social embeddedness to foster and enable it. Independently of the approach adopted for the development of digital innovation, and due to the specificity of the agribusiness sector, long-term engagement is sought for the development and diffusion of digital innovation. To assess the importance of this concept and its importance and necessity in agribusiness, four main questions are explored through a systematic review of the literature. Q1. Does this concept present an independent research profile through the existing literature? Q2. What are the themes related to this concept presented in the literature? Q3. Is there a research gap in the collected literature? Q4. How can this study profit the field of agribusiness and related areas such as development and sustainability?

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Table 1 The search string and keywords Frugal innovation on agribusiness: (frugal innovation) OR (innovation agribusiness) Digital innovation in agribusiness keywords: agribusiness OR digital OR (technology) OR (technical innovation) OR (technology* agribusiness) OR (innovation* technical) OR (development) OR (innovation process)

3 Research Methodology and Descriptive Data Analysis As mentioned at the beginning of this paper, frugal digital innovation is a composite concept developed based on a review of the literature. Tranfield et al. [11] argue that a literature review can retrace and evaluate existing research in order to highlight the limits and future orientation of a knowledge construct. This process is pursued through a structured literature review (SLR), which represents an interactive cycle based on the complementarity between searching by specific keywords, collecting literature and analyzing different theoretical resources [12]. In the same vein, Rowley and Slack [13] argue that a bibliography can be built based on a structured methodology, and a mind map can be provided in order to organize the literature review and write an adequate study based on a recommended theoretical approach. The current study combined an SLR [11] with bibliometric analysis added to a network analysis, based on the nature of the concept studied here. In fact, the main objective is to understand and evaluate the existing literature to legitimate the research and provide a clear vision of the concept adopted here, its importance and the future orientations related to it.

3.1 Choice of Appropriate Terms or Keywords The term frugal digital innovation for agribusiness is composed of two main concepts; frugal innovation and digital innovation. To assess and cover the field of research through keywords, two search strings were adopted, as represented in Table 1. The first string is supported by terms related to “innovation” “frugal” and “agribusiness”. The second search string is related to digital innovation through the use of “technology” “innovation” “technical innovation” and “agribusiness” as keywords. This choice was guided by previous research on the same or closely related topics.

3.2 Search Results Three steps were adopted to identify papers useful for the final analysis. First, the researcher downloaded all researchers and papers related to the main concept, which

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is innovation in agribusiness, from Scopus and Web of Science, from 2011 to 2020. The results were saved in RIS format with the appropriate extension for Scopus, with all information related to authors, references, abstract and titles. There was a difference between the two databases. After this, all papers were reviewed in order to eliminate inappropriate papers and focus on the inclusion criteria. Third, only those studies focusing on agribusiness and technical innovation were selected. Some studies related to the effect of innovation in agribusiness on sustainability and development were also chosen, in order to demonstrate the importance of the frugal criteria related to innovation in this field. The last step was to apply a list of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Finally, 452 papers were selected from over 1060 identified on Scopus and Web of Science, for bibliometric analysis. A filtering process was adopted: papers that focused on agriculture but not innovation were excluded and those that focused on agriculture but considered agriculture only superficially, based on the content of the full text and keywords for each article.

3.3 Descriptive Analysis The 452 papers considered were published in the period between 2011 and 2020. Figure 1 illustrates the trends in the number of articles published during this period. The highest number of research articles was published in 2017, while the lowest number of publications was in 2012, after greater interest in 2011. To make the research more exhaustive, the collection period was extended to 1978: the date of the first research in the field of agribusiness as given on Scopus (Fig. 2). The publication of research on agribusiness and innovation, and especially technical innovation, stopped in 2019 with different reviews, but conferences and working papers continue to be discussed and presented in 2020. This reveals a paradox, in

Fig. 1 Publications per year

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Fig. 2 Research per year (1978–2020)

which this field needs to be reinvented, as it remains important and requires a new vision to improve the result and achieve success (Fig. 3). The greatest amount of research on agribusiness and innovation was carried out in Brazil and the United States (Fig. 4). Independently of relative importance by the number of research papers, several concepts or areas are identified which are closely related to agribusiness. First, agribusiness is considered within agricultural research, but research within the sphere of business economics also represents a large proportion of studies on agribusiness selected for bibliometric analysis. Environmental science research is also relevant

Fig. 3 Research by publication

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Fig. 4 Research by country

Fig. 5 Research by area of research

to agribusiness. Further, as shown in Fig. 5, technology research in various areas is related to the topic of agribusiness, including; science technology, food science technology, engineering and computer science. Based on this, it can be assumed that technology and agribusiness can be integrated in the same way.

4 Bibliometric Review on Agribusiness Bibliometric analysis is used to study and analyze research trends and working networks in research disciplines [14] in order to orient and guide further researchers

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[15, 16]. This analysis can be combined with a systematic review of the literature [17], as adopted in this study. The main objectives of such a methodology are to analyze and visualize the intellectual structure of the literature related to a specific discipline [18], identify the most definitive research or the main research orientation, identifying potential ‘research fronts’ [19], and detect similarities and/or academic networks (the so-called ‘invisible colleges’) [20]. In most cases, there is a diversity of criteria adopted in a bibliometric analysis, such as publication outputs, citations, co-citation (ACA), social networks analysis (SNA), subject categories, journals categories, active authors, most cited countries, active research institutions, and keyword or associated keyword frequencies [21]. The first systematic review of the literature and bibliometric analysis related to agriculture and innovation is limited at the global level, and this research attempts to fill this gap by examining scientific databases and scholarly networks reported for agriculture, digital, and innovation, based on a bibliometric analysis of scientific articles published from 2011 to 2020, extracted from different databases available at the Saudi Digital Library.

4.1 Materials and Methods The objective of this paper is to identify the ‘intellectual structure’ or ‘knowledge base’ of frugal digital innovation in agribusiness, based on all relevant research articles from the Scopus and Web of Science databases published between 2011 and 2020. To analyze the researchers identified, author citation and cocitation analyses (ACA), social network analysis, and multivariate analysis techniques are applied in order to provide an exhaustive analysis. Portugal-Ferreira [22] argues that the number of researchers or the “state of the art” is associated with the level of progress in each discipline. The literature related to frugal innovation in agribusiness is non-existent, but researcher reporting digital innovation and agribusiness are increasing, and the most influential or high-impact related research should be determined. This also allows for a focus on identifying lines of researcher on agribusiness. As mentioned above, the main platform used was the Digital Saudi Library, which includes a large and diversified database. Two main databases were adopted; Web of sciences and Scopus, and scientific publications were searched for inclusion of agribusiness. An advanced search was applied using the terms; innovations “OR “frugal innovation and agribusiness” in the “Title” field. The search concentrated on articles, reviews and meeting document types, written in English, and published up until 2020. However, using all keywords, the results gave only one research work dating from 2020. Thus, some keywords were then combined, including ‘agribusiness’ and ‘digital innovation’, and this resulted in 625 articles being returned on Scopus and 435 on Web of Science. After similarity analysis, 452 were accepted for analysis. The process of analyzing these began by determining highly cited articles, to identify the most important fields of research related to agribusiness and innovation. To make the bibliometric analysis more interesting,

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the following additional filters were included; author name(s), subject category(ies), journal name and year. Quantitative analysis and knowledge mapping were adopted to make a visual representation using VOSviewer (www.vosviewer.com). The representation provided shows networks between the different filters described in the previous section (author name(s), subject category(ies), journal name and year). This network analysis allows the structure of the discipline related to agribusiness and innovation to be determined while defining key elements of research [23]. During the analysis of highly cited articles on agribusiness, articles were considered which clearly related to the area of study, and there were 25 highly cited articles directly related to the field of research.

4.2 Co-citation Analysis The development of cocitation analysis here was pursued according to stages defined by Miguel et al. [24]: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Definition of the field of research: which represent keywords of the study Select of units to study: type of documents reached Choice of data resources: databases Search of data: units to analyse Calculation of cocitations: determination of frequency matrix Calculate the similarity: determination of relative frequency Analyse of visual representation: statics technics, connectivity, social network analysis (SNA) 8. Results and recommendations. Miguel et al. [24] qualify cocitation analysis as ‘nonintrusive’, being used to identify knowledge structures and their different aspects, as well as the composition of scientific research through maps. Based on visualization of maps, disciplines and specialities can be linked easily, and changes occurring in the intellectual structure of research in the field of study. The main advantage in this case was the ability to view and understand connections and joint views of a great number of authors cited independently of the personal view of each. White and McCain [25] argue that this type of method provides intellectual structure of a specific thematic through visualization. Co-citation, or joint citation as named by Small [26], contributes to the definition of intellectual connections based on the assumption that co-citation of an author by a third party can point to thematic similarity in spite of potential differences in perspective [27]. Some researchers qualify these similarities or connections through the existence of an affinity between researchers who have a high co-citation frequency [28, 29]. As the number of common cited documents in the references of researchers grows higher, the relationship between ideas is stronger. Key concepts most developed in a specific field are represented by the topics covered in the highly cited documents:

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in this sense, co-citation maps or patterns represent a link between the major key concepts identified [26]. Fernandez-Alles and Ramos-Rodríguez [30] consider that the use of citations can help to increase the reliability of the outputs generated by this type of analysis.

4.2.1

Methods

The primary data for the documents used was extracted from different databases in the Digital Saudi Library. Two main sources were selected: ISI Web of Science, and Scopus. Research related to the concept of frugal digital innovation on agribusiness was nonexistent, and this shows the need for additional studies on this emergent research theme. Results on the Web of Science (WoS) show 213 articles, 41 proceeding papers, 10 early access papers, 8 reviews, 4 editorial pieces, 1 book chapter, and 1 news item (Fig. 6). Despite these small numbers, the evolution of the publication since 2011 signals the growing discussion on the subject. WoS provides information about the most frequently cited articles and corresponding publishers and authors through bar charts and frequencies tables, which can help in identifying cited authors and researchers easily. The main objective in this study was to explore the implicit architecture of the literature related to the research concept. The researcher was seeking a definition of this new concept and to provide reasons through the literature that could explain and confirm the importance of such an emergent concept for agribusiness, considering actual economic, social, and environmental conditions in the world.

Fig. 6 Research by category

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Fig. 7 Network analysis on agribusiness and innovation

4.2.2

Network Analysis

Figures 7 and 8 trace the network analysis results generated based on research for the two databases, as mentioned earlier in the paper. The first is oriented towards agribusiness and innovation, while the second issues from the literature search based on agribusiness and technical innovation as keywords. This network analysis demonstrates also that innovation in agribusiness is related to a variety of domains, such as; corporate social responsibility, strategy, sustainability and entrepreneurship. The technical aspect of innovation in agribusiness is enhanced through a variety of elements, among which technology transfer, agroindustry, agriculture machinery, and the Internet are notable.

5 Discussion This research aimed to clarify the complex nature of the concept studied here. There were four main questions set at the beginning, and this section will address the results for each question separately.

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Fig. 8 Network analysis on agribusiness and technical innovation

Q1. Does this concept present an independent research profile through the existing literature? On the basis of the SLR and the bibliometric analysis, it is noted that there is no independent profile for research related to frugal digital innovation for agribusiness as a concept. However, it is concluded that there is total interdependence between technical innovation, economic development, and agribusiness. So, it can be argued here that a synergetic effect can be generated for this combination of topics through the research concept adopted here. Q2. What are the related themes for this concept presented in the literature? A variety of themes related to the main concept can be defined through the results. The most important conclusion is related to the diversity and relative importance of these concepts. As shown, the adoption of the concept can be related to different fields at different levels of research. It can cover internal aspects of the organization through decision-making, as shown in Fig. 8. At the same time, such a concept could contribute to the external development of the organization in terms of development, sustainability, and environment. In other words, this field of research can be analyzed using a number of paradigms. The researcher tried to minimize the number of publication areas to link to similar research. Figure 9 represents the main areas of research related to the research concept.

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Fig. 9 Related areas of research

Q3. Is there a research gap in the collected literature? This question seems to be very important, because there is a lack of research on innovation and agribusiness, in spite of its importance and positive effect in many fields. This confirms that a paradox is generated here. A list of dependent and independent variables can be defined based on the results. Moreover, some gaps were identified mainly related to the nature of data and the nature of analysis adopted in the majority of research studies. In terms of data, several gaps emerge in relation to the generalization of research, methodologies, and tools used in the majority of the research. Q4. How can this study profit the field of agribusiness and related areas such as development and sustainability? This study demonstrates that there is a real effect and link between agribusiness, development, and sustainability. In fact, the composition of the research concept integrates three main aspects that are directly related to this development. The question of the nature of the effect must be revisited, but the network analysis confirms the existence of an interaction between agribusiness as the main concept and innovation in different dimensions, directly or indirectly related to the development approach in general and to sustainability in particular.

6 Conclusions This paper is related to frugal digital innovation in agribusiness as a new concept. In fact, such a superposition between innovation, digital and frugal approach is argued here to be highly important and definitive. The approach was applied to agribusiness

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as a research field because agriculture and the future of food depend on ways of managing agricultural efforts. This is applicable for the majority of nations, and the increasing number of researchers on this theme confirms this observation. The results confirm the implicit composition of this concept and demonstrate that there is an interdependence and synergetic effect between the three main parts of frugal digital innovation (FDIN). Furthermore, the findings highlight not only this implicit construct and superposition within this domain but also demonstrate that many positive effects can be gained through the application or adoption of FDIN. The network analysis shows a great number of areas directly affected by and related to this concept. Several research questions are identified that can guide future research or trends. Despite these contributions, the bibliometric analysis performed is based only on two databases, using only three terms directly related to the research concept to generate the selected articles. It must be supposed that the results might differ through the use of other databases (ISI website, Google Scholar) and other terms of research (technical innovation, innovation process or knowledge management).

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The Quality of Electronic Services Provided by Zarqa University from the Point of View of Its Employees Abdulsalam Yousef Aljaafreh, Kholoud Imhammad Al-Mseidin, and Mohammad Ahmad Al-Zu’bi

Abstract The study aimed to identify the quality of Zarqa University’s electronic services from its employees’ point of view. The study population consisted of all 789 employees of Zarqa University. In order to achieve the study objectives, a questionnaire consisting of 34 paragraphs was built and distributed on a random sample of 300 employees. The study adopted the analytical descriptive method. The results revealed that the quality of electronic services provided by Zarqa University from its employees’ point of view came at a high level (4.07). Whereas, the seven dimensions of the questionnaire were at a high level; the first rank was for the infrastructure dimension, the second rank was for the design of the website and the third rank was for the user-friendly dimension. While the reliability dimension came in the fourth rank, the fifth rank was fir the security dimension and the sixth being the response dimension. The seventh and final is the sympathy dimension. The study gave several recommendations that had been included. Keywords Quality · Electronic servers · Zarqa University · Workers

A. Y. Aljaafreh Head of Classroom Teacher Department, Zarqa University, Zarqa, Jordan K. I. Al-Mseidin Psychological and Educational Counselling Department, Irbid National University, Irbid, Jordan M. A. Al-Zu’bi (B) Head of Early Childhood Department, Zarqa University, Zarqa, Jordan e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_22

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1 Introduction The dramatic, continuous and unprecedented development of ICT, the associated knowledge explosion, and the rapid increase in e-operations in the twenty-first century have increased the awareness and the interest of different types of organizations and institutions in utilizing this modern technology to conduct their work in various areas of life. These organizations and institutions rely on a range of IT tools such as computers, internet and websites to increase productivity, to communicate information and to update services electronically. The quality of e-services attracts the attention of all parties involved with the Organization because of its significant impact on the Organization’s competitive position with its beneficiaries. The quality of e-services contributes in providing services that can help decision-makers to take their decisions and to enhance efficiency by collecting information about customer needs, saving time, ensuring privacy and accuracy and meeting users’ needs [1]. The provision of electronic services has become an important product of information and technology revolution in the world of communications, becoming a trend sought by governments, organizations and institutions in most of the countries, both developed and developing, and a form of progress and development. By employing them, traditional organizations will be transformed into electronic organizations in the execution of their work through making use of all recent technological developments and employing them for the benefit of their work due to its positive advantages in transaction delivery and providing the best services to customers [2]. Quality is one of the key concepts that has become a benchmark for measuring the success of institutions and organizations in achieving their goals with the highest effectiveness. Although the concept of quality has been known since the earliest times, it has become a science with its rules and the institution that controls it. In its general sense, quality is effective, integrated and balanced employment among administrative processes, such as planning, guidance, and control properly so that it can eventually have a good service that meets customers’ needs. The obligation to provide the service is the base of providing the quality of the service and the client’s reliability on it. The organization usually seeks to achieve excellence adheres to the basic culture in its work, and to perform the service properly and accurately on time [3]. Since the term “electronic services” emerged, it has been evolving and expanding rapidly, so it has many different fields, elements, and applications involved within it. One of the most important areas of electronic services is the provision of government and private services through modern technologies rather than old methods. In addition, other fields such as the field of education, commerce and various businesses, universities, companies, and institutions are depending on electronic applications and modern methods of work [4]. The concept of e-services generally focuses on using ICT in providing services to clients. It is not easy to find a comprehensive definition since there are several definitions according to the field to which the researchers belong to and theories on which

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these definitions are based on. Despite these differences, the definitions agreed upon the importance of technology in influencing, facilitating and transforming services from traditional to electronic services [5, 6].

2 Study Problem Zarqa University, like other universities, seeks to achieve high quality performance. Therefore, the University has been working to develop all the of the educational learning process inputs, including electronic services. This was demonstrated during the coronavirus pandemic; Zarqa University was able to conduct the educational process smoothly and remarkably. Some previous studies have emphasized the importance of the quality of electronic services in improving the employees’ performance as study [6, 7] and gave the importance of the human element in achieving the objectives of the enterprise, which is represented by the employees who provide e-services directly or indirectly to the customers. The current study aims to reveal the quality of the electronic services offered by Zarqa University by answering the following questions: 1. Maine question: What are Zarqa University employees’ point of view of the quality of electronic services in its seven dimensions (infrastructure, website design, ease of use, reliability, security, response, empathy)? The following subquestions emerge from it: 2. What are Zarqa University employees’ point of view of the quality of e-services for the infrastructure dimension? 3. What are Zarqa University employees’ point of view of the quality of e-services for the website design dimension? 4. What are Zarqa University employees’ point of view of the quality of e-services for ease of use? 5. What are Zarqa University employees’ point of view of the quality of e-services for the reliability dimension? The significance of the study The significance of this study is as follows: Theoretical significance: The theoretical importance of this study comes from highlighting the importance of employing electronic services in achieving the quality of performance of employees at Zarqa University. Practical significance: The practical importance of this study is highlighted by: a. The topic of the quality of electronic servers because it significantly impacts the orientation of employees’ behaviors at Zarqa University. b. Work on developing administrative work and disseminating quality culture at Zarqa University.

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c. Highlighting Zarqa University as one of Jordan’s leading educational institutions. d. Trying to develop proposals and recommendations for officials and decisionmakers at Zarqa University. e. E. This study is an indicator of other studies in the light of new variables. f. Include seven dimensions of the quality of electronic services (infrastructure, website design, reliability, security, response, empathy, and ease of use). g. G. The fact that, according to the researcher’s knowledge, it is one of the first studies to examine this topic in the form of the present study. Objectives of the study The study’s main objective was to identify the impact of the quality of electronic services provided by Zarqa University on the performance of its employees. It has also pursued the following sub-objectives: 1. Recognize the quality of services provided by Zarqa University. 2. Determine the degree of impact of each dimension of the quality of electronic services. 3. Make recommendations to enhance the employees’ capacities to use information technology to achieve the highest quality. Conceptual and procedural definitions Quality: Know what the customer wants from the service or product by matching the products to the customer’s expectations, specifying the qualitative method by which the services are provided as the customers want [8]. Procedurally: Quality is the level of mastery and adequacy of electronic services provided by Zarqa University to its customers. Quality of Services: Fulfilling the requirements of customers, quality of service is a very moral idea, unlike goods, and the difficulty of identifying them stems from its characteristic measured to material goods [9]. Procedurally: Zarqa University’s e-service efficiency degree for customers. Zarqa University: A private Jordanian university within Zarqa governorate, was founded in 1994 with 13 colleges with more than 10,000 students and is the first University of its medical faculty. Employees: All members of Zarqa University who provide electronic services from administrators and faculty members.

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3 Method and Procedures Study population The study population consisted of all 789 employees at Zarqa University, who provide electronic services in the execution of their mandated work, whether directly or indirectly. Sample of Study The study sample was selected according to the random sampling method from the study population, calculated by the Stephen Thompson equation, with a size of 300 factors equivalent to 0.38 from the study population. Study variables Independent Variable: Employees of Zarqa University. Dependent variable: quality of electronic services. Study Tool The study tool building was based on the theoretical framework, previous studies relevant to the current study topic, and expert and specialized consultation of university professors. In its initial form, the questionnaire consisted of (37), while in its final form it consisted of (34) paragraphs according to Likert scale. The dimensions were distributed on the questionnaire paragraphs as follows: Quality of electronic services: infrastructure 1–6, website design 7–10, accreditation 11–15, security 16–18, response 19–24, sympathy 25–28, ease of use 29–34. Validity The validity of the study tool was verified by presenting it to 10 business management professionals and management information systems in different Jordanian universities. In order to ascertain the appropriateness, relevance and clarity of the items, the arbitrators’ recommendations were taken into account, therefore (3) paragraphs were deleted and one paragraph was amended. The questionnaire was (34) paragraphs in its final form. Reliability The questionnaire was verified by applying it to a survey sample of 30 employees at Zarqa University, and calculating the internal consistency factor (Cronbach Alpha) for each dimension and for the whole dimensions as in Table 1: Table 1 shows that the Alpha Cronbach coefficients’ values for measuring the quality of electronic servers ranged from (903.–896.), measured as a whole (893.), are high stabilizers and suitable for study purposes.

266 Table 1 Results of alpha Cronbach

A. Y. Aljaafreh et al. Number

Dimension

Cronbach alpha

1

Infrastructure

0.903

2

Website design

0.924 0.932

3

Ease of use

4

Reliability

5

Safety

6

Response

7

Sympathy

Total of all

0.943 0.985 0.964

Correction of scale The Likert scale Five Step was adopted, and for the current study, the grades were divided into three levels according to the formula: from (1–2.33) low. From (2.34– 3.66) medium. Of (3.67–5) high. Statistical processing Computational averages and standard deviations were used to answer the main study question. To find a constant coefficient; alpha Cronbach equation was used to create the internal consistency coefficient. Table 1 shows that the stability coefficients’ values for measuring the quality of electronic servers ranged from (903).–896.), measured as a whole (893.), which indicates high stabilizers and so suitable for study objectives. Correction of scale The Likert scale was adopted, for the current study, the grades were divided into three levels according to the formula: from (1–2.33) low. From (2.34–3.66) medium. Of (3.67–5) high. Statistical processing Table 2 shows the total computational average estimates of employees at Zarqa University for all dimensions of the quality of electronic services (4.07), with a high estimates and standard deviation (0.24). The first ranking is infrastructure, with an average calculation (of 4.40) and a standard deviation (of 0.57). The second is website design with an average calculation (4.30) standard deviation (4.30), and in the last place, the sympathy dimension with average arithmetic (3.80) standard deviation (0.69), penultimate was response dimension with average arithmetic (3.90) and standard deviation (0.53). Whereas all dimensions were highly rated, the scale was adopted. Question (1): What are Zarqa University employees’ point of view of the quality of electronic services in its seven dimensions (infrastructure, website design, ease of use, reliability, security, response, empathy)?

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Table 2 Computational averages and standard deviations Rank

Dimension

Mean

SD

Estimate

1

Infrastructure

4.40

0.57

High

2

Website design

4.30

0.67

High

3

Ease of use

4.10

0.54

High

4

Reliability

4.05

0.66

High

5

Safety

4.00

0.78

High

6

Response

3.90

0.53

High

7

Sympathy

3.80

0.69

High

4.07

0.24

High

Total of all

To answer the first question, computational averages, standard deviations, grades and estimates were extracted, as in Table 3. Table 3 shows the total average calculation of the infrastructure dimension (4.40) and standard deviation (0.573), with the highest estimate of paragraph (6) reading, “the University allocates sufficient financial resources to acquire the latest electronic technological methods. With an average arithmetic (4.60) and a standard deviation (1.28), the last is paragraph (1), which reads: “The University uses modern devices and equipment. Average calculation (4.10) and standard deviation (1.26). Question (2): What are Zarqa University employees’ point of view of the quality of e-services for the website design dimension? To answer the question, computational averages, standard deviations, grades and estimates were extracted, as in Table 4. Table 4 shows the total average calculation for the website design dimension (4.30) and standard deviation (0.674), with the highest estimates for paragraph (7) reading, Table 3 Computational averages and standard deviations of the estimates of workers at the Zarqa University of Infrastructure Number Rank Item

Mean SD

Estimate

6

1

The University allocates sufficient financial resources 4.60 to obtain the latest electronic technology methods

1.28

High

4

2

The University provides advanced applications in the 4.55 field of electronic services

1.34

High

3

3

The University provides an in-house communications 4.50 network that facilitates workers’ tasks

1.40

High

5

4

The university is keen to provide high quality databases

4.40

1.40

High

2

5

The University uses modern software suited to workers’ needs

4.30

1.30

High

1

6

The university uses modern hardware and equipment 4.10

1.26

High

Total of all

4.40

0.573 High

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Table 4 Computational averages and standard deviations of employees’ estimates at Zarqa University towards the website’s design Number Rank Item

Mean SD

Estimate

7

1

The University emphasizes the comprehensiveness 4.45 and clarity of the contents of the website index

1.40

High

8

2

The University provides more than one language to 4.40 communicate with its website

1.36

High

9

3

The University works to provide distinguished experts in website design

4.36

1.31

High

10

4

The University is keen to design an attractive and distinctive website

4.00

1.23

High

4.30

0.674 High

Total of all

“the University emphasizes the comprehensiveness and clarity of the contents of the website index with an average calculation (4.45) and a standard deviation (1.40), while paragraph (10) was the least. Question (3): What are Zarqa University employees’ point of view of the quality of e-services for ease of use dimension? To answer the question, computational averages, standard deviations, grades and estimates were extracted, as in Table 5. Table 5 shows the total arithmetic average for ease-of-use dimension (4.10) and standard deviation (538). The highest estimate is for paragraph (11), which reads, “UNU provides 24/7 and regular electronic services”, with an average arithmetic (4.30) and a standard deviation (1.34). The last is paragraph (16), which reads, “UNU e-services are easily sustainable from the point of view of employees”, with an average arithmetic (3.90) and a standard deviation (1.36). Table 5 Computational averages and standard deviations of employees’ estimates at Zarqa University for ease of use Number Rank Item

Mean SD

Estimate

11

1

The University provides 24/7 and regular e-services 4.30

1.34

High

12

2

The University works to achieve easy electronic communication between different employees

4.20

1.40

High

13

3

The University ensures the ease of service delivery through various electronic media

4.15

1.44

High

14

4

Workers can easily switch electronically from one service to another

4.10

1.32

High

15

5

University workers can electronically and easily know their own information

4.00

1.33

High

16

6

The e-services provided by the University are easily 3.90 accessible from the workers’ point of view

1.36

High

Total of all

4.10

0.538 High

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Table 6 Computational averages and standard deviations of workers’ perceptions of Zarqa University towards reliability Number Rank Item

Mean SD

Estimate

17

1

The University provides error-free software and databases

4.20

1.37

High

18

2

University staff feel that the electronic service provided has a high degree of accuracy

4.15

1.46

High

19

3

The University shows a quick interest in solving any 4.10 electronic problem when the worker encounters it while using the system

1.43

High

20

4

Employees at the University see that there is mutual 3.95 trust between employees and beneficiaries

1.41

High

21

5

The University is committed to carrying out electronic services when properly requested

3.85

1.45

High

4.05

0.662 High

Total of all

Question (4): What are Zarqa University employees’ point of view of the quality of e-services for reliability dimension? To answer the fourth question, computational averages, standard deviations, grades and estimates were extracted, as demonstrated in Table 6. Table 6 shows the total average calculation of the reliability dimension (4.05) and standard deviation (662.), with the highest estimate for paragraph (18) reading “UNU provides error-free software and databases” with an average (4.20) and a standard deviation (1.37). While paragraph (21) was with the least average, which reads, “UNU is obliged to implement electronic services upon request”.

4 Discussion By presenting the findings of the study, it is clear that the overall computational average of the Zarqa University employees’ estimates towards the quality of electronic services is high (4.07). This result is consistent with the high importance attached to the University, and the employees’ responses are critical. This result differs from most previous studies as a study [7], and consistent with the results of the study [10]. The results also revealed that infrastructure received the highest estimate of all seven dimensions (4.40); this indicates the importance of infrastructure, which is the core element of the work of any institution or organization. Its availability in a manner commensurate with its importance affects all outputs of the University, as confirmed by a study [3, 7], which showed that infrastructure has a significant impact on the environmental sustainability and development of any company or enterprise. The results of previous studies indicate a positive impact of the application of electronic services on the employees’ performance, hence the results of the current

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study are consistent with the results of all previous studies, including [11, 12]. In the researcher’s point of view, different institutions are not able to achieve their objectives by traditional means with the enlargement of the functions and the increase in the client numbers. Therefore, the use of e-services has become a prerequisite for enterprises to progress and achieve the goals they pursue. Accordingly, universities compete achieve high quality services and not just employ them. While the calculation averages for the seven quality dimensions vary, the calculation average for each dimension is at the high estimate level. This is not stranger because all its administrative and teaching cadres seek excellence and access to universality. Moreover, this is will be achieved only by providing all the excellence features, indicating the University’s development and progress. The increasing number of students enrolled and being accredited with the establishment of faculty of medicine -the only private Jordanian university has obtained the accreditation of the dental school- have been achieved by the University’s considerable efforts.

5 Conclusion Through the study’s findings, the researcher recommends the following: 1. The need to continue attending to the dimensions of the quality of the seven electronic services covered in the current study. 2. Work to continue the development of the University’s website, commensurate with the development in the field of electronic services. 3. The need to focus on providing workers financial and moral incentives to motivate them to work more to increase performance quality.

References 1. Abdul Jabbar, S.: E-management and its impact on the performance level of the staff of King Abdulaziz Hospital in Jeddah. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah (2010) 2. Swati, T.: Awareness of customers on service quality of public-sector banks in Varanasi. Adv. Manag. J. (6) (2013) 3. Al-Zu’bi, M.A.: IPad as a new educational technology: A review of the literature. Int. J. Child. Couns. Spec. Educ. 1(1) (2020) 4. Benitez-Amado, J. et al.: IT impact on talent management and operational environmental sustainability. Inf. Technol. Manag. 9, 1–14 (2014) 5. Awad, S.: The implementation of the electronic services system has affected the satisfaction of workers in Sudan’s national health sector. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Sudan University of Science and Technology (2019) 6. Lovelock, C., Wirtz, J.: Services Marketing People Technology Strategy, 5th edn. Person Education International, USA (2004)

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7. Abdulmalib, M.: The impact of e-management on job performance - an applied study on the staff of Al-Batinah Specialist Hospital. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Mansoura University (2018) 8. Kumar, S.: Total quality management, Laxmi Publications (P) LTD 22, Golden House, Daryagany, and NewDelhi-110002 (2006) 9. Algahtani, F.: The effectiveness of computer-based learning in developing academic skills for children with intellectual disabilities. Int. J. Child. Couns. Spec. Educ. 1(1) (2020) 10. Al-Mawadiah, R.S., Al-Zu’bi, M.A.: The degree of availability of the standards of the national framework for academic qualifications in early childhood in Jordan from the point of view of female teachers. Int. J. Child. Couns. Spec. Educ. (CCSE) 2(2), 103–112 (2021) 11. Liu, A.: Effect of e- service quality on customer online repurchase intentions. J. Bank. Mark. 12(4) (2012) 12. Al-Uteibi, M.: Impact of e-government on the level of performance of workers: field study on King Abdulaziz University. Unpublished master’s thesis, King Abdulaziz University— Department of Public Administration (2007)

An Automated System to Evaluate Learning Outcomes for Higher Education Programs Venus W. Samawi, Mohammad M. Al-Dlalah, Ahmad Nuseirat, and Mohammad S. Saraireh

Abstract The rapid development in technology causes a massive change in labor market requirements. Therefore, educational institutions need to develop an education system to produce skilled graduates who keep pace with the labor market requirements. Consequently, it has become essential to shift from the traditional education system to Outcome-Based Education (OBE). OBE is a “student-centric teaching methodology” where the focus is on measuring student achievement of outcomes at various levels (course and program levels). OBE helps instructors to enhance and develop courses by analyzing the course and program outcomes based on the assessment of the results accomplished by students. To apply the OBE methodology, a tool is needed to help instructors in assessing student results and measure their achievement. This study aims to develop an Automated Assessment System for Learning Outcomes (AASLO) to measure the achievement of learning outcomes at both course and program levels (intended learning outcome ILOs, and Program Learning Outcomes PLOs) along with the descriptors of the National Qualifications Framework (JNQF) in Jordan. AASLO helps faculty members to accomplish course assessments quickly, accurately, and easily. Faculty members could easily specify the weaknesses in each course based on the assessment result, which helps in setting a suitable course development plan. AASLO evaluates program outcomes and the JNQF descriptors during a semester and identifies the courses that need development based on the assessment results and the used cut-off scores. Finally, AASLO imposes a series of procedures adopted by Isra University-Jordan to assess learning outcomes. The experimental results showed that AASLO provides a significant enhancement, accelerates the outcomes assessment, and guarantees an accurate evaluation process to develop program outcomes and curriculums.

V. W. Samawi (B) · M. M. Al-Dlalah · A. Nuseirat Isra University, Amman 11622, Jordan e-mail: [email protected] M. S. Saraireh Mutah University, Karak 61710, Jordan © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_23

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Keywords Assessment tool · Higher education · Outcome-based education · Program learning outcomes · JNQF descriptor · Cut-off score · Evaluation of learning outcomes

1 Introduction In the accreditation standards, the identification of learning outcomes for educational programs is a mandatory process [1]. Faculties conduct an ongoing assessment of their educational programs and measure the extent to which the learning outcomes of the programs are being achieved. The results of this assessment are used to determine the extent to which the student has achieved proficiency in learning outcomes, and to perform the appropriate changes to enhance and develop the curriculum [2]. One of the learning methodologies is outcome-based education (OBE) which is a “student-centric” learning methodology where course assessment and development are planned to achieve program objectives and outcomes [3, 4]. The process of assessing student achievement in program learning outcomes is one of the main factors that are used to ensure the education quality in educational institutions, through which the level of knowledge, skills, and competencies acquired by the students are determined during the period of study in the academic program [5]. Various data sources can be used to accomplish the assessment of learning outcomes. Barthakur et al. [6] study the impact of the sequence of learning objectives and activities on student satisfaction and success with online courses. They developed an interdisciplinary approach based on analytical techniques and measurement models to assess the interdependence of learning objectives from several courses in a MOOCbased program. In higher education, PLOs assessment are accomplished based on two types of evidence: direct evidence (based on exams and assignments), and indirect evidence based on surveys of stakeholders (current students, recent graduates, and employers.) [3]. Learning assessment based on indirect evidence “survey descriptive method” are used in much research [4, 7–9]. This method is not considered reliable enough since academic departments should be careful when designing the survey questions (i.e., survey questions should align with each PLO). As well, the results of the evaluation sometimes may indicate a large discrepancy in the statistical analysis, especially between the opinions of students at different academic levels, faculty members, and alumni. On the other hand, assessment of learning outcomes based on indirect evidence is considered as student self-assessments, in which students are asked to compare their skills at the time they started studying and the time being (time of the assessment), which is an upside point.) [3]. In learning outcome assessment based on direct evidence “student-centric”, faculty should first decide on the most appropriate direct evidence (exams, quizzes, lab work, assignments, homework, etc.), at which, the type of used direct evidence must correlate with the learning outcome to be assessed [10]. Then, data should be collected and analyzed regarding students’ achievements in specialization subjects

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to measure the rates of achievement of learning outcomes and to provide information about what the student has acquired of knowledge, skills, and competencies during his studies. The same direct evidence could be used when assessing a PLO across various courses taught by different instructors. Likewise, one direct evidence could be used to assess several PLOs. In this work, we are interested in developing a “student-centric” software assessment system based on direct evidence. Studentcentric assessment method conducted by education institutes and researchers [2, 3, 11–13]. Based on previous works, most assessments are based on assessment tools (statistical tools such as excel sheets), which requires a lot of effort and time from faculty members to accomplish and achieve accurate assessment results that help in developing courses, program outcomes, and curricula. Sometimes faculty members do not follow the suitable principles and standards for conducting the evaluation process, which leads to inaccurate evaluation results that negatively affect the development plans for the learning process [9, 14, 15]. Therefore, it is substantial to develop an automatic assessment system to impose principles and standards that have been adopted by the ministry of high education and Isra university in Jordan to assess learning outcomes and to help faculty members to accomplish course assessment easily, accurately, and quickly. The main contribution of this work is to design and implement an Automated Assessment System for Learning Outcomes (AASLO). The developed system (AASLO) is used to measure the achievement in learning outcomes at both course and program levels (ILOs and PLOs) in line with the standards of the National Qualifications Framework (JNQF) in Jordan based on [5]. The main objective is to shift from traditional education to outcome-based education (student-centric learning outcomes). AASLO enforces a series of procedures that have been approved by Isra University to assess learning outcomes based on international standards. The developed system is characterized by ease of use and accuracy of results. It also helps the faculty member to evaluate learning outcomes quickly and easily. AASLO also evaluates program outcomes and the JNQF descriptors during a semester and identifies the courses that need to be developed based on the assessment results and the used cut-off scores without the need for help from statistical experts to perform the assessment. It is noteworthy that the cut-off scores are determined based on the Angoff method. The rest of this paper is organized as follows; Sect. 2 illustrates the main model of the developed system (AASLO), the system implementation and experimental result are illustrated in Sect. 3, and we concluded in Sect. 5.

2 AASLO: System Model Assessment tools are used to make decisions relating to strategies to improve student learning outcomes [9]. As mentioned previously, we developed an Automated Assessment System for Learning Outcomes (AASLO) to evaluate the learning outcomes of courses and academic programs, and thereby prepare evolution plans to develop the academic programs. The developed system support studying the impact

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Fig. 1 AASLO: system model

of outcomes and descriptors assessment on improving program performance and measuring its effectiveness. AASLO is developed to impose a procedure adopted by Isra University to assess learning outcomes. Figure 1 illustrates the system model of AASLO. AASLO mainly consists of three phases, Pre-processing phase, the Outcomes Assessment phase, and Evaluation and reporting phase. All the initial data needed in the assessment phase (courses, student enrolment, and course instructors) are initially fed to the system utilizing the databases provided by the computer center at Isra university. Three actors then accomplish the pre-possessing phase, namely: the department head, the course coordinator, and the instructor. Once the data are fed to the system, the ILOs for each student enrolled in a course (in a target semester) are calculated first. The achievement of each ILO/course is calculated based on the ILO achievement of all enrolled students. The next step is to find the achievement of each PLO based on the achievement of all ILOs linked to the target PLO in the related courses (as defined in the program correlation matrix). Finally, all reports relating to student achievements, ILOs achievements, PLOs achievements, and descriptor achievements are prepared, in addition to an evaluation report that illustrates the courses and PLOs that need development. AASLO is built around a defined security level for each authorized user based on access control.

2.1 Pre-processing Phase: Correlation Matrices Based on Isra university education policy and standards approved to measure the achievement level of learning outcomes in terms of program level (PLOs), three correlation matrices must be prepared and approved by the relevant councils. These correlation matrices are (as illustrated in Fig. 2): • Program correlation matrix (PCM): correlation matrix between the program curriculum and the PLOs (Fig. 2a). • Course correlation matrix (CCM): the learning outcomes at the course level (ILOs) are identified and linked with a set of PLOs (as specified in the program correlation matrix), to measure the achievement ratios of program outcomes (Fig. 2b). • Direct Evidence correlation matrix (DECM): Each direct evidence is linked to a certain course outcome (ILO) to measure the achievement of ILOs (Fig. 2c). • Descriptor correlation matrix (DCM): PLOs are linked with the descriptors specified within the National Qualifications Framework in Jordan (in a one-to-one

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(a) Program correlation Matrix (PCM)

(c) Direct Evidence correlation matrix (DECM)

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(b) Course correlation matrix (CCM)

(d) Descriptor correlation matrix (DCM)

Fig. 2 Example of correlation matrices: computer science\multimedia

pattern), to measure the achievement ratios of knowledge, skill, and competency (Fig. 2d). Based on the correlation matrices, the assessment results of learning outcomes (ILOs) of all (or selected) courses in the relevant program are used to assess the learning outcomes at the program level (PLOs) in addition to the descriptors (which will be explained in the next section). During this phase, the department head, course coordinator, and instructor(s) each have a role in pre-processing phase. The pre-processing phase mainly consists of four stages: • Stage one (load data from computer-center databases): the needed data are courses/semester, student enrolment at each course/semester, course instructor(s), faculty member role (department head, dean, instructor) to specify the proper authorities. • Stage two (Department head): identify the PLOs and fill in the Program correlation matrix, identify the course coordinators, and set the cut-off scores. • Stage three (Coordinator): identify the ILOs/course and fill in the course correlation matrix.

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Department Head • Enter PLOs • Set PCM • Set course Coordinators • Set Cut-off scores

Course Coordinator • Enter ILOs • Set CCM

Instructor • Upload/Enter Exam or assginmnet Files • Set DECM • Enter exam description

Fig. 3 Roles of the three actors (department head, course coordinator, and the instructor)

• Stage four (Instructor): upload the direct evidence and map each evidence to the targe ILO. Figure 3 illustrates the responsibilities of the three main actors (department head, course coordinator, and instructor) in the developed system.

2.2 Outcomes Assessment Phase The assessment phase includes an assessment of the ILOs and the PLOs in a semester as illustrated in Fig. 4. At first, the ILOs of each student enrolled in a course are calculated based on his direct evidence (Exams, quizzes, lab work, and assignments and homework, etc.), where each assessment evidence is linked to the proper ILO which in turn linked to the target PLO. For example, an exam consists of a set of questions, each question is linked to the proper ILO to construct the direct evidence correlation matrix. A detailed exam grade file containing student information, student grade/question in addition to the max grade/question are uploaded to AASLO. The exam file could be downloaded from the online exam system or prepared by the instructor in case of a paper exam. The ILO/question should be specified by the instructor. All student evidence belonging to certain ILO is accumulated to find the students’ achievement of that ILO. The PLOs

Fig. 4 Assessment phase

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achievement is calculated based on the accumulated achievements of all courses outcomes (ILOs) linked to a certain PLO (based on the course correlation matrix and the program correlation matrix). Cut-off scores are used to specify the level of achievements. In this work, the outcome achievements are of four levels (Excellent, V.Good, Sufficient-need development, and Poor). The cut-off scores are specified based on expert opinion (utilizing Angoff method), which is then approved by the department council. The cut-off scores are then entered by the department head into the system as part of imposing the outcome assessment procedure.

2.3 Evaluation Phase The AASLO helps in identifying the weak points in student, courses, and program outcomes levels: • Student level: based on student assessment results conducted during a course (quizzes, exams, assignments and homework, oral exams, etc.), the achievement ratios of each ILO are calculated (as illustrated in Fig. 5). Accordingly, the academic advisor prepares a counseling plan for the student to improve the student’s performance. • Course level: determined based on the assessment results of course outcomes (ILOs) as illustrated in Fig. 6. Consequently, course instructor(s) must prepare a course development plan to enhance learning outcomes of the course. • Program level: determined based on the assessment result of program outcomes utilizing correlation matrices (course, program, and descriptors) mentioned above and the specified cut-off score (as shown in Fig. 7). Accordingly, evolution plans are to be set to improve academic programs and to safeguard the quality of education in accordance with the principles and international standards, and the standards specified within the National Qualifications Framework in Jordan.

Fig. 5 ILO’s achievement (student-level)

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Fig. 6 ILO’s achievement (course level)

Fig. 7 PLO’s Achievement (Program level)

3 AASLO: Implementation AASLO is being tested semesterly by the ten faculties et al.-Isra University. By comparing AASLO report with a manual assessment report (using an Excel sheet), AASLO was found to meet its requirements and proven to be accurate (the assessment results are the same manually and automatically-AASLO). The faculties agreed that

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ILOs and PLOs assessment and evaluation using AASLO is much easier, faster, and more accurate than using traditional methods (using Excel). It also limits errors that can occur during the evaluation process when using traditional methods, as all uploads are checked and validated automatically before processing. The main steps that the actors (department head, coordinator, and instructor) need to accomplish using AASLO for ILOs assessment and evaluation (on both student and course level), as well as PLOs and descriptors (where PLOS are linked to descriptors in a one-to-one mapping), are: (1) Department Head (DH): • Enter learning outcomes at the academic program level, and Link PLOs with descriptors in one-to-one mapping to construct DCM (see Fig. 8a). • Set the correlation matrix that links the curriculum with the PLOs (construct PCM) and specify course coordinator (see Fig. 8b). • Set the cut-off score (see Fig. 8c). (2) Coordinator: • Enter the course learning outcomes (ILOs) (Fig. 9a) • Linking ILOs with the PLOs to construct the CCM Matrix (Fig. 9b) (3) Instructor (see Fig. 10): Uploading (or enter) the students’ grades and linking them to the ILOs to form the DECM matrix. (4) Preparing reports for: • Instructor: achievement reports at the course and student levels (Figs. 5 and 6) • Department Head: The head of the department can print four achievement reports at the program level (MSc or BSc) as illustrated in Fig. 7: a. The achievement of each course ILOs with its corresponding PLOs based on the CCM, in addition to total number of course associated with each PLO, and the achievement of each PLO from all courses linked to. b. The evaluation report to illustrate if the PLO needs development or not. c. The achievement reports considering all courses/semester or choose to report achievement results based on selected courses (see Fig. 11). d. The student achievement report during the semester by entering the student ID, where the student achievement is reported. This report determines the strength and weak point for each student in terms of outcomes (Fig. 12 shows the outcome achievement for certain student). The highlighted red box shows the PLO that needs development plan). Thus, a plan needs to be set to develop the student’s performance.

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Fig. 8 Screens for department head-samples

4 AASLO: Features The developed system (AASLO) is provided with a level of protection based on access control technique to restrict the user authority in accordance with his role (which resources can be viewed or used by certain user based on his authority). No user could access the system unless he is a faculty member at Isra University as identified by human-resource database. The head of department are specified utilizing human-resource database. Courses/semester and student-names listed in each course are automatically assigned to the course-instructor based on the database of the admission-and-registration department available at the computer-centre at the

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Fig. 9 Screens of the coordinator-samples

Fig. 10 Sample of DECM matrix

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Fig. 11 PLOs achievement based on selected courses

Fig. 12 Student achievement/semester

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university. AASLO could be used to assess and evaluate both graduate and undergraduate program based of all courses or selected courses. Finally, AASLO is supported by friendly interface and provides quick access to system features, making it easy to use by all users even those with limited computer skills.

5 Conclusions The automated system (AASLO) gives a significant enhancement and accelerating the learning outcomes assessment process, in addition to saving faculties efforts to accomplish the assessment process. When the faculty member uploads the direct evidence of student’s work or thinking (i.e., exams, assignments, research papers, etc.), the system will generate set of reports that illustrates the course learning outcomes (ILOs) and students’ achievement. The developed system also generates reports to illustrate the achievement of PLOs and the descriptors (knowledge, skill, competence), as well as an evaluation report that outlines the courses and program learning outcomes that should be developed based on the evaluation outcomes and cut-off score. The Automated system imposes a series of procedures that have been adopted by Isra University to assess learning outcomes. AASLO proves its effectiveness in assessing and evaluation PLOs and ILOs on different levels for various academic program (Art, Business, Information technology, Engineering, Nursing, Pharmacy, Law, Sciences, Educational sciences, and Allied medical sciences) since it can easily be used by all faculty members even those with limited computer and statistical skills. Using AASLO in learning outcome assessment accelerates the learning outcomes assessment and guarantee accurate evaluation process to develop program learning outcomes and the curriculum, and even student weak outcomes. As future work, we intend to automatically update cut-off scores based on previous semester achievements.

References 1. ABET.: ABET Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology: http://www.abet.org, (2020) 2. Curcio, A.A.: A simple low-cost institutional learning-outcomes assessment process. J. Leg. Educ. 67(2), 489–530. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26890950 (2018) 3. Grose, R.G.: Program learning outcomes analysis in higher education an introductory tutorial. Center for Statistical Analysis in the Social Sciences (CSASS), University of California (2016) 4. Isa, C.M., Saman, H.M., Tahir, W., Jani, J., Mukri, M.: Understanding of outcome-based education (OBE) implementation by civil engineering students in Malaysia. In: The International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEED), pp. 96–100 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1109/ ICEED.2017.8251172 5. ETF.: National qualifications framework-Jordan. European Training Foundation (2021)

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6. Barthakur, A., Joksimovic S., Kovanovic, V., Corbett, F.C., Richey, M., Pardo, A.: Assessing the sequencing of learning objectives in a study program using evidence-based practice. Assess. Eval. High. Educ. 1–15 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2022.2064971 7. Aziz, A.A., Yusof, K.M., Yatim, J.M.: Evaluation on the effectiveness of learning outcomes from students’ perspectives. Procedia Soc. Behav. Sci. 56, 22–30. Elsevier Ltd. (2012). https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.62 8. Al-Azizi, Esa Faraj.: Evaluation of learning outcomes for the graduates of college of business administration at Shaqra University in The Light of Saudi Vision (2030). Int. Interdisc. J. Educ. 8(7), 63–75 (2019) 9. Dewi, N.M.P., Suarjana I.M., Mahadewi, L.P.: Assessing science learning outcomes using assessment instruments based on higher order thinking skills: J. Ilmiah Sekolah Dasar 5(2), 242–249 (2021). https://doi.org/10.23887/jisd.v5i2.35416 10. University of California.: Guidelines for the development and assessment of program learning outcomes. Institutional Research, Assessment, and Policy Studies, Santa Cruz (2013) 11. Nachouki, M.: Assessing and evaluating learning outcomes of the information systems program. World J. Educ. Res. 4(4), 524–536 (2017) 12. Goff, L., Potter, M.K., Pierre, E., Carey T., Gullage, A., Kustra, E., Lee, R. et al.: Learning Outcomes Assessment, A Practitioner’s Handbook. Centre for Teaching and Learning Reports. http://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ctlreports/6 (2015) 13. Simper, N., Frank, B., Scott, J., Kaupp, J.: Learning outcomes assessment and program improvement at Queen’s University. Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, Toronto (2018) 14. Arif, M.:.Pengembangan Instrumen Penilaian Mapel Sains melalui Pendekatan Keterampilan Proses Sains SD/MI. Ta’allum J. Pendidikan Islam 4(1) (2016). https://doi.org/10.21274/taa lum.2016.4.1.123-148. 15. Pratiwi, P.H., Hidayah, N., Martiana A.: Pengembangan Modul Mata Kuliah Penilaian Pembelajaran Sosiologi Berorientasi HOTS. Cakrawala Pendidikan 36(2), 201–209 (2017). https:// doi.org/10.21831/cp.v36i2.13123. file:///C:/Users/HP/Downloads/13123-36945-1-PB.pdf

Factors Affecting Food Security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the Light of Vision 2030 Strategies: Evidence from ARDL Approach (1970–2020) Faiez Ahmed Elneel Abstract This study aims to influence food security factors within the strategies and policy framework of Vision 2030 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study used the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model covering 1970–2020. The findings found that both imported and locally produced food were negatively affected by inflation in the long run, as well as the food demand; therefore, a considerable proportion of the population could not get sufficient food in the long run, which negatively affects food security. Therefore, the study recommends that policymakers should adopt policies to develop the food supply. Thus, increasing local production and productivity to enhance food security by encouraging investment in agriculture and food, fixing water problems, soil reclamation, using modern agricultural technology, facilitating agricultural finance to avoid the negative impact of importing food, and considering the repercussions of the climate phenomenon change, the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war. Reducing fees and taxes on local and imported food, localization and diversification and industry of food also recommended reducing inflation, monitoring markets and addressing some social and cultural factors to reduce food waste behavior by raising the level of community awareness of food utilization. Keywords Food security · Kingdom of Saudi Arabia · Vision 2030 · ARDL

1 Introduction Decision makers, scientists and practitioners all over the world are constantly worried and challenged by food security due to the repercussions of climate change, global warming, the Covid-19 epidemic and finally, the Russian-Ukrainian war and its repercussions on Arab countries. This certainly reflects on food security, especially in countries that rely increasingly on food supply. In this study, we focus on the food F. A. Elneel (B) Department of Finance and Investment, College of Business, Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_24

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security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from three main pillars: food availability, food accessibility and food sustainability. Lovelle [1] and Baig et al. [2] showed that 80% of Saudi Arabia’s food supply is imported. However, there are numerous variables to consider. For instance, exchange hindrances can limit access to food in areas where food resources are already scarce, resulting in higher costs and lower food admittance. Furthermore, some countries depend highly on farming activities, which decreases livelihoods for other horticultural exporters. For instance, Baig et al. [2] and Mouloudj et al. [3] showed that the agribusiness area in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was confronting mounting difficulties due to environmental change and water shortage. Saudi Arabia was working intimately with Arab territorial associations and global gatherings to ensure food and water security and advance reasonable agrarian turn of events and ecological equilibrium. Sample Heading (Third Level). Only two levels of headings should be numbered. Lower level headings remain unnumbered; they are formatted as run-in headings. Baig et al. [4] indicated that food waste and loss negatively affect the environment, health and the economy. Therefore, citizens must balance the purchase of food so that it is not wasted. Yet, it was revealed by the ministry that the Kingdom wastes around 4 million and 66 thousand tons of food annually, and globally more than 1.3 billion tons. In turn, the governor of the General Grain Organization, according to Elshaer et al. [5], stressed that food waste estimate to amount to 40 billion riyals per year. In this way, it is important to raise consciousness and give advice and ideas to reduce food waste and benefit from food surplus. The governor also pointed out that he aspires for everyone to interact and share their experiences and daily practices to preserve food and avoid wasting it [6]. Moreover, the deputy environment minister stressed the Kingdom’s serious steps towards contributing to reaching food security by encouraging positive behaviour, rational consumption and avoiding any food waste risks. The study aims to investigate the factors affecting food security in light of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. Vision 2030 strategy and programs address this issue through supporting and financing the sector of agriculture by enhancing the effectiveness of the Central bank to offer funds, subsidies, and asset acquirement programs to avoid money and liquidity squandering in national monetary market [7]. Therefore, we investigated some important variables affecting food security in Saudi Arabia based on the three pillars of food security: food availability, food accessibility and food sustainability. We also relied on some substantial variables to assess the role of Vision 2030 in achieving food security.

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2 Literature Review 2.1 Food Security Concept Food security means that individuals can meet their daily and basic dietary needs to guarantee a decent and healthy life. Researchers have identified different food security concepts so far [8]. Indeed, in 1986, The World Bank defined food security as people’s secure access at all times to sufficient food for an active and healthy life. Based on this definition, it can be argued that access to adequate food raises many threats and that analyzing the issue of an inadequate access risk is worthwhile. To deal with food security issues, let us consider two aspects [9]. It is important, first, to consider the level of analysis. Indeed, we can parse food security at the level of the individual, the household, the community, the region or the nation. Second, it is important to consider the time span since individuals or groups of people can endure inappropriate food consumption all the time. Hence, our analysis should highlight the food consumption level and its underlying factors. Under other settings, the food consumption level may be adequate when compared with some measures of need, yet differences show that individuals do not have anything to eat at the same time. This implies that our analysis should focus on food consumption variability based on the year and season and its consequences. We can only give a working definition of food security when we have a precise level and time frame of such analysis [10]. Based on the above definition, food security can be regarded as a broad and complex issue determined by the interaction of various agro-physical, socioeconomic, and biological factors. Nations cannot reach a sustainable food security status if the four dimensions are not met because they are interconnected and dynamic. To examine food security, researchers are compelled to develop scientific, reliable and relevant procedures, added to holistic and complementary methods and tools to grasp its various aspects. This is because one single indicator cannot give sufficient information to account for a given population’s food security level. It is worth noting that food security relies on the following pillars:

2.1.1

Food Availability

Food availability has to do with food supply and availability at the level of nations, regions and households. Food availability is affected by trade and local food production, especially local sources of agricultural food production, livestock and fisheries added to collected wild foods. It is important to have good market systems that can dispatch food regularly in adequate quantity and quality [2]. These systems have a substantial impact on commercial food stocks and imports. Food availability for households refers to food available in local markets and shops. Many underlying factors affect this availability, namely macro-economic trends and events, government policies (i.e., subsidies), how international and domestic markets function, exchange rates and the state of the physical economic infrastructure [11].

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Food Access

With food access, we focus on demand. We can talk about food access when households can obtain a decent quantity and quality of food to guarantee a safe and nutritious diet. Many factors influence food access. These include prices and household resources, which enable households to obtain their food by (a) growing and consuming it from their own stocks; (b) purchasing it in the marketplace; (c) receiving it as a transfer from relatives, community members, the government, or foreign donors; or (d) gathering it in the wild. The ability of households or citizens to have access to these resources depends on “their asset endowment and the social, economic policy, physical, and natural environments, which define the set of productive activities they can pursue in meeting their income and food security objective” [12]. However, when households enjoy abundant food, this does not imply that food is fairly and equally shared due to the common tendency to serve the best food, the most nutritious, and the biggest amounts to the males or the working members to the detriment of the other household members. This means that food distribution bias inside the households (e.g., gender inequality) negatively affects food security for household members [1].

2.1.3

Food sustainability

To reach a sustainable food security status, food must be stable over time. When households and their inhabitants always enjoy food to keep a healthy living standard, then food stability is guaranteed. To evaluate food stability, it is important to consider the impacts of sudden shocks (e.g., economic or climatic crises and seasonal food insecurity).

3 Data, Model and Methods As aforementioned, food security relies on three pillars (food availability, food access and food sustainability). Data for our study variables were collected from the World Bank open data website over the 1970–2020 period. Based on the three food security pillars, the models are arranged as follows: Food availability: FP = α0 + α1 PP + α2 VS + α3 FS + ε1

(1)

FM = γ0 + γ1 CP + γ2 VS + γ3 PP + γ4 FP γ5 FT + ε2

(2)

Food access:

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CP = β0 + β1 FP + β2 FT + β3 FS + β4 HX + β5 FM + ε3

(3)

CP = δ0 + δ1 NI + δ2 FP + δ3 FT + δ3 PP δ3 FM + ε4

(4)

Food sustainability: FP = θ0 + θ1 FT + θ2 CP + θ3 FS + θ4 VS + ε5

(5)

where: FP: Food production index (2004–2006 = 100). FM: Food imports (% of merchandise imports). FS: Subsidies and other transfers (% of expense). FT: Tax revenue (% of GDP). PP: Population growth (annual %). HX: Households consumption expenditure (current LCU). NI: Adjusted net national income per capita (current US$). CP: Inflation, consumer prices (annual %). VS: Vision 2030; means of financing food production (dummy variable). α, γ, β, δ, θ: Parameters should be estimated. ε1…5 : Standard error. Our paper relies on the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method. It is used in all recent works given its significant results even for small samples (one country sample). Pesaran and Pesaran [13] and Pesaran et al. [14] developed the ARDL cointegration methods that were used for many years in different works. More accurately, these methods are now used in time series analysis to examine the long-term relationships between economic variables.

4 Findings and Discussion We discuss our findings in this section. As shown in Table 1, the ADF and PP tests results show that our variables (FP, FS, FT, PP, NI, and CP) are stationary in the first difference I (1) confirmed the hypothesis that the time series variables are non-stationary in level expected of (FM and HX), which are stationary in level 1(0) (Table 2). It is important to select the suitable lag length before we apply the ARDL bounds test because inappropriate lag lengths yield an unreliable model and cause incorrect estimation results. In our case, we relied on the Akaike information criteria (AIC) to select the suitable lag length. The ARDL model has the lowest AIC value (5 estimated equations), and consequently, the appropriate lag lengths. We apply the ARDL bounds test to verify the existence of a cointegration relationship among 5 equations models estimated. Table 3 displays the bounds test results for the ARDL models. According to the upper bound, confirm all variables are cointegration; when the F-statistic lies between the upper and lower bounds; consequently, our findings validate the long-term equilibrium relationship. The results of the short-term dynamic coefficients from the ECM model Eqs. (1– 5) are displayed in Table 4. Indeed, the error correction term (ECT (−1) coefficient

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Table 1 Results of Unit-Root Test (ADF and PP)

Variables

Level ADF test

1st Difference ADF test

FP

− 1.066521

− 6.921827**

FS

− 0.938238

− 8.879490**

FT

− 0.450872

− 8.814730**

PP

− 1.529658

− 6.507558**

FM

− 3.309988**

– –

HX

− 10.82538**

NI

− 2.714208

− 4.638454**

CP

− 2.427377

− 5.306797**

*,

** Denotes rejection at 5% and 1% thresholds, respectively

Table 2 ARDL regression estimation model Equations

Selected Model

Akaike info criterion

Schwarz criterion

Hannan-Quinn criter

Equation (1)

ARDL (1, 2, 0, 2)

5.143073

5.529159

5.289553

Equation (2)

ARDL (2, 3, 2, 4, 0, 3.700437 0)

4.369640

3.952263

Equation (3)

ARDL (4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4.943994 4)

6.124939

5.388392

Equation (4)

ARDL (2, 3, 0, 2, 2, 5.667856 1)

6.291590

5.903566

Equation (5)

ARDL (1, 4, 0, 4, 3) 5.055872

5.725074

5.307697

is significant at 1% significance threshold with a negative sign comprised between 0 and − 1. This implies that our model can immediately converge back to long-term equilibrium after a short-term shock by (38.5%), (68.7%), (142.71%), (67.5%) and (7.5%), respectively. Regarding a pillar of food availability represented in Eqs. (1) and (2) show that the changes in both PP and FS affect the changes in FP in the short term, and a rise in FS generates a rise in FP, but a rise in PP generates a drop in FP. This means an increase in population growth decreases food production, while an increase in food subsidies increases food production. Meanwhile, in the short run, a government subsidy on food positively affects food production and hence affects food security through the pillar of food availability. The long-run relationship estimated coefficients show that only food subsidies have a significant negative impact on food production at the pillar of food availability. However, Vision 2030 does not affect food security in the short- or long-term at this food security pillar, as well as sustainability, whereas in the long-term, inflation and population growth are significant and have a negative impact on imported food. The food security pillar of food accessibility represented in Eqs. (3) and (4) show that the CP changes, in the short term, are affected by the changes in CP, FT, FS and HX. Indeed, a rise in FT generates a drop in CP, whereas an

2.26

2.62

2.96

3.41

10

5

2.5

1

4.68

4.18

3.79

3.35

F-statistic K

6.493540 5

I(1)

F-statistic K

I(0)

Test statistic

Sig (%)

6.36

Value

5.17

1

5.62

F-statistic K

Test statistic

4.52

2.5

5.07

4.45

Equation (2) Test statistic

Equation (4)

4.01

5

I(1)

Equation (3)

3.47

10

7.341549 3

F-statistic K

I(0)

Sig (%)

Value

Test statistic

Equation (1)

Table 3 Result of bounds test of cointegration

6.356042 5

Value

4.626572 5

Value

1

2.5

5

10

Sig (%)

1

2.5

5

10

Sig (%)

3.41

2.96

2.62

2.26

I(0)

3.41

2.96

2.62

2.26

I(0)

4.68

4.18

3.79

3.35

I(1)

4.68

4.18

3.79

3.35

I(1)

Equation (5) F-statistic K

Test statistic

5.042613 4

Value

1

2.5

5

10

Sig (%)

3.74

3.25

2.86

2.45

I(0)

5.06

4.49

4.01

3.52

I(1)

Factors Affecting Food Security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia … 293

294

F. A. Elneel

Table 4 ARDL cointegrating and long-run test Equation (1) CointEq(−1)

− 0.385066

0.099623

− 3.865238

0.0004

Cointeq = FP − (−0.7451*PP − 2.2877*VS − 2.3896*FS + 14.0182 + 2.5439 Long run coefficients Variable

Coefficient

Std. Error

t-Statistic

Prob

PP

− 0.745060

1.794323

− 0.415232

0.6802

VS

− 2.287675

5.490814

− 0.416637

0.6792

FS

− 2.389603

0.553836

− 4.314640

0.0001

C

14.018201

10.306129

1.360181

0.1816

− 0.687872

0.145777

− 4.718657

0.0001

Equation (2) CointEq(−1)

Cointeq = FM − (−0.3213 * CP − 5.9030 * VS − 1.5031 * PP − 0.0807 * FP + 0.7987 * FT + 26.8825) Variable

Coefficient

Std. Error

t-Statistic

Prob

CP

− 0.321251

0.108853

− 2.951230

0.0061

VS

− 5.902982

3.675217

− 1.606159

0.1187

PP

− 1.503117

0.671625

− 2.238030

0.0328

FP

− 0.080655

0.038873

− 2.074853

0.0467

FT

0.798739

0.500439

1.596078

0.1210

C

26.882489

5.196322

5.173369

0.0000

− 1.427122

0.300401

− 4.750726

0.0002

Equation (3) CointEq(−1)

Cointeq = CP − (−0.0415 * FP + 0.2128 * FT + 0.8918 * FS + 0.2624 * HX − 0.2234 * FM + 5.6651) Long Run Coefficients Variable

Coefficient

Std. Error

t-Statistic

Prob

FP

− 0.041494

0.025364

− 1.635932

0.1202

FT

0.212849

2.086540

0.102011

0.9199

FS

0.891832

0.383541

2.325258

0.0327

HX

0.262385

0.051157

5.128976

0.0001

FM

− 0.223398

0.346313

− 0.645075

0.5275

C

5.665105

4.310451

1.314272

0.2062

− 0.675643

0.123615

− 5.465684

0.0000

Equation (4) CointEq(−1)

Cointeq = CP − (0.7780 * NI − 0.0738 * FP + 0.8793 * FT + 0.1608 * PP + 1.9960 * FM − 26.8527) Long Run Coefficients Variable

Coefficient

Std. Error

t-Statistic

Prob (continued)

Factors Affecting Food Security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia …

295

Table 4 (continued) Equation (1) NI

0.778045

0.155375

5.007523

0.0000

FP

− 0.073829

FT

0.879336

0.062913

− 1.173497

0.2493

0.567098

1.550590

PP

0.1308

0.160837

1.448542

0.111034

0.9123

FM

1.995985

0.654243

3.050832

0.0046

− 0.078650

0.020363

− 3.862295

0.0006

Equation (5) CointEq(−1)

Cointeq = FP − (−12.7335 * FS + 1.3497 * HX − 8.4270 * CP + 126.9278 * VS + 107.1992) Long Run Coefficients Variable

Coefficient

Std. Error

t-Statistic

Prob

FS

− 12.733452

HX

1.349692

10.497742

− 1.212971

0.2346

0.778928

1.732756

CP

0.0934

− 8.426992

2.428957

− 3.469387

0.0016

VS

126.927794

113.825058

1.115113

0.2737

C

107.199185

11.061987

9.690771

0.0000

increase in CP, FS and HX generates an increase in CP. On the contrary, an increase in food taxes generate a fall in the inflation rate. In contrast, an increase in food subsidies and household expenditure generate an increase in the inflation rate. While the estimated coefficients of the long-term relationships showed food exported and income per capita has a significant positive impact on the consumer price index, an increase in food subsidies and household expenditure generate an increase in food production. According to the statistical tests (Breusch-Pagan-Godfrey and Breusch-Godfrey Serial Correlation LM, heteroscedasticity and Ramsey RESET) shown in Table 5, our equations are in their correct functional form, with no serial correlation at lag order in the model, and the residuals have a multivariate normal distribution. We found no autocorrelation, heteroscedasticity nor error variance variation in the long-term estimation with the exception of Eqs. (3) and (4), which suffer from autocorrelation problems that appear from the Ramsey test.

5 Policy Implication This study suggests that: 1. The KSA Central bank should offer funds, financial support, and asset acquirement programs to avoid losing money and cash in the national monetary market.

296 Table 5 Breusch-Pagan-Godfrey and Breusch-Godfrey serial correlation LM, heteroscedasticity and Ramsey RESET tests

F. A. Elneel Equation (1) Breusch-Godfrey serial correlation LM test F-statistic

0.450505

Prob. F(2,37)

0.6408

Prob. F(1,46)

0.6613

(1, 38)

0.0951

Heteroscedasticity test: ARCH F-statistic

0.194514

Ramsey RESET test F-statistic

2.929913

Equation (2) Breusch-Godfrey serial correlation LM test F-statistic

0.148090

Prob. F(2,28)

0.8630

Prob. F(1,44)

0.9940

(1, 29)

0.1592

Heteroscedasticity Test: ARCH F-statistic

5.73E − 05

Ramsey RESET Test F-statistic

2.088271

Equation (3) Breusch-Godfrey serial correlation LM test F-statistic

2.151417

Prob. F(2,15)

0.1508

Prob. F(1,44)

0.1574

(1, 16)

0.0000

Heteroscedasticity test: ARCH F-statistic

2.068725

Ramsey RESET test F-statistic

49.99801

Equation (4) Breusch-Godfrey serial correlation LM test F-statistic

0.445008

Prob. F(2,30)

0.6450

Prob. F(1,45)

0.9595

(1, 31)

0.0006

Heteroscedasticity test: ARCH F-statistic

0.002601

Ramsey RESET test F-statistic

14.69933

Equation (5) Breusch-Godfrey serial correlation LM test F-statistic

0.982717

Prob. F(2,28)

0.3868

Prob. F(1,44)

0.9682

(1, 29)

0.5728

Heteroscedasticity test: ARCH F-statistic

0.001607

Ramsey RESET test F-statistic

0.325310

Factors Affecting Food Security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia …

297

2. It needs to work on reducing the burdens and taxes on imported food (about 80%) to reduce the Kingdom’s food insecurity status. In addition, it needs to move forward in drawing up effective policies for local food production and reducing the percentage of food imports by supporting producers and implementing policies that encourage and motivate farmers by using contemporary agricultural technologies, especially in the water and soil reclamation side. 3. The policies propaganda should urge the population to invest in agriculture and food production by addressing the problem of water and soil and using contemporary agricultural technology to increase food production and reduce costs. This will lower food prices, reduce the cost of living, and provide the government with large financial reserves that can be used to support imported food and promote agricultural economic development. 4. Policymakers should provide the necessary infrastructure, increase GDP, diversify production, localize the food industry, increase job opportunities, reduce inflation rates, address the unemployment problem, increase government revenue sources, and avoid the negative effects of the food import problem. 5. It needs to work on reducing burdens and taxes on imported food (around 80%) to curb the Kingdom’s food insecurity. Also, policymakers should move forward in drawing up effective policies for local food production and reduce the percentage of food imports by supporting producers and following policies that encourage and motivate farmers.

6 Conclusion This study focuses on the influence of food security factors in light of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. Furthermore, this study used evidence from the ARDL approach and covered data from 1970 to 2020. The findings found that both imported and locally produced food are negatively affected by tax-induced inflation, which reflects food security in the long run, as well as the food demand; therefore, it means a significant proportion of the population can’t get sufficient food in the long run, and hence negatively affects food security.

References 1. Lovelle, M.: Food and water security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Future Dir. Int. 28 (2015) 2. Baig, M.B., Straquadine, G.S., Aldosari, F.O.: Revisiting extension systems in Saudi Arabia: Emerging reasons and realities. J. Exp. Biol. Agric. Sci. 5(Spl-1-SAFSAW), S160–S164 (2017). https://doi.org/10.18006/2017.5(Spl-1-SAFSAW).S160 3. Mouloudj, K., Bouarar, A.C., Fechit, H.: The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on food security. Les cahiers du CREAD 36(3), 159–184 (2020)

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4. Baig, M.B., Alotaibi, B.A., Alzahrani, K., Pearson, D., Alshammari, G.M., Shah, A.A.: Food waste in Saudi Arabia: Causes, consequences, and combating measures. Sustainability 14(16), 10362 (2022) 5. Elshaer, I., Sobaih, A.E.E., Alyahya, M., Abu Elnasr, A.: The impact of religiosity and food consumption culture on food waste intention in Saudi Arabia. Sustainability 13(11), 6473 (2021) 6. Ertz, M., Favier, R., Robinot, É., Sun, S.: To waste or not to waste? Empirical study of waste minimization behavior. Waste Manag. 131, 443–452 (2021) 7. Elneel, F.A., AlMulhim, A.F.: The effect of oil price shocks on Saudi Arabia’s economic growth in the light of vision 2030 “A combination of VECM and ARDL models”. J. Knowl. Econ. 1–23 8. Alagh, Y.K.: Poverty, food security and human security. Glob. Bus. Rev. 3(2), 271–287 (2002) 9. Gupta, R., Gangopadhyay, S.G.: Urban food security through urban agriculture and waste recycling: Some lessons for India. Vikalpa 38(3), 13–22 (2013) 10. Sandhu, A.: National Food Security Act, 2013 and food security outcomes in India. Vision 18(4), 365–370 (2014) 11. Joshi, S., Singh, R.K., Sharma, M.: Sustainable agri-food supply chain practices: Few empirical evidences from a developing economy. Glob. Bus. Rev. (2020). https://doi.org/10.1177/097215 0920907014 12. LIFT (Livelihood and Food Security Technical Assistance), FHI 360.: Livelihood and food security conceptual framework. Washington (2013) 13. Pesaran, M.H., Pesaran, B.: Working with Microfit 4.0: Interactive Econometric Analysis. Oxford University Press, Oxford (1997) 14. Pesaran, M.H., Shin, Y., Smith, R.J.: Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships. J. Appl. Econ. 16(3), 289–326 (2001) 15. Vision 2030.: Vision 2030. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Retrieved from https://www.vision2030. gov.sa. (2016). Accessed 15 June 2020

Food Exports and Its Contribution to the Sudan Economic Development in the Light of Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Simultaneous Equation Model (1974–2019) Faiez Ahmed Elneel Abstract This study aims to investigate the influence of food export on the economic development by way of appreciated opportunity for Sudan under the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications, meanwhile of higher need of food across the Arab region and a hole of the world. We rely on the evidence from the Simultaneous Equation Model (SEM) with Johansson co-integration test, covered the 1974–2019 period. The results show that food exports have positive significant impact on the economic development, meaning that investment in food export based on Sudan’s comparative advantages of agriculture will drive the economic development in the postCOVID-19. The study recommends that policymakers should take into deliberation investment in the agricultural sector side by side with the industry sector, drawing up strategic plans, establishing the necessary infrastructure, creating economic and political stability, bringing modern agricultural technology, financial access and attracting FDI inflows to improve production and productivity to rise the competitiveness of food exports towards achieving economic development. Keywords COVID-19 pandemic · Sudan economy · Food exports · Simultaneous equation model

1 Introduction Food production and export have become critical and urgent challenges for agriculture and economic development. Several studies have recently been conducted to examine and assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on agriculture and economic development such as, food security, fruit and vegetable markets, cereals and oilseeds sector, dairy and poultry sectors, animal sectors, consumer food demand responses, agricultural trade [1–10]. The impact of COVID-19 on daily life and the economy has F. A. Elneel (B) Department of Finance and Investment, College of Business, Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_25

299

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ranged from moderate to noticeable. Policy-makers, investors, and the public recognize that natural disasters caused by epidemics can cause economic devastation on an unprecedented scale, while the overall impact of the pandemic on household spending has been studied [11, 12], nothing is known about how retail investors will behave in such a volatile environment. Retail trading moves stock prices in the direction of trader trading especially given that retail shorting can predict future (negative) stock returns [13, 14]. Sudan is blessed with natural resources; this country is enriched with fertile lands, animals, fisheries, forests, minerals, Gum Arabic, oil, gold plant and water. Therefore, the agricultural sector is the backbone of the economy; this sector has almost one-third of the involvement in the GDP of this country and contributes one-third of the global food basket. It covers 1,886,068 km2 [15]. Moreover, Sudan has geographical importance; it is among the greatest countries in the region of Africa in terms of area and this is a country very suitable for agricultural production because of freshwater resources. It was estimated in 2019 by the World Bank that, an arable area of (1,024,573,925) hectares is divided into rained and irrigated land, these lands are irrigated by the water fetched by the Nile and other rivers [16]. However, during the last three decades of Bashir’s regime, Sudan’s economy suffered from many constraints such as debt burden, regional conflicts including the Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Abyei protocol area, Darfur and eastern area and Covid-19 implications reflected. This study aims to answer the main question: Does the COVID-19 pandemic represent some of the economic opportunities for Sudan for increasing food exports? Assuming that its rich country in agricultural resources and food production used a Simultaneous Equations Model (SEM) together with a co-integration test between related important variables during the 1974–2019 periods. To fill this research gap, the study tried to see the paradox that Covid-19 renewed the misfortunes of Sudan upon others’ benefits; which is not covered by most of the previous studies. So, the evaluation of this paper is closely related to the limited studies available economically for the impact of COVID-19 on a number of dimensions.

2 Literature Review There are several ways the COVID-19 pandemic may increase food insecurity in both high-and low-income countries. Devereux et al. (2020) argue that disruptions to food frameworks from the pandemic might have a negative effect on food security on the demand side, the food production side “generation and handling”, and the request side “financial and real admission to food”. Opportunity business sectors may be more disturbed than negative business sectors and the operation of value it chains‘ within individual countries is of particular concern [17]. Pingali [18] found that global food supply and access to food improved significantly during the 1970s. This is because the expansion of the supply of garden supplies has outpaced the target expansion caused by demographic trends and the usual rise in wages. Thus, global microeconomic changes and lower exchange barriers have contributed to improved

Food Exports and Its Contribution to the Sudan Economic Development …

301

horticultural availability and food availability since the 1980s [19]. Despite these global advances, many low-and middle-income countries continue to suffer from food insecurity, deprivation and hunger. Anderson [20] find that barter restrictions, such as import shares and levies, can build up indigenous food creation over the years, but also increased the cost of food, increasing the value of food and increasing financial instability. Access to large cities and cities reduces the number of rural poor households and renders the country powerless against colossal events and nearby powerless occasional situations. Anderson [21] elaborated on the contribution of agricultural products to the world GDP was found that the agricultural sector has 3% influence in the global gross domestic products and 6% in merchandise trade overall the world, also explains that for many developing countries the agricultural sector, food output and trade sector play vital role in economic development, but during the last two decades’ export prices shrunk by 0.6% due to different factors. Pingali [22] studies the export of agricultural products and their impact on economic development in developing countries; recognizing that the agricultural sector has an important role to play at the national and international level; dependence on natural resources is used to export natural resources based on agriculture, which plays a strategic role in promoting successful modern economic development. Kjelden-Kragh [23] stating that the agricultural sector has a close relationship with trade and the industrial sector; where the export of agricultural products affects the overall economic growth and the surplus of the agricultural sector in the integration of the national economy. Staatz and Eicher [24] explained that economic development is a transformation of the rural and agricultural country to the developed and industrial country was dependence on the agricultural sector. Also, Lundahl [25] showed the impact of agriculture on economic growth; through enough food has to be provided to meet the rise in demand as the population grows and real income increases when the non-agriculture sectors of the economic develop and represent important source of foreign exchange, overhead capital in the economy, invest in the other sectors of the economy and it is the responsibility of agriculture to increase the cash income of the rural population, thereby stimulating the demand for non-agricultural goods and services. Nonetheless, Ezirigwe et al. [26] showed that the COVID-19 on agricultural products of the national and international food system is adversely affected by the pandemic diseases, affects the demand and supply of agricultural products at different periods, it affects from primary production of food as well as national and international trade based on food and agricultural products will lead to a high-income import food products from different developing countries, but due to COVID-19, this system is badly affected; therefore concluded that this pandemic situation badly destroyed the economic system that leads to poverty and unemployment. Espitia et al. [27] analyzed the impact of COVID-19 and non-compliant trade policies on global food markets; was estimate the initial shock as a result of the epidemic under the assumption that the most productive products are most affected by sick and procurement policies and it is estimated that rising export restrictions to protect domestic food markets could increase initial shock. Ali and Vickers [28] found that goods account for about half of commonwealth countries’; where the

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COVID-19 shock is considered a global catastrophic shock of all sectors and all markets were badly affected by this pandemic, so it has increased the inflation with fluctuation in many community’s markets. Jena [29] anticipates that the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic will be global, the mal-dives will face certain and unique impacts due to the high exposure of its economy to external shocks. Therefore, the World Bank and the Asia Development Bank was examined the Maldives as one of the worst-hit areas and will facing achieving of accessing international financial assistance and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) although the magnitude of the crisis remains to be fully understood; but it will be a challenge for any country to respond and recover without making difficult decisions about how to use public resources. Monahan et al. [30] investigated the impact of COVID-19 epidemic on the economy through the Arab region, was raised that the risk of epidemic response and increased pressure forces; where the main challenge is war-torn areas, conflict zones and refugee camps; and prominence in international relations of soft power, accountability wars and non-military dependence. Nicholls et al. [31]; and Prideaux et al. [32] investigated the severe effect of the COVID-19 on different countries globally which has affected the economic system overall, all sectors of the economy, the demand for goods and services produced has diminished, the food sector is also facing growing demands due to panic purchases and storage of food products and social and economic effects of COVID-19 on certain aspects of the global economy and economic and social sectors. Johnson et al. [33] investigates the impact of COVID-19 on different economies including China, was explained that China has made significant content efforts to have limited transfers due to COVID-19; that the pandemic has affected social works, economic activities, brought food scarcity and unemployment. Oldekop et al. [34] investigated the challenges given by the COVID-19 to the economies, was found that this novel disease is a prime example of the development challenge in all countries in four themes or ‘vignettes’: global value chains, digital production, debt and climate change. Barua [35] predicts that globalization of the COVID-19 epidemic and its economic impacts are expected to hit all the world’s economies, plunging many into economic collapse and possibly even economic stress, it’s to provide a complete understanding of possible macroeconomic shocks, including economic activities or areas that include demand, acquisition, sale, trade, investment, price, exchange rates, financial stability and risk, economic growth and international cooperation. Workie et al. [36] investigated the impact of COVID-19 on food demand, supply and trade; was found that the policymakers are grappling with the suspicions due to this pandemic situation globally by analyzes the most suitable procedure to confirm the pandemic interpret as a food disaster to a lessening in the labor force, disturbing land preparation, planting, crop maintenance and harvesting; also disturb employment in laborintensive countries and contribute to moving the production from currencies to food yields.

Food Exports and Its Contribution to the Sudan Economic Development …

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3 Data, Model and Methods Data were collected from the world bank of open data websites during 1974–2019 periods. A Simultaneous Equation Model has been used for analyzing the linear equations. This technique is vital for finding the causation among the dependent and explanatory variables [25] and [37]. The SEM system has the following form: GDP =c(1) + c(2) ∗ XTS + c(3) ∗ FDI + c(4) ∗ OXD + c(5) ∗ GXD + c(6) ∗ TTB + c(7) ∗ GTX + U1

(1)

TTB =c(8) + c(9) ∗ OXD + c(10) ∗ GXD + c(11) ∗ FDI + c(12) ∗ GDP + c(13) ∗ GTX + U2

(2)

XTS =c(14) + c(15) ∗ INF + c(16) ∗ GDP + c(17) ∗ GTX + c(18) ∗ TTB + c(19) ∗ FPI + U3

(3)

AAL =c(20) + c(21) ∗ FDI + c(22) ∗ GTX + c(23) ∗ FPI + c(24) ∗ XTS + c(25) ∗ PPG + U4

(4)

FDI =c(26) + c(27) ∗ INF + c(28) ∗ AAL + c(29) ∗ OXD + c(30) ∗ GXD + c(31) ∗ TTB + U5

(5)

FPI =c(32) + c(33) ∗ GDP + c(34) ∗ PPG + c(35) ∗ INF + c(36) ∗ GTX + c(37) ∗ XTS + U6

(6)

HHX =c(38) + c(39) ∗ FPI + c(40) ∗ INF + c(41) ∗ CPI + c(42) ∗ GDP + c(43) ∗ FDI + U7

(7)

Symbols indicate GDP

GDP growth (annual %)

AAL

Agricultural land (sq. km)

FPI

Food production index (2004–2006 = 100)

TTB

Current account balance (BoP, current US$)

XTS

Food exports (BoP, current US$)

GXT

General government final consumption expenditure (current US$) (continued)

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F. A. Elneel

(continued) INF

Inflation, consumer prices (annual %)

FDI

Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$)

HHX

Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure (current US$)

PPG

Population growth (annual %)

OPD

Oil production (dummy)

GPD

Mineral production (dummy)

CPI

Consumer price index (2010 = 100)

C1 , C2 , C3 ,…C43

Parameters

U1 , U2 , U3 ,…U7

Random variables

4 Findings and Discussion We discuss our findings in this section. Table 1 shows the unite root (ADF) test of GDP, XTS, AAT, FPI, TTB, GTX, INF, FDI, HHX, PPG, CPI, OPD, GPD. The results display that all the variables are stationary by the first difference I (1). Table 2 explains the result of Johansen’s co-integration test. The result shows that the model have 4 co-integration at a 5% level of significance. Consequently, this study has to determine this co-integration relation by calculating the long-run coefficient as follows. Table 1 Results of unit-root test (ADF)

Variables

Level ADF test

1st Difference ADF test

GDP

− 1.705003

− 7.985427**

XTS

− 1.891644

− 7.212611**

AAL

0.829037

− 4.299944**

FPI

− 0.053636

− 7.646750**

TTB

− 0.468359

− 8.883362**

GTX

− 0.985219

− 9.384163**

INF

− 2.383476

− 8.938559**

FDI

− 2.622629

− 8.582840**

HHX

0.475273

− 3.929441**

PPG

− 1.605317

− 2.998534**

CPI

0.495966

− 1.994407**

OPD

− 1.533347

− 6.480741**

GPD

− 0.460810

− 6.633252**

*, ** Denotes rejection at 5% and 1% thresholds, respectively

0.215627

0.035696

At most 5

At most 6

1.526666

3.841466

15.49471

29.79707

47.85613

69.81889

95.75366

125.6154

0.05 Critical Value

0.2166

0.1705

0.0008

0.0000

0.0000

0.0000

0.0001

Prob.**

Max-eigenvalue test indicates 1 cointegratingeqn(s) at the 0.05 level * denotes rejection of the hypothesis at the 0.05 level ** MacKinnon-Haug-Michelis [38] p-values Unrestricted Cointegrating Coefficients (normalized by b’*S11*b = I)

*

43.12891

0.526526

At most 4 *

11.72724

90.57307

150.9424

0.762447

0.676845

At most 2 *

At most 3 *

270.7036

430.5757

0.977774

0.942240

None *

Trace Statistic

Eigenvalue

At most 1 *

Hypothesized No. of CE(s)

Table 2 Results of unrestricted co-integration rank test (maximum eigenvalue)

At most 6

At most 5

At most 4 *

At most 3 *

At most 2 *

At most 1 *

None *

Hypothesized No. of CE(s)

0.035696

0.215627

0.526526

0.676845

0.762447

0.942240

0.977774

Eigenvalue

1.526666

10.20057

31.40167

47.44416

60.36937

119.7612

159.8721

Max-Eigen Statistic

3.841466

14.26460

21.13162

27.58434

33.87687

40.07757

46.23142

0.05 Critical Value

0.2166

0.1991

0.0013

0.0000

0.0000

0.0000

0.0000

Prob.**

Food Exports and Its Contribution to the Sudan Economic Development … 305

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D(GDPt) = − 0.0005D(TTBt) − 0.0005D(XTSt) + 1.79D(AALt) + 0.002D(FDIt) + 8.61D(FPIt)0.82D(HHXt) D(GDPt) = 0.0001D(TTBt) − 0.0009D(XTSt) − 8.19D(AALt) + 0.008D(FDIt) + 2.56D(FPIt) + 0.32D(HHXt) D(GDPt) = 0.0001D(TTBt) − 0.0009D(XTSt) − 8.31(AALt) + 0.008 D(FDIt) + 2.58D(FPIt) + 0.31D(HHXt) D(GDPt) = 0.0003D(TTBt) − 0.0008D(XTSt) − 1.35D(AALt) + 0.004D(FDIt) + 2.52D(FPIt) − 1.16D(HHXt).

4.1 Evaluating the Signs of Single Equations of the System Model 4.1.1

Evaluation of the Parameters of Economic Growth (GDP)

As shown in Table 3; “the indication of the food exports (XTS) and government expenditure (GXT) have positive and significant effects (GDP) meaning that an increase in food exports and government expenditure can increase economic growth and this result is expected; while the indication of the external balance (TTB) and foreign direct investment (FDI) has a negative and significant effect (GDP)” [39].

4.1.2

Evaluating the Parameters of the Current Account Balance (TTB)

The foreign direct investment (FDI) and the economic growth (GDP) coefficients in the external balance have a negative and significant effect (TTB) but to a lower extent.

4.1.3

Evaluating the Parameters of the Exports of Goods and Services (XTS)

The indication of the “government expenditure (GTX) has a positive and significant effect (XTS), while the indication of the population growth (PPG) has a negative and significant effect (XTS)” [6].

4.1.4

Evaluating the Parameters of the Agricultural Land (AAL)

The indication of the “foreign direct investment (FDI) and population growth (PPG) have positive and significant effects (AAL)” this means that policymakers should express effective policies to attract FDI targeting the agriculture sector.

Agricultural land

Exports of goods and services

Current account balance

GDP growth

Model

=

=

R2

=

T -Test =

(2.27) (3.78) (8.70) (0.005) (0.000) (0.167)

0.82

R−2 = 0.80 D.W = 2.30

(−1.09) (0.647) (0.554) (−4.169) ∗ ∗ (−2.15) ∗ ∗ (0.976)

(2.60) (1.55) (2.60) (0.20) (3.00) (0.01) 0.89

R−2 = 0.87

D.W = 1.89

(−2.14) ∗ ∗ (−0.09) (−1.47) (6.05) ∗ ∗ (−2.08) ∗ ∗ (1.61)

0.531

R−2 = 0.45

D.W = 1.33

(−1.32) (−1.35) (−0.12) (4.33) ∗ ∗ (−0.09) (1.94)∗

(8.01) (0.00) (0.02) (2.08) (0.01) (3.00)

−11.94 − 0.001 ∗ FDI − 0.003 ∗ GTX + 71.52 ∗ FPI − 0.001 ∗ XTS + 51.87 ∗ PPG

Std.Error =

AAL =

R2

T -Test =

D.W = 1.37

17.2 − 0.15 ∗ AAL − 29.43 ∗ FPI + 1.22 ∗ GTX − 58.12 ∗ PPG + 0.013 ∗ FDI

Std.Error =

XTS =

=

T -Test = R2

= 0.87

(−0.36) (7.83) ∗ ∗ (−2.64) ∗ ∗ (0.89)

−24.26 + 24.29 ∗ OXD + 48.83 ∗ GXD − 0.02 ∗ FDI − 0.0002 ∗ GDP + 0.163 ∗ GTX

R

−2

(1.48) (3.46) ∗ ∗ (−2.06) ∗ 0.89

Std.Error =

TTB =

R

2

T -Test =

(3.32) (12.58) (7.52) (4.91) (6.92) (17.05) (5.12)

(continued)

492 + 40.31 ∗ XTS − 15.49 ∗ FDI − 180 ∗ OXD + 5.42 ∗ GXD − 44.29 ∗ TTB + 46.42 ∗ INF

Std.Error =

GDP =

Table 3 Estimation of simultaneous equation model system for study variables through weighted L.S. (equation weights)

Food Exports and Its Contribution to the Sudan Economic Development … 307

Household consumption expenditure

Food production Index

Foreign direct investment

Model

Table 3 (continued)

=

R

=

T -Test = 2

R−2 = 0.83 D.W = 1.70

(4.59)(6.80)(2.17)(4.10)(1.90)(1.10) 0.92

R−2 = 0.91 D.W = 0.89

(9.02) ∗ ∗(6.45) ∗ ∗(−7.84) ∗ ∗(1.00)(2.23) ∗ ∗(0.75)

0.98

R

−2

= 0.98

(9.49) ∗ ∗ (5.61) ∗ ∗

D.W = 1.62

(−1.02) (3.45) ∗ ∗ (0.08) (−1.71) ∗

(3.78) (6.77) (2.29) (7.29) (0.88) (3.03)

−3.85 + 23.09 ∗ FPI + 20.84 ∗ INF − 12.3 ∗ CPI + 8.36 ∗ GDP + 15.74 ∗ FDI

Std.Error =

HHX =

=

T -Test = R2

0.85

(−0.04) (−0.83) (0.03) (3.49) ∗ ∗ (2.99) ∗ ∗ (−6.32) ∗ ∗

37.45 + 4.38 ∗ GDP − 12.86 ∗ PPG + 4.11 ∗ INF + 4.23 ∗ GTX + 8.20 ∗ XTS

Std.Error =

FPI =

R2

T -Test =

(2.81) (1.52) (4.22) (1.30) (1.90) (3.58)

−12.48 − 12.66 ∗ INF + 1.23 ∗ AAL + 45.8 ∗ OXD + 56.8 ∗ GXD − 22.62 ∗ TTB

Std.Error =

FDI =

308 F. A. Elneel

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4.1.5

309

Evaluating the Parameters of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

The indication of “oil production (OXD) and mineral production (GXD) has a positive and significant effect (FDI), while the external balance (TTB) is the negative and significant effect on the foreign direct investment (FDI)” and this may induce policymakers to articulate effective policies regarding foreign direct investment in oil and mineral sectors.

4.1.6

Evaluating the Parameters of the Food Production Index (FPI)

The indication of the “economic growth (GDP) and government expenditure (GTX) have positive and significant effects (FPI); while population growth (PPG) has a negative and significant effect on the food price index (FPI)” (Sitche 2020).

4.1.7

Evaluating the Parameters of the Household Consumption Expenditure (HHX)

The indication of the “food price index (FPI), GDP growth (GDP) and the foreign direct investment (FDI) has a positive and significant effect (HHX) while the consumer price index (CPI) affects household consumption expenditure (HHX)” negatively [40].

4.2 Evaluating the Signs of the System Equation (Model) An increase in food exports will lead to an increase in economic growth as well as an increase in both food production index and household consumption expenditure which leads to the improvement of the population’s economic situation. Also, an increase in economic growth will reduce the external balance deficit to a lower extent. However, an increase in population growth leads to an increase in investment in agricultural lands but at the same time may reduce the food exports. Moreover, foreign direct investment contributes significantly to increasing agricultural production and food exports and foreign direct investment has a significant positive impact on increasing the level of household consumption expenditure, an increase of government expenditure leads to an increase in both exports and food production indexes. Also, foreign direct investment has no great effect in reducing the trade balance deficit, and it also has a significant negative impact on economic growth.

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5 Policy Implication To reduce the adverse effects caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, this study proposes that: 1. It is necessary to strengthen the capacity of the health structure by facilitating public funds, monetary support should be allocated to people, entrepreneurs and companies to help them cope with the unintended impact. of the COVID-19 crisis and workers should be encouraged to continue working during the crisis to avoid mass job losses. 2. Policymakers should try to reduce fees and taxes as well as local and national customers and export costs, in order to acclimate to new markets. 3. The central bank of Sudan should provide funds, financial assistance and asset repurchase programs to avoid loss of funds and liquidity in the national currency market. 4. Policy makers must move forward to develop effective policies for local food by supporting producers and following policies that encourage and motivate farmers, in addition to using modern agricultural technologies, especially related to the restoration of water and soil by solving the land problem. 5. This study recommends that policymakers consider investing in the agricultural sector in addition to oil and industry, develop strategic plans, effective policies, and establish necessary infrastructure development. necessary to strengthen its position in the world. because Sudan possesses huge and diverse potentials and resources and needs to be used optimally in the shadow of the COVID19 pandemic in particular; improve production and boost exports by entering new markets and removing previously imposed barriers; with the introduction of contemporary agricultural technology to increase production and productivity, reduce costs and increase the competitiveness of exported food; which, by drawing a clear investment map, enacting the necessary laws and regulations, combating corruption and encouraging foreign capital flows by attracting foreign direct investment for growth and development economy.

6 Conclusion This study was to investigate the influence of food export on the economic development under the COVID-19 pandemic implications for Sudan food exports. This study used the Simultaneous Equations Model (SEM) together with a co-integration test between several variables while focusing on food exports in order to analyze whether the COVID-19 pandemic is a benefit for Sudan in terms of opportunities for food exports. The study recommends that policymakers to take into consideration investment in the agricultural sector side by side with the industry sector, drawing up strategic plans, establishing the necessary infrastructure, creating economic and political stability, bringing modern agricultural technology and attracting FDI

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inflows of the agricultural sector to improve production and productivity and rise the competitiveness of food exports to recover sustainable economic development.

References 1. Abdelhedi, I. T., Zouari, S. Z.: Agriculture and food security in North Africa: A theoretical and empirical approach. J. Knowl. Econ. 11(1), 193–210 (2020) 2. Barichello, R.: The COVID-19 pandemic: Anticipating its effects on Canada’s agricultural trade. Can. J. Agric. Econ./Revue canadienne d’agroeconomie, 68(2), 219–224 (2020) 3. Brewin, D. G.: The impact of COVID-19 on the grains and oilseeds sector. Can. J. Agric. Econ./Revue canadienne d’agroeconomie 68(2), 185–188 (2020) 4. Richards, T. J., Rickard, B.: COVID-19 impact on fruit and vegetable markets. Can. J. Agric. Econ./Revue canadienne d’agroeconomie 68(2), 189–194 (2020) 5. Weersink, A., von Massow, M., McDougall, B.: Economic thoughts on the potential implications of COVID-19 on the Canadian dairy and poultry sectors. Can. J. Agric. Econ./Revue canadienne d’agroeconomie 68(2), 195–200 (2020) 6. Seleiman, M. F., Selim, S., Alhammad, B. A., Alharbi, B. M., & Juliatti, F. C.: Will novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic impact agriculture, food security and animal sectors?. Biosci. J. (Online), pp. 1315–1326 (2020) 7. Siche, R.: What is the impact of COVID-19 disease on agriculture?. Scientia Agropecuaria 11(1), 3–6 (2020) 8. Willy, D. K., Yacouba, D., Hippolyte, A., Francis, N., Michael, W., Tesfamicheal, W.: COVID19 Pandemic in Africa: Impacts on agriculture and emerging policy responses for adaptation and resilience building. Technol. Afr. Agric. Transform. Working Paper (2020) 9. Cranfield, J.A.: Framing consumer food demand responses in a viral pandemic. Can. J. Agric. Econ./Rev. canadienne d’agroeconomie 68(2), 151–156 (2020) 10. FAO.: COVID-19 and the impact on food security in the Near East and North Africa: How to respond? Cairo (2020) 11. Baker, S.R., Farrokhnia, R.A., Meyer, S., Pagel, M., Yannelis, C.: How does household spending respond to an epidemic? Consumption during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Working Paper 26949, National Bureau of Economic Research (2020) 12. Goodell, J. W.: COVID-19 and finance: Agendas for future research. Finan. Res. Lett. 35, 101512 (2020) 13. Kelley, E.K., Tetlock, P.C.: Retail short selling and stock prices. Rev. Financ. Stud. 30, 801–834 (2016) 14. Fuerst, F., Shimizu, C.: Green luxury goods? The economics of eco-labels in the Japanese housing market. J. Jpn. Int. Econ. 39, 108–122 (2016) 15. Goldsmith, P., Abura, L.A., Switzer, J.: Oil and water in Sudan. In: Scarcity and Surfeit: The Ecology of Africa’s Conflicts, pp. 187–242 (2002) 16. Mahgoub, F.: Current status of agriculture and future challenges in Sudan. NordiskaAfrikainstitutet (2014) 17. Reardon, T., Johan, S.: COVID-19 and resilience innovations in food supply chains. In: Swinnen, J., McDermott, J. (eds.) COVID-19 and Global Food Security, pp. 132–136. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington (2020) 18. Pingali, P.: Green revolution: Impacts, limits, and the path ahead. PNAS 109(31), 12302–12308 (2012) 19. Martin, W., Laborde, D.: Chapter 3. In: Global food policy report: 2018, pp. 20–29. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington (2018) 20. Anderson, K.: The intersection of trade policy, price volatility, and food security. Annu. Rev. Resour. Econ. 6(1), pp. 513–532. Annex (2014). http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/pol icy/wesp/wesp_current/2014wesp_country_classification.pdf

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21. Anderson, K. (ed.): Distortions to agricultural incentives: A global perspective, 1955–2007. The World Bank (2009) 22. Prasad, J. (Ed.). Export Potential of Indian Agriculture. Mittal Publications (2002) 23. Kjelden-Kragh, S.: The role of agriculture in economic development: The lessons of history. Copenhagen Business School Press DK (2007) 24. Staatz, J.M., Eicher, C.K.: Agricultural development ideas from a historical perspective. In: International Agricultural Development, 3rd edn (1998) 25. Lundahl, M. (ed.): The Primary Sector in Economic Development (Routledge Revivals): Proceedings of the Seventh Arne Ryde Symposium, Frostavallen, August 29–30 1983. Routledge (2015) 26. Ezirigwe, J., Ojike, C., Amechi, E., Adewopo, A.: ‘COVID-19/food insecurity syndemic’: Navigating the Realities of food security imperatives of Sustainable Development Goals in Africa. Law Dev. Rev. 1 (ahead-of-print) 27. Espitia, A., Rocha, N., Ruta, M.: COVID-19 and food protectionism: The impact of the pandemic and export restrictions on world food markets (2020) 28. Ali, S., Vickers, B., Zhuawu, C., Zimmermann, A., Attaallah, H., Dervisholli, E.: Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food trade in the commonwealth. Rome: Commonwealth Secretariat (2020) 29. Jena, P.K.: Challenges and opportunities created by COVID-19 for ODL: A case study of IGNOU. Int. J. Innov. Res. Multi. Field (IJIRMF) 6 (2020) 30. Monahan, K.J., Lincoln, A., East, J.E., Benton, S., Burn, J., DeSouza, B., Snape, K. et al.: Management strategies for the colonoscopic surveillance of people with Lynch syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gut (2020) 31. Nicholls, C. I., Altieri, M. A.: Agroecology and the reconstruction of a post-COVID-19 agriculture. J. Peasant Stud. 47(5), 881–898 (2020) 32. Prideaux, B., Thompson, M., Pabel, A.: Lessons from COVID-19 can prepare global tourism for the economic transformation needed to combat climate change. Tourism Geogr. 1–12 (2020) 33. Johnson, H.C., Gossner, C.M., Colzani, E., Kinsman, J., Alexakis, L., Beauté, J., Ekdahl, K., et al.: Potential scenarios for the progression of a COVID-19 epidemic in the European Union and the European Economic Area, March 2020. Euro Surveill. 25(9), 2000202 (2020) 34. Oldekop, J.A., Horner, R., Hulme, D., Adhikari, R., Agarwal, B., Alford, M., Bebbington, A.J., et al.: COVID-19 and the case for global development. World Dev. 134, 105044 (2020) 35. Barua, S.: Understanding coronanomics: The economic implications of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. SSRN Electron. J. (2020). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3566477 36. Workie, E., Mackolil, J., Nyika, J., Ramadas, S.: Deciphering the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on food security, agriculture, and livelihoods: A review of the evidence from developing countries. Current Res. Environ. Sustain. 100014 (2020) 37. Henningse, A., Hamann, J.D.: System fit: A package for estimating systems of simultaneous equations in R. J. Stat. Softw. 23(4), 1–40 (2007) 38. MacKinnon, J. G., Haug, A. A., Michelis, L.: Numerical distribution functions of likelihood ratio tests for cointegration. J. Appl. Econometrics, 14(5), 563–577 (1999) 39. Gale, W., Krupkin, A., Rueben, K.: The relationship between taxes and growth: New evidence. Natl. Tax J. 68(4), 919–942 (2015) 40. Schmidt-Klau, D., Lee, S., Verick, S.: The labour market impacts of the COVID-19: A global perspective. Indian. J. Labour. Econ. 63, 11–15 (2020) 41. Goetz, S., Schmidt, C., Chase, L., Kolodinsky, J.: Americans’ food spending patterns explain devastating impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on agriculture. J. Agric. Food Syst. Community Dev 9(3), 31–33 (2020)

Integration of Eco-innovation Drivers and Their Role in Sustainable Competitive Advantage in SMEs: A Proposed Conceptual Model Khalid Mady , Mohamed Battour , Idris Elhabony , Tamer Elsheikh , Munira Mhd Rashid , and Mohamed Ahmed Sulub Abstract Although the adoption of eco-innovation in SMEs has been covered in the sustainability literature, there remains a shortage of publications addressing the integration among internal and external eco-innovation drivers in SMEs. In addition, most of the previous studies have given intensive attention to examining the impact of eco-innovation on business performance, regardless of its impact on sustainable competitive advantage in SMEs. Hence, this paper proposes a conceptual model integrating the external institutional pressures into internal capabilities to conceptualise how these enabling factors affect eco-innovation and, in turn, achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in SMEs. This paper helps to conceptualise how ecoinnovation practices can play an essential role in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage in SMEs. It also provides original insights into the interactions between the driving factors of eco-innovation. The conceptualised model is expected to be valuable to eco-innovation literature by developing an in-depth understanding of how the driving factors can be synergetic and the role of eco-innovation in SCA in SMEs. Keywords Eco-innovation · Sustainable competitive advantage · Eco-innovation drivers · Institutional pressure · Internal environmental capabilities · SMEs

K. Mady (B) · T. Elsheikh · M. M. Rashid · M. A. Sulub Faculty of Business and Economics and Social Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] M. Battour College of Business Administration, A’Sharqiyah University, Ibra, Oman I. Elhabony Faculty of Economic, University of Benghazi, Benghazi, Libya K. Mady · T. Elsheikh Faculty of Commerce, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, Egypt © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_26

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1 Introduction While environmental sustainability is a worldwide issue that addressed in the UN SDGs, more emphasis were putted on the firms to change their core businesses to be more greener [1]. In view of the fact that, 90% of businesses in developing countries are classified as SMEs, more concern were given to the manufacturing SMEs to adopt green practices [2, 3]. Manufacturing SMEs are expected to cause a high environmental footprint more than the combined environmental footprint of large companies [4, 5]. Therefore, SMEs are facing a serious challenge in how they can incorporate green practices (e.g. eco-innovation practices) into their conducts and practices [6]. The notion of eco-innovation has been raised as a win-win solution in the literature, which can lead to relieve these pressures and improve SMEs’ sustainable performance [1, 5]. In recent decades, the literature has shown an increasing interest in investigating the role of adopting eco-innovation practices in enhancing SMEs’ economic and environmental performance [7, 8]. Based on Dynamic capability view, firm performance is considered a lagging indicator but sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) is viewed as a leading indicator that can effectively be used to evaluate a firm‘s success [5, 9]. Moreover, SCA is conceived of as a rational concept reflecting a pair of mutually reinforcing objectives; sustainability and competitiveness [5, 10]. While the role of eco-innovation on SMEs performance has extensively researched, little attention was paid to the effect of eco-innovation in enhancing SCA [5]. Positive consequences were realized as a result of adopting eco-innovation practices by SMEs. For instance, enhance competitive position in the market, increase resource efficiency, product differentiation, and improve firm’s image and reputation [11]. Consequently, the eco-innovation literature has concentrated on investigating enabling factors for eco-innovation practices within SMEs [12–14]. The empirical literature has illustrated that eco-innovation can be driven by two sets of factors: internal drivers such as organisational capabilities and managerial environmental awareness, and external drivers such as regulatory requirements and customer preferences [15–17]. The latter set of driving factors is related to the institutional and societal pressures that have been exerted by external parts on the firm to adopt eco-innovation practices. As such, these pressures can encourage a firm to adopt or give up certain choices pertaining to proactive environmental strategies such as ecoinnovation [18, 19]. While institutional or external pressures have received considerable attention from prior studies on eco-innovation, the results on the role of these pressures on adopting eco-innovation are inconsistent [20, 21]. This may be due to that the targeted influence of these pressures to take eco-innovation orientation may increasingly draw on internal capabilities and managerial perceptions of these pressures [21, 22]. Therefore, the issue of how institutional pressures and internal drivers can be interacted to foster eco-innovation still requires further evidence. Thus, the aim of the current study is to propose a conceptual framework by integrating external institutional pressures with internal capabilities to conceptualise how these enabling factors affect eco-innovation and, in turn, achieve a sustainable

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competitive advantage in SMEs. This paper is also expected to provide suggestions for policymakers and SME managers to improve their understanding of institutional pressure (rules and laws exerted on SMEs) and the internal capabilities of SMEs as well as to provide in-depth insight into how eco-innovation can affect SCA. Furthermore, this paper opens new avenues for further empirical investigations for the proposed relationships.

2 Literature Review 2.1 Drivers of Eco-innovation Eco-innovation drivers are used in the empirical research to reflect vital incentives and driving factors that motivate firms to adopt eco-innovation practices. Eco-innovation is defined as “the production, assimilation or exploitation of a product, production process, service or management or business method that is novel to the organisation and which results, throughout its life cycle, in a reduction of environmental risk, pollution and other negative impacts of resource use compared to relevant alternatives” [23], p. 7. The drivers of eco-innovation can be classified into six factors: organisational capabilities, strategic environmental orientation, absorptive capacity, regulatory pressure, competitive pressure, and eco-friendly product demand [11, 24–26]. It is also apparent that not all of these drivers are located solely within the internal context of the firm but adopting eco-innovation may also entail external pressure including regulatory, environmental customer preferences, and competitive pressure. According to the organisational context, previous studies have categorised eco-innovation in SMEs into two main categories: internal and external drivers [27, 28]. Internal drivers of eco-innovation Based on resource-based view (RBV), the resources and capabilities of the firm enable it to provide a competitive advantage over its rivals [29]. In accordance with that, Hansen et al. [30] present the idea of the dynamic triangle as an analytical framework whereby eco-innovation in SMEs increases as a result of interaction between three important factors, namely: the internal competencies of the enterprise, the network relations, and the strategic environmental orientation. These factors are the same drivers that are addressed as internal eco-innovation drivers in the empirical literature (As shown in Table 1). Table 1 illustrates that there are three main internal factors driving SMEs to adopt eco-innovation strategy. Firstly, organizational capabilities. Firms with technological capabilities and specialised know-how, particularly in environmental matters, are more likely to adopt eco-innovation strategy [15, 25]. In addition, the existence of environmental management system (EMS) as one of the important environmental organisational capabilities makes a firm be able to adapt to the changes that occur

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Table 1 Internal drivers of eco-innovation Driving factors

Key words/synonym terms

References

Organisational capabilities

Organisational capabilities

[13, 22, 28, 40, 41]

Technological capabilities

[13, 25]

EMS

[32, 33]

Technology-push factors

[31]

Eco-capabilities

[25, 42]

Dynamic capabilities

[43]

Absorptive capacity

Knowledge management practices

[14, 44]

Absorptive capacity

[1, 39, 44]

Strategically environmental orientation

Strategic environmental orientation

[1, 33]

Managerial environmental awareness

[14, 45]

Managerial environmental concern

[15]

in the external environment [31–33]. Secondly, absorptive capacity. The success of an enterprise’s eco-innovation strategy also depends on its ability to deal with the beneficial external knowledge that refers to its absorptive capacity [34, 35]. The function of absorptive capacity is to support the learning process by sensitising SMEs to new environmental trends and knowledge [36–38]. Thirdly, strategically environmental orientation the adopted eco-innovation strategy reflects the SME perception of environmental issues [39]. According to Aboelmaged and Hashem [34], absorptive capacity alone is not deemed the primary driver of green innovations within SMEs, but SME managers should necessarily have a clear sustainable orientation in their long-term policies related to environmentalism. Therefore, green-oriented SMEs are more responsive to environmental issues because of their strategically environmental orientation. External drivers of eco-innovation As per institutional theory, the success of firms can increasingly depend on social support and legitimacy offered by several external factors such as regulatory and professional entities [46]. As result, there are numerous external pressures that a firm should comply with to acquire social support and legitimacy [46, 47]. Previous studies assume that there are three main external pressures exerted to foster eco-innovation, including, regulatory pressure, eco-friendly product demand, and competitive pressure (as shown in Table 2). Firstly, regulatory pressure has been seen as the most significant determinant promoting eco-innovations compared to the other types of innovations [48–50]. Many studies emphasise the role of environmental policies and laws imposed on firms as well as the economic incentives provided by governments to adopt eco-innovation practices [25, 41]. Strict

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Table 2 External drivers of eco-innovation Drivers

Key words/synonym terms

References

Environmental regulations

Environmental regulations

[25, 41, 49, 50]

Coercive pressure

[52–54]

Regulatory pressure

[1, 53, 55]

Legislative requirement

[24]

Customer demand

[13, 15]

Customer pressure

[33, 55]

Eco-friendly product demand

[1, 5]

Demand-pull factors

[31, 48]

Normative pressure

[52, 54]

Competitive pressure

[1, 15, 25]

Mimetic pressure

[54, 56]

Eco-friendly product demand

Competitive Pressure

regulations make most firms more oriented towards eco-innovation because they enable firms to reduce the cost of compliance and improve their effectiveness by satisfying their environmentally-conscious consumers [41]. Secondly, eco-friendly product demand. Customer pressure is source of normative pressure that can be regarded as an essential incentive for SMEs to rearrange their priorities, strategies, and processes according to environmental practices [21]. Responding to customer pressure to produce products that have fewer negative environmental effect is more demanding nowadays. Eco-innovation initiatives, however, encourage to make their products more eco-friendly, which help firms from their rivals [48, 50]. Thirdly, competitive pressure. The competitors can also impose what is called mimetic pressure. A firm may imitate various successful environmental practices used by competitors to acquire a competitive edge [51]. Therefore, some firms situated in competitive markets or, more appropriately, greener competitive markets are more responsive to customer needs in terms of adopting new green processes and products [25].

2.2 Eco-innovation and Sustainable Competitive Advantage Sustaining a competitive advantage is the ultimate goal of SMEs in a complex business environment [5, 57]. Firms with a sustainable competitive advantage are able to exploit unique and inimitable capabilities and resources to create superior value surplus their competitors. Eco-innovation practices can be valuable and unique capabilities that secure a sustainable competitive edge [35]. The interest of SMEs in their social responsibility enhances SCA by enhancing the enterprise’s image among society and their stakeholders [5]. In addition, the firm could subsequently tap into higher prices or build a green image as a consequence of an increase in their respond to green customer demand through eco-innovations [58]. Despite the results

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summarised above, there is a paucity of studies that are concerned with the effects of eco-innovation practices in enhancing SCA in SMEs.

3 Proposed Conceptual Model The current conceptual study provides an alternative framework which provides an obvious contrast to the traditional framework, although it is also able to explain the findings of the previous studies [59]. The eco-innovation literature has concentrated on investigating the role of institutional pressures in fostering eco-innovation practices separately from the internal drivers of eco-innovation. As a result, previous studies have accentuated that firms respond differently to these pressures depending on their internal characteristics [1, 20]. As concluded by Zhu et al [21], firms are expected to be more responsive to environmentally institutional pressures when they have strong environmental capabilities, in particular EMS like ISO14001. Consequently, both institutional pressures and internal drivers should be interacted to induce eco-innovation practices within firms. Hence, the current study proposes a conceptual model that conceptualizes ecoinnovation practices among SMEs depending on the integration between institutional pressure and internal drivers of eco-innovation. This conceptual framework builds on two main propositions (as depicted in Fig. 1). First, institutional pressures can provide yield results in fostering eco-innovations only when SMEs have internal drivers of eco-innovation. For example, SMEs can effectively respond to institutional pressures when their managers are oriented towards the environment. Thus, the internal drivers of eco-innovation are viewed as an internal mechanism for exploring the relationship between institutional pressures and eco-innovation adoption. Second, institutional pressure may fundamentally enhance internal eco-innovation drivers, in turn, prompting SMEs to adopt the eco-innovation strategy. Firms tend to invest more in green R&D activities when facing more pressure from stringent regulations to reduce industrial pollution and growing pressure from environmentally conscious customers [60]. On the other hand, SCA is used in the current study rather than organisational performance that is commonly used to investigate the effects of ecoinnovation in term of profitability and market share, regardless of the performance of rivals [15, 25]. The reason for adopting this approach is because the SCA is of predictive power rather than business performance, where dynamic-capability theory views the SCA as the leading indicator of a firm‘s success [5, 9].

4 Conclusion This research introduces a conceptual framework that could be empirically tested and offer practical implications for SMEs managers. Furthermore, empirically testing this framework may offer new insights and essential factors help decision-makers

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Fig. 1 Conceptual model of eco-innovation drivers and sustainable competitive advantage

within SMEs to enhance their ability to engage in eco-innovations and, in turn, sustain their competitive advantage. Moreover, the findings of the proposed conceptual model could help decision-makers to better understand what and how the appropriate drivers can stimulate various practices of eco-innovation (e.g. eco-product, eco-process, and eco-management) within SMEs. As is apparent from the review and conceptual model, governmentally environmental policy in the form of either regulations or economic incentives imposed on the business sector are among the most influential factors governing the adoption of eco-innovation. Therefore, the issue of how governmentally environmental policy in its various forms can affect the adoption of eco-innovation practices by SMEs as well as their competitive advantage may be an indicator for policymakers to consider when pondering whether there are sufficient regulatory features to support innovative environmental capabilities for SMEs.

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The Demand for Home-Based Dialysis Post COVID-19 Easwaramoorthy Rangaswamy , Karen Ng Meng Liang, and Nishad Nawaz

Abstract Things have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Patient with end-stage kidney disease are known to be immunocompromised. With COVID-19 situation, dialysis centres are high-risk area and Singapore’s dialysis centres are not designed for pandemic and staffs are not fully trained to handle such a situation. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, nephrologists have come together to set up protocols to manage the dialysis patients during this pandemic. This raises the questions whether there is a more efficient and safe way for patient to do their dialysis. This research aimed to study whether there is an increase in demand for Home-based Haemodialysis (HD) after COVID-19. This will help to ascertain the need for new business opportunity for Home-based HD in Singapore. The current machines available is too big and expensive for patient to do at home. There is opportunity for company to launch newer and compact HD machines for Home-based HD. A total of 109 surveys were conducted from 30 doctors and 79 nurses from between 26th October 2020 and 11th November 2020. Results shows that there an increase in behavioural shift to choose Home-based HD dialysis compared to post COVID-19. Home-based HD has been proven previously of its clinical and quality of life benefit. The uptake of Home-based HD is still low in Singapore. It is recommended that a larger scale of research need to be conducted in Singapore to further prove the need to increase Home-based HD modality. Keywords Chronic kidney disease · Home-based dialysis · COVID-19 pandemic · Haemodialysis

E. Rangaswamy Amity Global Institute, 101 Penang Road, Singapore 238466, Singapore e-mail: [email protected] K. N. M. Liang Fresenius Medical Care, Singapore, Singapore N. Nawaz (B) Department of Business Management, College of Business Administration, Kingdom University, Riffa, Kingdom of Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_27

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1 Introduction Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide epidemic that require the patient to be on long-term treatment. Based on the National Health Survey [1], about 2.3% of the Singapore nation aged 18–69 years had chronic kidney disease. Chronic Kidney Disease is a long-term treatment. Patients and caregivers went through a lot of frustration and stress in the long run. They worried about cost, the effectiveness of the treatment, food intake, fluid management and transportation etc. Nephrologists and nurses are concerned about the effectiveness, risk of infection, and overall wellbeing of the patient. There are 9503 chronic kidney disease patients undergoing dialysis in Singapore [2]. Most dialysis patients are doing their dialysis in-hospital dialysis centres, voluntary welfare organisations and private dialysis centres. There is various treatment available for patients i.e. Kidney transplant from a compatible donor, Haemodialysis (HD) and Peritoneal Dialysis (PD). Very few patients are doing Home-based Haemodialysis. Some of the reasons are cost, availability of compact machines, self-cannulation, etc. [3]. Studies have shown that frequent HD produces better clinical outcomes [4–6]. If the patients can do Home-based HD, they can dialyse more frequently on their own. Such a situation will improve clinical outcomes and quality of life. COVID-19 have taken the world by surprise. One problem arising from this pandemic was the need to improve work processes and policies in the dialysis centres as the dialysis centres are not designed to reduce close contact among the patients. The layout of the treatment area is close to one another. In countries like Australia, United States, Germany, Home-based HD is a big part of dialysis modality [7]. However, the number of Home-based HD is still meagre in Singapore [2]. There is a clear need for situation improvement because the dialysis centres are not designed for a pandemic. Health Care Professionals are also not trained to cope during a pandemic. This research will ascertain if there is an increased demand for behavioural change towards Home-based dialysis. This will provide a business opportunity for the medical device companies to launch their newly acquired haemodialysis machines in Singapore and enable patients to do their dialysis at home. More research needs to be further done in this area to influence the policy change to allow dialysis patients to claim Home-based dialysis. Currently, Home-based dialysis cost is borne by the patient. In Singapore, dialysis is provided in private dialysis centres, Voluntary Welfare Organisation, i.e. National Kidney Foundation and Public Hospitals. There are about 80 private Dialysis centres (including Private hospitals). Voluntary welfare organisations, i.e. National Kidney Foundation and public hospitals, have 55 dialysis centres across Singapore. Most dialysis centres are operated by Nephrologists practising in the private sector provider companies, i.e. Fresenius Medical Care, Davita and BBraun. Voluntary welfare organisations operate from funds donated by the public. They fund the dialysis procedure at an affordable price based on the income of the patients and household. For this research, the researchers have categorised the voluntary welfare organisations and public hospitals together.

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Due to its geographically small size, most of the location of the dialysis centres are well distributed across the island. They are making accessibility to the dialysis centres easy and convenient. The need for Home-based HD has been relatively shallow in Singapore. However, due to the recent lockdown travelling to dialysis centres have been a challenge. Dialysis schedules are disrupted due to the reduced number of patients per session in the centre. There is also fear of going out of their home to avoid the risk of contracting COVID-19. In this context, the present research study has attempted to study the perception of healthcare professionals. This research will help us understand whether there is an increased demand for a Home-based HD and a new machine to cater to the needs. This is highly crucial during a pandemic outbreak as it will minimise the risk for immunocompromised dialysis patients to contract infectious diseases. It will also relieve healthcare professionals workload, especially during a pandemic. The study focused on ascertaining any behavioural change in choosing Home-based HD after this COVID-19 experience. This research aimed to study the possibility of increasing demand for Home-based Haemodialysis Post COVID-19 and evaluate the market potential of launching a new machine in Singapore in the near future. Such a move would disrupt the market and initiate funding policy change discussion. The present research does review on the prevailing literature, arrived at the research methodology appropriate for the study and was also followed by results, which included testing of hypotheses. Discussion provides the insights on the research outcomes. Lastly conclusion was also presented along with limitations and future research directions related to the study.

2 Literature Review A review of existing literature highlights that Home-based dialysis has several advantages over in-centre dialysis. The clinical outcomes are observed to be either better or similar, and patient-centred outcomes are generally enhanced in terms of lifestyle, flexibility, increased self-management and quality of life. However, the number of Home-based dialysis remains low. Another research was conducted by dialysis and kidney care programs, health economists and home dialysis experts. The study aimed to discuss how kidney care programs, dialysis facilities and nephrologists in their countries are funded for dialysis care. It also studied whether financial incentives or disincentives exist for patients performing home dialysis and the impact on the use of home dialysis. The discussion showed that funding models (including activitybased funding) and economic incentives could increase the use of home dialysis. However, the use of financial incentives for home dialysis—whether directed at dialysis facilities, nephrologists or patients—is only one part of a high performing system that seeks to increase the use of home dialysis [7]. Based on numerous works of literature on patients doing dialysis in centres have shown that patients verbalised great concern on their quality-of-life factors such as daytime freedom and flexibility, employment, fatigue, caregiver burden, and ability to maintain “normal activities” [8, 9]. The patient also values the fact that they can continue to work and a sense of

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self-value that employment can provide if they are able to do their dialysis at home at their convenient time rather than restricted timing in the dialysis centers, which may affect their working hours. A study also shows that Home-based dialysis patients preferred Home-based dialysis over kidney transplant due to the potential risk of transplant [10]. During the recent pandemic in Singapore, to prevent COVID-19 transmission for dialysis patients, high-risk patients were segregated to prevent dialysis centre clusters. Most community dialysis centres have further assigned a fixed shift and fixed dialysis chair seating for each patient to limit contact between different individuals and facilitate contact tracing, should the need arise. The hospital designates a dialysis centre as the national home quarantine dialysis centre with the local health authority. All persons under quarantine are dialysed on the last shift (separated from the other nonquarantine patients) with a dedicated nursing team. This minimises any contact the quarantined patient may have had with other dialysis patients, dialysis centre staff, or the general public [2]. Bearing in mind that the dialysis centres were not designed in the first place to prevent highly infectious viruses such as COVID-19. The health care providers have to adapt to new changes. Many works of literature have also shown an increase in stress and mental health-related problems to the health care professionals. Suggestions and input of Health Care Professionals during this period should be further studied and taken into consideration. For instance, in India, it has also been reported that patients have missed dialysis, reducing dialysis frequency due to the COVID-19 lockdown impact. Similarly, in Singapore, the Ministry of Health approved physicians to review dialysis treatment records remotely and telephone discussion with dialysis nurses for all patients [11]. Tong et al. [12], conducted a multinational interview study on clinicians’ beliefs and attitudes about Home-based hemodialysis. The study showed that Home-based hemodialysis is low. The barriers identified for the low prevalence were external structural barriers, centre capacity, clinician responsibility and motivation, and cultural apprehension. Specific strategies to address these issues may increase access to home haemodialysis in some global regions. In a National Kidney Foundation survey of 2000 patients who receive treatment at its centres, the top reason for not wanting to switch to home treatment was the belief that they could not manage the procedure independently or have no helper to assist them. There was also a fear of infection, as reported by Tai [13] and Yoo et al. [14]. Therefore, this study aims to study the possibility of increased demand by getting the view from the Health Care Professionals during this period after experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, there is limited research done on Home-based HD in Singapore. In this context, the present research is intended to study during the pandemic situation, and it is essential to also look at the aspect of mental health of HCPs in responding to the increasing stress and workload. This may lead to the discovery of new practises policy and the redistribution of resources due to shortages of nurses.

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3 Methods In this study, the mono-method is used as the research focuses on quantitative research. The online survey method is used for the data collection. The population of Nephrologist in Singapore is estimated to be about 300 nephrologists and 600 renal nurses. This estimation is based on the total number of specialists healthcare professionals in Singapore related to kidney diseases [15]. A total of 30 nephrologists and 50 nurses are randomly selected to enable equal chance and avoid judgmental sampling results. The sampling method is stratified random sampling where they received the invitation link to participate in the survey name by their employing institution and dialysis centres’ head of the departments. An official email is sent to the Head of the Department of the renal team in the public hospitals, private hospitals, voluntary welfare organisations and private dialysis centres. Due to the high number of voluntary welfare organisation’s dialysis centres and the patients doing the dialysis, there comprise patients referred by the public hospitals. For this research, the researchers have categorised both the public hospitals and voluntary welfare organisations in the same group. The head of the department invited the healthcare professionals to participate in the online survey. The participation is based on a voluntary and anonymous basis to prevent any bias. This has helped in the collection of valid and reliable data. The research instrument used in the research is Questionnaire including Dichotomous, Nominal, Ordinal and Interval/ Ratio questions. Total of 10 questions were asked and the sample of questions are provided below, What is your current preferred modality? What are the barriers of implementing home-based HD? Importance of different Decision makers when choosing Home-based HD. A pilot test was conducted with five nephrologists and renal nurses to ensure that the questions were clear, easy to understand, grammatical errors, whether the platform is easy to use on a laptop and mobile phone. Any problems detected can be rectified before the actual rollout. This also helped to rephrase and correct some of the initial questions. A deductive approach was adopted to test the hypothesis “There is no significant difference in terms of demand between pre and post COVID-19 for Home-based HD”.

4 Results The total number of respondents to the survey are 109. Out of the 109 healthcare professionals’ respondents, 27.5% comprises doctors, and 72.5% are nurses. Based on the question about their workplace, about 56% (61 respondents) were from the private sector. This private sector consisted of doctors and nurses from private hospitals and private dialysis centres. Table 1 shows the demographic statistics of the respondents.

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Table 1 Demographic profile of the respondents Occupation of the respondents

Number of respondents

Percentage (%)

Doctors

30

27.5

Nurses

79

72.5

Current workplace of the respondents

Number of respondents

Percentage (%)

Private

61

56.0

Public

48

44.0

The following hypothesis is tested to ascertain the demand for Home-based HD. H1: There is no significant difference in demand between pre and post COVID-19 for Home-based HD. Chi-square tests were used to test the hypothesis to understand whether there are no significant differences in a behavioural shift before and after COVID-19. If the p-value is less than 0.05, this null hypothesis is rejected, and it can be concluded that there is a significant difference in terms of demand between pre and post-COVID-19. Based on the Chi-Square tests as shown in Table 2. The p-value is 0.001, which is less than 0.05 and hence the hypothesis that there is no demand increase in Home-based HD post-COVID-19 is rejected. As such, the results show that there is an increase in demand for Home-based HD. This would lead to business opportunities for medical device companies to launch a new HD machine suitable for Home-based HD. It is also imperative to evaluate whether the current machines meet the needs of the end-users. This is crucial for the Medical Device company to launch a machine that caters to the user’s needs. The study found the key consideration when choosing a Home-based HD machine which is presented in Table 3. The cost of the device is seen as the first most consideration when selecting a Home-based HD machine. The following important consideration is local language on the operational assistance of the machine, the safety of the patient when using the device and ease of use. Other considerations include support when using the machine, intuitive reasons, more treatment options, remote monitoring options and lastly, portability and flexibility when using the device. Besides understanding the demand and types of machines, it is also crucial to recognise the key barriers of considering Home-based HD for future follow-up research and influencing policy change. The types of barriers to doing the Homebased HD is shown in Table 4. It can be seen that 29.4% of highlight that cost is a key barrier. The next key barrier is self-cannulation. Other barriers included the Table 2 Chi-square tests on demand between pre and post COVID-19 for home based HD Chi-square tests

Value

Df

Asymptotic significance (2-sided)

McNemar-Bowker test

35.000

2

0.001

N of valid cases

109

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Table 3 Key consideration when choosing a home-based HD machine Considerations when choosing a Home-based HD machine

Number of respondents

Percentage (%)

Cost

23

21.1

Local language

20

18.3

Safety when using

15

13.8

Ease of use

11

10.1

Support offered for using HD machine

11

10.1

Intuitive

9

8.3

More treatment options

9

8.3

Remote monitoring options

6

5.5

Portable and flexible

5

4.6

109

100

Total

worries about the utility cost, infection, monitoring issues, caregiver burden and home modification. The study also attempted to affirm whether there is an issue with the current workplace’ design for the pandemic. The result shows that close to 50% of the healthcare professionals surveyed felt that their current dialysis centres are designed, and about 10% of healthcare professionals are unsure. 40% responded that their dialysis centres are prepared for such a pandemic. This shows that there is still a need to work on the readiness to an extend and the Home-based HD can be seen as an option. Further, this research also attempted to find the key decision-makers when choosing a modality. This will help the company segment their customer and plan their marketing activity according to capture the right audience. Table 5 shows the importance of key decision-makers when choosing Home-based HD options. It can be seen that nephrologists and the patients are the top two decision-makers when selecting the Home-based HD options. They are followed by nurses and the caregivers in the decision-making role. Table 4 Types of barriers of doing home-based HD

Types of barriers of doing home-based HD

Number of respondents

Percentage (%)

Cost

32

29.4

Self-cannulation

24

22.0

Utility bill

15

13.8

Fear of infection

13

11.9

Caregiver burden

9

8.3

Monitoring issues

10

9.2

Home modification

6

5.5

109

100.0

Total

22

5

Important

Neutral

Not at important

Total

109

7

13

62

Unimportant

No.

Importance level

Most important

100

6

12

5

20

57

Percentage (%)

Nephrologist

Decision maker

109

4

14

18

30

43

No.

Nurse

100

4

13

17

28

39

Percentage (%)

109

9

7

15

22

56

No.

Patients

Table 5 Importance of different decision makers when choosing home-based HD

100

8

6

14

20

51

Percentage (%)

109

8

11

23

26

41

No.

100

7

10

21

24

38

Percentage (%)

Caregiver

109

26

11

43

19

10

No.

Others

100

24

10

39

17

9

Percentage (%)

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5 Discussion Chronic kidney disease is a significant public healthcare issue globally [16]. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic reports demonstrated 2.9% of Home-based PD patients in the United Kingdom contracted COVID-19 compared with 9% of patients on incentre HD patients, (Brown & Perl, 2020). This research has created an interest among healthcare professionals to consider Home-based HD modality. The issue previously was lack of exposure to Home-based HD, which may be hesitant to promote Homebased HD [3]. The interest in Home-based HD now could push for more Home-based HD awareness and the possibility of developing a new policy and subsidy program for Homebased HD patients. This will help the patients financially and make dialysis a more comfortable experience as they can opt to do the dialysis at home. Based on this new interest, the Medical Device company can better plan and launch new machines catering to this need. This will provide new business growth for the medical device company. The research also helps the company segment their customer based on key decision-maker questions and consider the type of machine to launch in Singapore. Most of the Home-based dialysis research in Singapore is based on Home-based dialysis for PD. However, not all patients are suitable for PD due to their clinical condition. Home-based PD patients need to be converted to HD due to peritonitis and ultrafiltration failure [17]. Since these patients are already used to performing dialysis at home, they will prefer to choose to do it at home. A study by Pajek et al. [18] studied the outcome of PD patients switching to HD. The result of the study is based on clinical outcomes. There is no discussion on the quality of life of patients after conversion. More studies are needed to evaluate the Nephrologist’s preferred option to encourage Home-based dialysis. The purpose of this current research can help to find the factors influencing the healthcare professionals’ choice. If it is proven that healthcare professionals incentives may encourage Home-based HD, there should be an incentive put in place as part of the policy. There is no literature found on factors influencing the type of Home-based HD machines. This current research can help discover the kind of machines available here and influence the company to introduce new devices and create competition. The lack of studies on factors influencing the choice of modality. There will be patients that need Home-based HD e.g. patients that are not suitable for PD. Disruptive behaviour patients who are not ideal for in-centre based. Current disruptive patients have been moved around the private dialysis centre whenever the dialysis centre is rejecting them. There is a clear gap in this research in Singapore itself as most of the studies were done overseas or on PD as Home-based dialysis. It has taken the COVID-19 pandemic to highlight the plight of dialysis patients, Health care professionals, and companies providing dialysis. More research needs to be evaluated further to convince the policymakers to offer subsidies to Homebased HD. The kidney community ought to decide on what would be the best options available for these patients. Other than making Home-based dialysis available for the community here, research on patients’ self-efficacy and need for training programs

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need to be assessed. Factors like socioeconomic status and living conditions need to be further investigated. Having a good Home-based HD machine is the first step. The aftercare of patients, the support needed, and monitoring of these patients also need to be analysed. This will help to develop a comprehensive management programme for this group of patients. This research is just the beginning, it is now up to healthcare professionals to do conduct more research to make this modality a preferred choice for dialysis. This research involves a small scale of Health Care Professionals. To get a comprehensive view, a larger scale of research can be conducted among all the healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers. Based on this research, it is recommended that healthcare professionals create more awareness of Home-based HD modality to the patients and caregivers. Such awareness can be created through public communication during the initial phase where all modality is shared to the patients and caregiver. Medical device companies need to start planning to launch a Home-based HD machine suitable to the local market. Home-based HD will be the better option modality if there is a surge of a new wave of COVID-19 and extensive lockdown. It may be too late to launch the Home-based HD machine. Policymakers ought to look at the current subsidy program and extend the subsidy packaged to Home-based HD. Such measures will allow more patients to opt for Home-based HD.

6 Conclusion The current research would have enhanced knowledge and assist in contributing to society in the context of the Home-based HD. It would act as a catalyst to spur more discussion and research on this area and make Home-based HD a possibility soon in Singapore. Different research timing may affect results differently despite the same condition. As the current research data collection had happened amid COVID-19 and was when the COVID-19 situation was better controlled, the results may reflect respondents’ differences in the need for such a facility. The research has helped to understand that there is an increasing demand for Home-based HD and new machines to cater to the requirements. This would be highly crucial during a pandemic outbreak as it will minimise the risk for immunocompromised dialysis patients contracting infectious diseases. Furthermore, it will also help manage healthcare professionals’ workload, especially during a pandemic. The study had ascertained the behavioural change in choosing Home-based HD after this COVID-19 experience. The possibility of increasing demand for Home-based Haemodialysis post-COVID-19 and the significant market potential for a new machine in Singapore is clearly seen. Such a move would disrupt the market and initiate a new path in the healthcare resource allocations by policymakers and stakeholders. Limitations and future research directions This research has its limitation as it is aim to research on behavioural change. More need to be studied on this subject example the ability of patient to do home-based

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dialysis at home, the need for patient education, the type of support needed in order to have a more comprehensive view of the subject matter. This will create an interest with the policy makers to consider providing financial support and subsidy for this group of patients. As this research is self-funded, there are limitation as to the number of respondents and time constraint. In this study, mono-method is used as the research is focusing on quantitative research. This method has its limitation as it does not provide thorough explanations. However, it does provide perspectives of the research issue which would further be investigated where required. Statements and Declarations Funding The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the prepara-tion of this manuscript. Competing Interests Author Karen Ng Meng Liang is employed by Fresenius Medical Care, Singapore. The other authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. Author Contributions Each named author has substantially contributed to conducting the underlying research and drafting this manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Human and animal rights This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors. Consent to participate Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Informed consent All study participants provided informed consent. Data Availability Statement The authors confirm that all data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

References 1. National Health Survey.: National health survey 2010 Singapore. Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, Ministry of Health, Singapore. Retrieved from https://www.moh.gov.sg/docs/ librariesprovider5/resources-statistics/reports/nhs2010 (2010) 2. Khor, L., Ghim, A., Ms, S., Cai, G., Ng, M., Nyunt, W., Wong, M., Foong, S., Manager, D., Ng, M. A., Ms, B., Huili, Z., Foo, D., Group, L.L., Ling, A.: National Registry of Diseases Office Registry Coordinators (2021) 3. Chan, C.T., Wallace, E., Golper, T.A., Rosner, M.H., Seshasai, R.K., Glickman, J.D., Schreiber, M., Gee, P., Rocco, M.V.: Exploring barriers and potential solutions in home dialysis: An NKF-KDOQI conference outcomes report. Am. J. Kidney Dis. 73(3), 363–371 (2019) 4. Ouwendyk, M., Pierratos, A.: Reflecting on 14 years of nocturnal home hemodialysis in Canada. CANNT J. J. ACITN 18(3), 55–57 (2008) 5. Perl, J., Chan, C.T.: Home hemodialysis, daily hemodialysis, and nocturnal hemodialysis: Core Curriculum 2009. Am. J. Kidney Dis. 54(6), 1171–1184 (2009) 6. Rayment, G.A., Bonner, A.: Daily dialysis: Exploring the impact for patients and nurses. Int. J. Nurs. Pract. 14(3), 221–227 (2008) 7. Manns, B., Agar, J.W.M., Biyani, M., Blake, P.G., Cass, A., Culleton, B., Kleophas, W., Komenda, P., Lobbedez, T., MacRae, J.: Can economic incentives increase the use of home dialysis? Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. 34(5), 731–741 (2019)

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8. Morton, R.L., Devitt, J., Howard, K., Anderson, K., Snelling, P., Cass, A.: Patient views about treatment of stage 5 CKD: A qualitative analysis of semistructured interviews. Am. J. Kidney Dis. 55(3), 431–440 (2010) 9. Walker, R.C., Howard, K., Morton, R.L., Palmer, S.C., Marshall, M.R., Tong, A.: Patient and caregiver values, beliefs and experiences when considering home dialysis as a treatment option: A semi-structured interview study. Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. 31(1), 133–141 (2016) 10. Walker, R.C., Howard, K., Morton, R.L.: Home hemodialysis: a comprehensive review of patient-centered and economic considerations. ClinicoEcon. Outcomes Res.: CEOR 9, 149 (2017) 11. Spoorthy, M.S., Pratapa, S.K., Mahant, S.: Mental health problems faced by healthcare workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic—a review. Asian J. Psychiatr. 51, 102119 (2020) 12. Tong, A., Palmer, S., Manns, B., Craig, J.C., Ruospo, M., Gargano, L., Johnson, D.W., Hegbrant, J., Olsson, M., Fishbane, S.: Clinician beliefs and attitudes about home haemodialysis: A multinational interview study. BMJ Open 2(6), e002146 (2012) 13. Tai, J.: NKF to raise subsidies to encourage home dialysis. The Strait Times. https://www.asi aone.com/singapore/nkf-raise-subsidies-encourage-home-dialysis?amp (2015) 14. Yoo, J., Ruppar, T., Wilbur, J., Miller, A., Westrick, J.C.: Effects of home-based exercise on frailty in patients with end-stage renal disease: Systematic review. Biol. Res. Nurs. 24(1), 48–63 (2022) 15. Ministry of Health.: Ministry of Health. Chronic Disease Management Programme. https:// www.moh.gov.sg/policies-and-legislation/chronic-disease-management-programme-(cdmp) (2020) 16. Ramirez, S.P.B.: Chronic kidney disease prevention in Singapore. Clin. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 3(2), 610–615 (2008) 17. Davies, S.J., Phillips, L., Griffiths, A.M., Russell, L.H., Naish, P.F., Russell, G.I.: What really happens to people on long-term peritoneal dialysis? Kidney Int. 54(6), 2207–2217 (1998) 18. Pajek, J., Hutchison, A.J., Bhutani, S., Brenchley, P.E.C., Hurst, H., Perme, M.P., Summers, A.M., Vardhan, A.: Outcomes of peritoneal dialysis patients and switching to hemodialysis: A competing risks analysis. Perit. Dial. Int. 34(3), 289–298 (2014)

Factors Influencing Talent Retention in April Dental Center Mohammad Allaymoun, Tamer M. Alkadash, Alaa Sadeq, Fatima Khalifa, Abdullah Yousif, and Mustafa Hasan

Abstract This research paper aims to identify how to retain talented human resources in April Dental Center (virtual company), in addition to identifying the reality of talent management among workers in April Dental Center in the society of development and knowledge. And previous studies on this subject in order to expand the science and knowledge on this subject, and the research paper reached its results in the possibility of applying the proposed solutions to retain talented human resources in April Dental Center on the one hand, two specializations in human and financial resources that can achieve competitive advantage. This research paper represented several operations, such as: defining the problem, setting causes for this problem, developing solutions that fit the problem, proposing an empirical solution to the existing problem, extracting conclusions, and making recommendations. Keywords HRM · Talent retention · Performance · Employees · Training · Recruit

M. Allaymoun (B) · T. M. Alkadash · A. Sadeq · F. Khalifa · A. Yousif · M. Hasan Administrative Science Department, College of Administrative and Financial Science, Gulf University, Sanad 26489, Kingdom of Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] T. M. Alkadash e-mail: [email protected] A. Sadeq e-mail: [email protected] F. Khalifa e-mail: [email protected] A. Yousif e-mail: [email protected] M. Hasan e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_28

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1 Introduction The Human resources are the main factor in achieving creativity and innovation, as they are the ones that achieve the added value of operations in light of the challenges witnessed in today’s world, represented in technological developments and interest in knowledge and technology and knowledge brilliance [1], and since the human element is the real source for the formation of competitiveness, and achieving distinguished results by skipping Barriers, excellence and creativity for survival and growth in light of the intense competition for organizations [2] pointed out the importance of highlighting the leading role of talent management and investment in achieving the dreams of excellence in business organizations as it is a vital element with a contribution to achieving high performance within the organization, while indicated that strengthening the competitive capabilities of human resources leads to the encouragement of innovation and continuous development processes, which contributes to achieving the competitive advantage of the organization [3]. Therefore, the organization’s possession of human talent contributes to achieving competitive advantage by relying on their efficiency and effectiveness in achieving the organization’s goals, and the concept of human talent management appeared to discover and nurture talent within the organization as one of the sources of strength that cannot be imitated, and the role of human resources management increased to discover talents and achieve excellence in performance [4]. As for the accounting department, in the past few years, the role of the accountant has been limited to keeping financial records. However, with the fast changes in the business environment, accountants have been obliged to re-evaluate their tasks and roles within companies and societies. After the boom in work environments, as we mentioned previously, the role of the accountant has shifted in our time from just recording transactions to an effective and basic member that provides relevant information and helps in decision-making [5]. Accounting has become broader and larger than just keeping books and preparing financial reports. The accounting department has become able to manage and work in many new fields, such as forensic accounting, where the accountant’s task is to solve crimes, such as stealing money on the Internet and computer hacking. The accountant has also become able to design online payment systems, financial planning, accounting environments, and many more [6]. The accounting department is now able to provide the necessary information to managers and stakeholders in order to make the best decisions. With the passage of time, accounting has become a broader and larger function of great importance in information systems. The accountant is now working on collecting data and economic information about the company and transmitting it to a large group of users whose decisions and actions are linked to its performance [7]. Proceeding from the importance of the presence of the human resources management department and the accounting department, we will present one of the problems that may occur in companies or institutions and be solved or avoided by using human resources management and accounting together.

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April Center (virtual company) is an integrated dental center that provides a variety of services in the field of dentistry. It is classified among the advanced centers in dentistry and is characterized by an ideal atmosphere in order to meet all the needs of patients and work to provide the best quality dental care for all segments of society.

2 Literature Review Despite the development of technical and technological methods of work, and the continuous growth of organizations, the human element is still the most important production element affecting the quality of organizational performance, which makes the interest in managing people, raising the level of human resource management and directing resources and modern technology to serve them a priority [8]. In view of the role that human resources play in organizations, it is of paramount importance. After they were seen as production tools, they became an important resource for the institution, because of the thought and knowledge they gained from their contact with work, and their acquisition of the expertise and skills necessary to perform it [9]. In the health sector, human resources are an integral part of it, so they always need more training and qualification, especially since the competitive work environment in this society is growing and increasing dramatically due to the increase in the number of dental clinics. Training is an investment in the company’s human assets [10]. In addition, training is seen on, it is a useful tool with changes sponsored by technological innovations, market competition, and organizational structure as organizations that provide training to their employees make a worthwhile investment in employees as this investment increases the functional capabilities of employees in a rapidly changing global market [11]. It is characterized by increasing technological progress and increasing organizations’ demand for more flexible and qualified human resources to adapt and remain in the cycle of competition. The system for training and developing human resources in the organization is a key mechanism to ensure the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve the goals of the organization and create a competitive advantage, as the competitive advantage is the basic base on which performance is based. Company [12]. Each of Alferai et al. [13] discuss in their study the research on talent turnover and retention in the tourism sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which aimed to study the impact of direct factors on talent management (role conflict, external rewards, and job satisfaction). The indirect factors (organizational commitment, talent retention, and talent correlation) affect the intention of talent turnover, and the study found a significant positive effect of external rewards on organizational commitment and talent retention [13]. The study indicated that there is a positive effect of talent management on job satisfaction, and the significant impact of organizational commitment on job satisfaction indicated that highly committed workforces tend to be more connected and involved in their work. Its employees always feel proud of

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their association with the organization, and it was found that the external rewards have a significant negative impact on the intent to turn and the conflict of roles. The model indicated that the significant negative impact of job satisfaction on sales intent suggests that managers must keep their highly talented employees satisfied in order to reduce the likelihood that they will leave the organization. Study of Ghada bint Abdul Hamid bin Humaidan Al Jahdali [14] and its topic: “The reality of the contribution of talent management to the development of academic human resources at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah from the point of view of its university leaders.” This study aimed to identify the reality of the contribution of talent management with its five strategies (attract, select, participate, develop, and retain) to the development of academic human resources and identify the requirements for applying talent management at leadership levels (university administration, college administration, and academic department management) from the point of view of leaders at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah. The study followed a descriptive approach. The questionnaire was used as a tool for data collection, and the number of community members was (82), but the return and benefit for the study were only (54), which represented (65.85%) of the original community. The study reached several results, the most important of which are the following: The reality of the contribution of talent management with its five strategies (attraction, selection, participation, development, and retention) in the development of academic human resources at King Abdulaziz University, it is medium from the point of view of the sample members. There are no significant differences A statistic between the opinions of the study community members about the reality of the contribution of talent management in its five aspects to the development of academic human resources at King Abdulaziz University due to the variables (leadership position, academic degree, number of courses) [14].

3 The Problem Institutions, companies, or any organization may face many problems on several levels at the April Dental Center. Based on our belief that maintaining employees is very important, especially those with experience and competence, we focused on the problem of employee turnover after the management noticed that the number of turnovers had increased in recent periods. Based on the problem we are facing; we have developed many solutions and recommendations to avoid or reduce the recurrence of this problem at the April Dental Center. • The suggested solutions are: We have developed several solutions and procedures to reduce the number of departures or avoid the risks of sudden resignations or frequent employee turnover in April Dental Center, including. Appreciation and respect for all employees in various departments.

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– Conduct periodic surveys to ensure employee satisfaction. – Annual employee performance appraisal questionnaires, based on employee promotion. – Pay salaries on time. – Providing vacations for employees. – Appreciating the efforts of the employees and giving them financial and moral incentives. – Providing a distinctive and appropriate work environment. – Giving employees an opportunity to express their opinion and develop proposals.

4 Research Methodology This research used previous studies that included and related to the same topic with different companies or institutions in which the topic was conducted, as it contains studies of people who raised the problem of employee turnover, talent maintenance, or departure management in a specific company or institution. Their opinion was taken, and these studies were considered in order to reach the appropriate foundations and procedures that will help solve the problem and develop the best proposals to be applied. This was done after referring to the references and analyzing many studies and previous cases that faced the human and financial resources management departments in companies. After looking at all the above, we got a general conception of how to solve or find an appropriate solution for each of the human resources.

5 Discussion and Recommendations The Radical changes have occurred recently in the business world, affecting the nature of management in general and the management of human resources. These changes have created new challenges that human resources management should find quick solutions, the most important of which are: • • • • •

Retaining the best talent. Non-optimal use of resources. Diversity in the work environment. Recruitment. Productivity.

The April Dental Center has many talented employees, and this is what made the center one of the best centers in the Kingdom of Bahrain, gaining a good reputation and turning a distinguished and attractive place to work. Overcoming barriers and relying on the role of each member of the center, especially the talented, as the

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progress of the center depends on the progress of the idea and its scientific and technical production. One of the biggest challenges faced by the human resources department in April Dental Center is embracing and retaining talented employees, which is more efficient than hiring, training, and directing a new replacement employee, and this costs the company a lot. This problem was chosen because of the development that the world has witnessed in recent years, and attention to the distinguished and talented has become an important thing, the scarcity of polarization and obtaining talented employees, and the fear of their exodus from the company, as they contribute effectively to the development and progress of the company and its growth and achieving competitive advantage and profitability. Solutions From Previous Cases • Salary is a major reason, employees can easily see what their peers earn in other companies, making them fully aware of their market value. Thus, offering competitive salaries and other benefits can motivate them to stay. Keep in mind that although not every resignation is financial in nature, disclosure of other underlying factors may be necessary for employee retention. Develop an organizational framework for talented employees. • Providing a special budget for the retention of talented employees and the need to put in place a system of rewards, promotions, and talent mobility, companies that value their culture of appreciation highly are three times more likely to see an increase in employee retention and more than twice as likely to increase employee engagement. • Creating a wonderful work environment and making it more appropriate and encouraging innovations and unconventional performance, considering linking ideas and works to their owners and not attributing them to direct superiors, and a work environment free of discrimination and bias that makes the employee feel integrated and will encourage employees to stay. • Employee job satisfaction and engagement factors are the main components of employee retention programs. The importance of addressing these factors is clear but doing so takes time and often these tasks are left for another day. However, the payoff of focusing on employee retention—in terms of increased performance, productivity, employee morale, and work quality, as well as reduced employee turnover and employee-related issues—is well worth the time and financial investment. The bottom line is that by managing employee retention, organizations will retain talented and motivated employees who really want to be a part of the company and who are focused on contributing to the organization’s overall success. See Employee Satisfaction and Engagement: The Doors of Opportunity Are Open. • Give your employees a chance to grow many companies promote to people outside the organization, do not provide continuous training and education for their workers because there is no way to advance or improve, employees are disappointed in their roles, and they are less likely to stay. Continuing education

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makes employees feel valued and gives them something to look forward to. When there is a clear path forward, your workforce will feel like an important part of the company’s success. The financial department is what links the financial management (accounting) and human resources management, as human resources depend on the financial management in order to determine the required budget (in general) salaries or any other employment in addition to incentives and rewards and sending abroad or conducting training courses in the company. Through the problem that the April Dental Center faced, which is to preserve the talented staff, a meeting was held between the two departments and the problem was raised, and each department began to propose appropriate solutions in terms of what it deems appropriate. Experimenting and Evaluating Solutions • Employee’s voice The reason: by listening to him and giving him the right to speak and share opinions and listen to suggestions in addition to identifying the problems he suffers and the needs that he aspires to and the vision of working individuals and all components of the organization or company is good through the ability of working individuals to identify the vision, values and foundation And the message that the company adopts, which is bequeathed to the working individuals, and therefore when the employee sees that the company in which he works is characterized by clarity and transparency, this will help the company to retain the talented. • Organizational integrity The reason: The company or the competent authority has developed a set of procedures for managing human resources and how to run them, whether those related to the training aspect or related to wages, compensation and promotions systems, and the organization must adopt all standards and foundations of organizational integrity and organizational justice that help create a motivating and good work environment that helps individuals Its employees have the job integration and this helps the company to retain them. • Providing continuing education The reason: Continuing education and clear paths to advancement not only provide promotion from within a clear path to greater compensation and responsibility, but also help employees feel valued and an important part of the company’s success. So, employee development and education are essential. “First, provide appropriate professional and career development opportunities for each individual,” Parsons says. “This should begin with assessment, feedback from mentoring, and an understanding of the individual’s specific and in-depth strengths, risk factors, and intrinsic motivations.

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• Rewards and incentives The reason: the more the organization uses the culture of rewards and incentives for employees, the higher their performance will be, the less their leakage to other companies, the greater their enthusiasm for work and the employee’s sense of appreciation for his work performance and the productivity he provides and a feeling of satisfaction. One of the most important ways to solve the problem of employee turnover or the problem of increasing the number of departures, is to provide attractive and distinctive benefits to our employees and appreciate their efforts, and this is by providing excellent medical insurance for employees and their families, contracting with companies and institutions of various businesses to provide discounts and discounts for employees, Such as contracting with car agencies to offer a fixed discount to the employee in the event he wants to buy a car. We will also appreciate the efforts of our employees after their performance is evaluated based on the questionnaires we conduct, for example, giving them moral incentives such as certificates and shields, or material incentives such as monthly or annual salary increases (bonuses). All of these points are important, but they must be available in an appropriate and appropriate work environment in order to allow employees to work in the required manner that the institution or company seeks or aspires to, that is, it should be noted that the employee’s performance does not rise as long as the working conditions surrounding him are not conducive to production. So, here the managers and their employees must discover these conditions and work to modify them, such as modifying the incentive system, wages, working times, rest and vacations, and all of this may help to improve working conditions, maintain experienced and efficient employees, and reduce departures as well. Because in April Dental Center are keen on employee retention and to better reduce and manage departures. There are many recommendations that help achieve the desired goal, including: • • • • • • •

Putting employees in jobs that suit them. Providing a valid and efficient work environment. Providing attractive and distinctive benefits to our employees. Appreciate the efforts of all employees. Commitment to mutual respect between management and employees. Involve employees in making decisions or listen to them and their suggestions. Placing employees with a clear picture of the requirements and conditions of work and their duties.

6 Conclusion In this research paper, it focused on one of the most important problems facing the human resources department and employees in any organization, which is the problem of retaining talented employees. The solutions and recommendations were

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applied to a virtual company, which is April Dental Center. On the other hand, the biggest challenge faced by the human resources department in April Dental Center is incubating and retaining talented employees more efficiently than hiring, training, and mentoring. A new replacement employee, and this costs the company a lot. Retaining talented employees builds a stronger and more productive center, and it is also possible to seek help from them in the company’s internal consultations. The most important causes that contributed to the occurrence of this problem were reviewed, and a set of solutions was imposed that helped reduce the effects that the institution may face. Experience has confirmed that the effective investment of human resources makes these organizations able to compete, and this investment is embodied in its best form in talent management. Selecting employees, discovering their talents, and developing them come to the forefront of priorities. Among these solutions are encouraging innovation, motivating, listening to employees, integrity, transparency, continuous development, and training.

References 1. Fernández, E., Junquera, B., Ordiz, M.: Organizational culture and human resources in the environmental issue: A review of the literature. Int. J. Hum. Resour. Manag. 14(4), 634–656 (2003) 2. Keshta, M.S., El Talla, S.A., Al Shobaki, M.J., Abu-Naser, S.S.: Perceived organizational reputation and its impact on achieving strategic innovation (2020) 3. Manzoor, F., Wei, L., Nurunnabi, M., Subhan, Q.A., Shah, S.I.A., Fallatah, S.: The impact of transformational leadership on job performance and CSR as mediator in SMEs. Sustainability 11(2), 436 (2019) 4. AlZgool, M., Ahmed, U., Shah, S., Alkadash, T., AlMaamary, Q.: Going green during COVID19: Examining the links between green HRM, green supply chain and firm performance in food industry of Bahrain: The moderating role of lockdown due to COVID-19. Uncertain Supply Chain Manag. 9(1), 79–88 (2021) 5. DeCenzo, D.A., Robbins, S.P., Verhulst, S.L.: Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. Wiley (2016) 6. Newman, G.R., Clarke, R.V.: Superhighway Robbery. Willan (2013) 7. Chintagunta, P.K., Gopinath, S., Venkataraman, S.: The effects of online user reviews on movie box office performance: Accounting for sequential rollout and aggregation across local markets. Mark. Sci. 29(5), 944–957 (2010) 8. Alzgool, M.: Nexus between green HRM and green management towards fostering green values. Manag. Sci. Lett. 9(12), 2073–2082 (2019) 9. Alkadash, T.M., Alamarin, F.: An integrative conceptual framework on employee performance during COVID-19 pandemic for Bahrain SMEs. Psychol. Educ. (2021) 10. Mathis, R.L., Jackson, J.H., Valentine, S.R., Meglich, P.: Human Resource Management. Cengage Learning (2016) 11. Niazi, A.S.: Training and development strategy and its role in organizational performance. J. Public Adm. Gov. 1(2) (2011) 12. Hsieh, Y.H., Chen, H.M.: Strategic fit among business competitive strategy, human resource strategy, and reward system. Acad. Strateg. Manag. J. 10(2), 11 (2011)

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13. Alferaih, A., Sarwar, S., Eid, A.: Talent turnover and retention research: The case of tourism sector organisations in Saudi Arabia. In: Evidence-based HRM: a Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship. Emerald Publishing Limited (2018) 14. Ghada bint Abdul Hamid bin Humaidan Al-Jahdali and its topic: The reality of the contribution of talent management to the development of academic human resources at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah (2013)

Impact of Economic Growth, Finance and Trade Nexus on Environmental Degradation in Selected Emerging Countries Mohammad Rashdan and Othman Sawafta

Abstract Most of the papers that examined the EKC put emphasis on atmospheric indicators, while ignoring other environmental factors like land, coastal, sea, freshwater, biodiversity and coral reefs. This study aims at investigating the EKC by utilizing biodiversity indicator (capture fisheries production), therefore to the best of our knowledge this is the novel contribution of this study both to existing literature and practice. The study used 16 nations of which 11 are newly industrialized and the other 5 are members of the BRICS countries, and the data was collected from World Development indicators of the (World development indicators. World Bank, Washington, 2019). An improved robust panel GMM techniques was employed, to be specific, the study used the Arellano–Bover/Blundel–Bond (J. Econometrics 68:29–51, 1995; J. Econometrics 87:115–143, 1998). The analysis highlighted that the inverted N-shaped link exist between biodiversity and economic growth in a panel of selected countries in the short-term. The introduction of control variables to our regression apparatus altered the steepness of the inverted N-shaped pattern between biodiversity and growth. In order to provide robust public policy recommendations, short-term and long-term elasticity estimates were utilized. Keywords Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) · Economic growth · Biodiversity · Sustainability · Inverted N-shaped

M. Rashdan Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Economic and Insurance Department, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine e-mail: [email protected] O. Sawafta (B) Business and Economics Faculty, Computerized Financial and Banking Science Department, Palestine Technical University, Tulkarm, Palestine e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_29

345

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1 Introduction The rapid ecological degradation and global warming have raised concern among governments, policy makers, development cooperation and researchers from around the global economic system. The 12 December 2015 Paris agreement is a significant effort by international community, in which nations pledge to address climate change. Climate change is as a result of various issues ranging from “population growth, economic growth, urbanization, trade, technology, choice of infrastructure and behavior”. It is a complex task to determine the factors leading to economic expansion and it is too complex to figure out the association between the economy development and the environment. However, it the help of EKC hypothesis, this relationship can be examined more robustly, thus it considers scale, methods, and structure of the economic activities. The majority of studies which delved into the “environmental Kuznets hypothesis” have focused on atmospheric factors of environmental degradation, yet there is scanty study relating to other ecological indicators such as land indicators, coast, freshwater, sea, ocean, and biodiversity, Sarkodie and Strezov [1]. Although literature is awash on the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis, there is no agreement among the studies using the same indicators, econometric techniques, period and even countries. The study will investigate the “environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis” “Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam”. These emerging economies were selected due to their impressive economic performance over the years and the demographic structure is promising but concerns about the environmental quality in these economies should be given due scrutiny. To the best of our knowledge, there is no existing research studies which have considered capture fisheries in the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in the selected economies, hence making this work the first of its kind in these countries. Thus, the insertion of biodiversity (capture fisheries) became the main contribution of this paper to prevailing literature on the EKC framework. As a result, this paper will immensely contribute to both empirical and theoretical context through its deliberation on biodiversity indicator in enquiring the “cubic polynomial function” of the EKC. However, in order to achieve that, control variables such as domestic credit provided by financial sector, industry value added, and trade (exports and imports of goods and services) will be incorporated so as to observe the stability of our model with change in control variables. The paper is structured as follows: literature review, Sect. 3 considers the methodology, Sect. 5 will present the results and discussion thereof and Sect. 7 provides conclusion and policy recommendations.

Impact of Economic Growth, Finance and Trade Nexus …

347

2 Literature Azizalrahman and Hasyimi [2] employed key measures of carbon dioxide emissions in the EKC and revealed the existence of a pattern of an inverted U-shape between the CO2 and GDP. Iranian sectors of the economy evidenced the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve, Shabani and Shahnazi [3]. The EKC is not a good thing because it was revealed that in Europe, the pressure on the environment increased with the development of the economy and could not decline with later growth and no pattern was found, Aydin et al. [4]. The Chinese prefectures have indicated the existence of a U-shaped relation to the tenure of prefecture party secretary and the mean yearly PM2.5 levels, Cao et al. [5]. Liu et al. [6] studied the impact of income inequalities in the Chines carbon dioxide emission and their empirical findings pointed the presence of an inverted U-shape EKC. Wang et al. [7] investigated the “socio-economic development on China’s coastal waters”. The analysis revealed that “coastal provinces in China” hold different qualities along the EKC and also urbanization is a danger to seawater quality at the middle stage of the EKC. Kibria et al. [8] examined the energy mix Kuznets curve and the results supported its existence in a panel of 151 economies for the period 1971 up to 2013. In a study by Ding et al. [9], it was revealed that the relationship between the growth of the economy and PM2.5 is an inverted U-shaped form. Pao and Chen [10] estimated the carbon Kuznets curve for the group of 20 economies and found its existence, based on the findings, the duo has noted that total decoupling is the way to a sustainable future. Investment in sanitation and the level of education are negatively correlated in the cities of China, an indication that the EKC does not hold in the case of municipal solid waste, Gui et al. [11]. Hao et al. [12] examined the marriage between forest resources and the growth of the economy in the three regions in China and found evidence which pointed to the existence of the EKC and then mooted the possibility of a balanced growth trajectory in which forest resources will be utilized sustainably. China’s main grain producing regions have supported the existence of the EKC for the emissions of carbon dioxide from agricultural sector, Zhang et al. [13]. Shahbaz et al. [14] have noted that the EKC does not hold for the short-run, but in the long-run it holds for the Vietnamese economy and further lauded that the long run relationship between income and pollution is well described by the N-shaped pattern.

3 Empirical Model This study empirically investigated the relationship which exist between capture fisheries production, domestic credit, exports of goods and services, GDP per capita, which to the best of our knowledge no existing study have considered it in this way. The equation below presents our model: C F P =θ0 + θi1 G D P + θi2 G D P 2 + θi3 G D P 3 + θi4 I V A

348

M. Rashdan and O. Sawafta

+ θi5 E G S + θi6 I G S + θi7 DC F + εit

(1)

where, “CFP is for capture fisheries production; GDP is for per capita gross domestic product, GDP2 being the square of GDP per capita, GDP3 is the cubic polynomial form; IVA is the industry value added, EGS is exports of goods and services, IGS shows exports of goods and services, while DCF is representing domestic credit provided by financial sector”. In the study we have decomposed Eq. (1) above into a reduced dynamic panel generalized methods of moment (GMM) estimation technique to evaluate the capture fisheries production Kuznets curve. Industry value added, trade (import and exports) and domestic credit were utilized as controlling variables. The reduced form dynamic System GMM equation is provided below: C F Pit =βi C F Pit−1 + βi1 G D Pit + βi2 G D Pit2 + βi3 G D Pit3 + βi4 I V Ait + βi5 E G Sit + βi6 I G Sit + βi7 DC Fit + ∈i +γt + εit

(2)

In the Eq. (2) above, ∈i is the specific country effects, γt representing specific time effects, i is the country (i = 1,…………,16), t being the time period (t = 2000–2018) and εit express the error term at country i and period t. We hypothesize that the “capture fisheries Kuznets curve” is supported in a panel of 16 nations, thus, the anticipated signs for βi1 , βi2 andβi3 is positive, negative and positive respectively. Equation (2) above is showing a linear relationship between the dependent variable and independent variables, including the lag of the dependent variable. The problem of heterogeneity in Eq. (2) is taken care of by the inclusion of country fixed effect as well as country time effects. In the study the problem of heterogeneity was observed by transforming Eq. (2) through the use of first differencing estimators as mooted by [15] in a dynamic panel generalized method of moments (GMM). The inclusion of lagged dependent variable as a regressor and the first differencing of our independent variables is the best way to take care of simultaneity, heterogeneity as well as serial correlations. Due to the weaknesses of the Arellano–Bond [15], this study employ an improved Arellano–Bover/Blundel– Bond dynamic panel GMM technique which incorporates lagged dependent variable and takes the instruments of a level equation in its calculations.

4 Data The study used GDP per capita, biodiversity (capture fisheries production), domestic credit provided by financial sector, industry value added, trade (exports and imports of goods and services) for a panel of 16 economies chosen from the “Next-11 and the BRICS economies”. The data ranges from 2000 to 2017 and the data was extracted from World Development Indicators of the [16]. Table 1 illustrates the explanation, and descriptive statistics of the variables.

Impact of Economic Growth, Finance and Trade Nexus … Table 1 Definitions and descriptive statistics of variables

349

Variable

Mean

Std. Dev.

Obs.

CFP

2,469,292

3,498,066

464

GDP

5163.101

4970.617

464

GDP2

5.13e+07

9.95e+07

464

GDP3

7.17e+11

2.23e+12

464

IVA

18,213.6

13,507.16

464

DCF

67.87969

44.34251

464

EGS

2.32e+11

3.82e+11

464

IGS

2.12e+11

3.35e+11

464

Source Author calculations

5 Results and Discussion The results in Table 2 shows Arellano–Bover/Blundel–Bond [17, 18] panel GMM estimates for a panel consisting of 16 economies. The validity of instruments used in each of our regression apparatus in Table 2 is supported by the significance of our lagged dependent variable for panel MODEL-1 up to panel MODEL-6. The lagged dependent variable result indicate that past capture fisheries production is significant in increasing the quantity of fish caught in a country for industrial, commercial, recreational and subsistence use. This means authorities should have in place mechanisms to reduce current fish production so as to achieve a reduction in future capture fisheries production so as to achieve biodiversity in their jurisdictions. Our regression apparatus MODEL-1 in Table 2 is indicating the existence of an inverted N-shaped relationship to be existing between capture fisheries production and economic growth in a panel of countries. This means rapid economic growth in a panel of countries reduces the quantity of captured fish for subsistence, recreational, industrial and commercial usages; however, this is only possible up to a certain level beyond which economic growth will start to deplete fish by increasing capture fisheries production and this will continue until technological progress sets in, and the production of fish will start falling though the economy continues growing. If nothing is done by authorities in these selected economies, capture fisheries production will continue unabated, and this will pose a big threat to biodiversity and also environmental sustainability. The overall result implies that authorities in selected panel of economies should be vigilant to put an eye on fishing activities going on in their economies and control the capture of fish for various purposes so as to guarantee biodiversity. The introduction of control variables in the panel regression apparatus MODEL-2, MODEL-3, MODEL-4, MODEL-5 and MODEL-6 provided interesting results. In panel MODEL-2, the introduction of industry value added have dampened the steepness of the “inverted N-shaped relationship between capture fisheries and economic growth”; and a significantly negative relationship existed. This means industrial value addition is of paramount importance in order to be assured of biodiversity in a panel of countries because other nutritional sources will be made

–

0.0204101 (0.0017444)***

−4.51e−07 (4.65e−08)***

−10.27872 (3.452935)***

0.0209678 (0.0017297)***

−4.76e−07 (4.56e−08)***

–

–

–

–

600,790.3 (35,992.19)***

GDP2

GDP3

IVA

DCF

EGS

IGS

Constant 581,925.3 (38,407.91)***

–

–

564.9157 (403.764)

0.0209487 (0.0017286)***

−256.6796) (16.78956)***

232,842.4 (39,285.7)***

–

1.29e−06 (7.13e−08)***

–

–

−1.48e−07 (4.63e−08)***

0.0044857 (0.0018559)**

−66.01761 (18.81376)***

0.8867355 (0.0074912)***

MODEL-4

346,031.8 (39,345.31)***

1.04e−06 (7.11e−08)***

–

–

–

−2.44e−07 (4.74e−08)***

0.0094303 (0.0018691)***

−125.6264 (18.63604)***

0.9239634 (0.0067753)***

MODEL-5

177,776.8 (48,384.64)***

−1.84e−07 (1.41e−07)

1.54e−06 (1.51e−07)***

−864.454 (398.0141)**

9.016568 (3.481625)***

−1.45e−07 (4.67e−08)***

0.0038905 (0.0018694)**

−73.39297 (19.74306)***

0.8857976 (0.0076147)***

MODEL-6

Note Standard errors are indicated in parenthesis, *** is 1% significance level, ** show 5% significance level and * being 10% significance level

666,743.5 (42,364.6)***

–

–

–

−4.78e −07 (4.56e−08)***

−227.9773 (19.062)***

−254.8535 (16.74911)***

GDP

1.006108 (0.00416)***

1.006294 (0.0036336)***

1.009298 (0.0034808)***

MODEL-3

LI.CFP

MODEL-2

MODEL-1

Variables

Table 2 Arellano-Bover/Blundell-Bond panel GMM estimation results

350 M. Rashdan and O. Sawafta

Impact of Economic Growth, Finance and Trade Nexus …

351

available to substitute for capture fisheries. In MODEL-3 apparatus, the inclusion of DCF (domestic credit provided by financial sector) have resulted in a positive relationship with biodiversity (capture fisheries production), an indication of untenable credit in these nations because of its damaging consequence on biodiversity. The inclusion of DCF (domestic credit provided by financial sector) have sharpened the steepness of the inverted N-shaped association among economic growth and capture fisheries. Indicating that, although not significant, financing activities in these 16 economies is a threat to environmental sustainability particularly to biodiversity and it reflect that domestic credit is used for only the capture of fish and not for conservative purposes. The panel regression apparatus MODEL-4 shows that exports and capture fisheries production are positively related, an indication that as exports increases, a corresponding rise in the fish production will be observed in order to meet export demand. Furthermore, the introduction of exports in the regression apparatus resulted in further dampening of the steepness of the inverted N-shaped association amid economic growth and biodiversity (capture fisheries production). This implies that the exports of these countries are dominated by fish, and this is at the cost of biodiversity and also the sustainability of the environment. Further findings indicated that introducing imports in the regression apparatus MODEL-5 revealed that import and capture fisheries production are positively associated. Such a result means an increase in the importation of goods and service brings a corresponding increase in the quantity of fish captured. This outcome may explain that the imports of the selected nations are largely subjugated with fishing equipment and services linked thereto and this is damaging the biodiversity in these 16 emerging markets. Finally, in the regression apparatus MODEL-6, we have introduced all our control indicators in our model to analyze the EKC in a selected panel of 16 nations consisting of 11 newly industrialized and BRICS countries. In this regression apparatus, industry value added is positive and significant, DCF (domestic credit provided by financial sector) is negative and significant, exports being positive and significant, while imports was negative and not significant. The inclusion of all the controlling variables at once led to the reduction of the steepness of our inverted N-shaped relationship. This result reflects that the choice of control variables is of paramount importance in the environmental Kuznets curve context due to their importance in altering the steepness of the curve. In all our regression apparatus, it has been proved that doing nothing in these countries will have catastrophic effects of damaging the biodiversity by capturing too many fish for subsistence, industrial, commercial and entertainment purposes. Our outcomes were contradicting Shahbaz et al. [19] who’s study revealed an N-shaped association between CO2 emissions and economic growth in North Africa and Middle East. This contradiction with our finding were due to the choice of environmental indicators employed since we used capture fisheries production as opposed to carbon dioxide emissions. The sample choice and the duration of the study also contributed to different findings with our results since we used 11 newly industrialized and BRICS countries instead of MENA countries used in their study. However, our findings are related to the findings of Shahbaz et al. [14] who found an inverted

352

M. Rashdan and O. Sawafta

N-shaped relationship in the short-term in the Vietnam but found an N-shaped relationship for the long-term result. These results are a coincidence resulting from the “cubic polynomial function” in respect of economic growth, although diverse environmental indicators are used.

6 Policy Analysis In order to develop sound policy recommendations, we have used “short-term and long-term elasticity estimates”. The short-term elasticity estimates presented in Table 3 were extracted from our panel regression apparatus in Table 2 and the long-term elasticity estimates were obtained from short-term elasticity relative to one minus the lag of the dependent variable in all our regression apparatus. These long-term elasticity estimates reveal the existence of an N-shaped relationship for regression apparatus MODEL-1, MODEL-2 and MODEL-3; while an inverted N-shaped relationship was maintained for regression apparatus MODEL-4, MODEL-5 and MODEL-6. The introduction of control variables in the long-term have unearthed that industrialization (industry value added) have a positive association with biodiversity, while domestic credit, import and export have a negative association with capture fisheries production, Further the introduction of industrialization, and domestic credit in the long-term increases the steepness of our N-shaped association between capture biodiversity (fisheries production) and economic growth. On the other hand, the introduction of exports and imports in the long-term produces a dampened inverted N-shaped association amid capture fisheries production and economic growth in a select of nations. Therefore, in order to develop robust environmentally sustainable policies, the following need to be considered based on short-term and long-term elasticity estimates: (a) (b) (c) (d)

Targeted economic growth Monitor all value addition activities Directed domestic credit creation Support trade with other countries.

This will enhance foresight in developing robust environmental policies so as to enhance biodiversity and environmental sustainability in selected economies.

7 Conclusion The Study found industry value added damages the “biological diversity” in the short-term, however in the long-term it promotes biodiversity and environmental sustainability. Therefore, industry value addition policies should be designed in a way that will promote environmental sustainability and the biodiversity in an economy by

MODEL-1

–

–

–

IVA

DCF

EGS

1633.098189

–

–

–

−105,933,190.3

752.8500753

–

–

–

–

−64,615,003.23

GDP3

IVA

DCF

EGS

IGS

Constan

Source Author calculations

−3.242786781

−2.255087116

GDP2

1112.170321

36,221.36956

27,409.49667

GDP

Long-term elasticity estimates

−92.06092855

−61.80224166

−61.29468382 2,055,740.325

4,550,858.402

−78.909367334

−95,272,642.44

–

–

−52.53830042

−52.97334999

1,556,681.821

−7569.490659 –

–

–

–

–

78.95252639

−61.29468382

0.03406670963

−642.6569844

−92,487.83563

–

0.1240231678

−1652.183291

0.03960375934

−582.8623267

177,776.8

−1.84e−07

1.54e−06

−864.454

9.016568

−1.45e−07

0.0038905

−73.39297

MODEL-6

–

1146.037983

−3.429715128

42,023.51015

232,842.4

– 346,031.8

581,925.3

1.29e−06

–

–

1.04e−06

666,743.5

–

–

–

−2.44e−07

0.0094303

−125.6264

MODEL-5

Constan

–

564.9157

−1.48e−07

0.0044857

−66.01761

MODEL-4

IGS

600,790.3

–

−10.27872

−4.76e−07

GDP3

–

−4.78e−07

−4.51e−07

0.0209678

0.0209487

0.0204101

−254.8535

−256.6796)

MODEL-3

GDP2

−227.9773

MODEL-2

GDP

Short-term elasticity estimates

Variables

Table 3 Short-term and long-term elasticity estimates

Impact of Economic Growth, Finance and Trade Nexus … 353

354

M. Rashdan and O. Sawafta

investing in healthy and clean production operation processes, promotion of healthy and sustainable industrial activities as well as the strict control of fishing activities by tightening licensing requirements. Domestic credit endangers the environment by growing “capture fisheries production” in the long run. Strategies ought to be put in place to encourage investments in the preservation of fisheries and credit formation be guided by suitable regulation to safeguard biodiversity and sustainability of the ecosystem. There should be appropriate legislations to regulate trade in fisheries because of the detrimental effect of exports and imports on biodiversity. certain “trade restrictions” should be accompanying in policies designed to guide trade in fisheries and heavy taxes should be considered so as to reduce fisheries production; addition, heavy penalties should be imposed on all illegal fishery activities. Consequently, the association amid biodiversity, economic growth, industry value added, domestic credit, imports and exports is of utmost significance in the development of comprehensive ecological policies. Future research papers should deliberate on other environmental indicators such as “land, ocean, freshwater and sea indicators”, nevertheless, the aim should be to achieve their broader representation in the environmental Kuznets context. Acknowledgements The author is thankful to Palestine Technical University—Kadoorie for funding this research.

References 1. Destek, M.A., Sarkodie, S.A.: Investigation of environmental Kuznets curve for ecological footprint: The role of energy and financial development. Sci. Total Environ. 650, 2483–2489 (2019) 2. Arminen, H., Menegaki, A.N.: Corruption, climate and the energy-environment-growth nexus. Energy Econ. (2019). Azizalrahman, H.: A model for urban sector drivers of carbon emissions. Sustain. Cities Soc. 44, 46–55 (2019) 3. Shabani, Z.D., Shahnazi, R.: Energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, information and communications technology, and gross domestic product in Iranian economic sectors: A panel causality analysis. Energy 169, 1064–1078 (2019) 4. Aydin, C., Esen, Ö., Aydin, R.: Is the ecological footprint related to the Kuznets curve a real process or rationalizing the ecological consequences of the affluence? Evidence from PSTR approach. Ecol. Ind. 98, 543–555 (2019) 5. Cao, X., Kostka, G., Xu, X.: Environmental political business cycles: The case of PM2. 5 air pollution in Chinese prefectures. Environ. Sci. Policy 93, 92–100 (2019) 6. Liu, Q., Wang, S., Zhang, W., Li, J., Kong, Y.: Examining the effects of income inequality on CO2 emissions: Evidence from non-spatial and spatial perspectives. Appl. Energy 236, 163–171 (2019) 7. Wang, Z., Bu, C., Li, H., Wei, W.: Seawater environmental Kuznets curve: Evidence from seawater quality in China’s coastal waters. J. Clean. Prod. 219, 925–935 (2019) 8. Kibria, A., Akhundjanov, S.B., Oladi, R.: Fossil fuel share in the energy mix and economic growth. Int. Rev. Econ. Financ. 59, 253–264 (2019)

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Waqf-Linked Islamic Fintech Microfinance as a Business Enabler in Post-pandemic Economy: The Experience of Hal Microfinance, Kenya Mohamed Hamza Ghaouri, Salina Kassim, and Hamid Rashid

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in economic sufferings of people and small businesses around the world. An innovative Islamic financial solution of waqf-linked Islamic fintech microfinance has been shown to provide an effective funding solution for micro and small businesses affected by the pandemic. This study aims to showcase a fintech-base Islamic microfinance model as a potential source of funding for small and micro businesses by taking the case of Hal Microfinance in Kenya. The present study adopts a qualitative research design based on analysing the literature and examining issued reports. This study concluded that the hybrid shariah-compliant microfinance model studied has a high potential to fund local small and micro businesses in Kenya and assist them during the economic hardship caused by the pandemic. This study is unique in nature as it studies the case of an innovative Islamic micro finance solution that provides funding through a shariahcompliant fintech model based on Wakalah, commodity Murabaha and Qard-Hassan. An enhanced model including Cash-Waqf is suggested to ensure sustainability of the model presented in the case study. As this microfinance initiative responds to financial and social intermediation needs, findings of this study contribute towards enhancing the role of Islamic social finance in contributing towards the economic empowerment, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic era. Keywords Economic Downturn · Economic Empowerment · Fintech · Microfinance JEL Classification E24 · O36 · G21 M. H. Ghaouri · S. Kassim (B) IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] M. H. Ghaouri e-mail: [email protected] H. Rashid FINTERRA Pte. Ltd., Singapore, Singapore e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_30

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1 Introduction Small and microenterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in contributing to poverty reduction, provision of goods and services adapted to the local need, employment and wealth creation, as well as the redistribution of wealth and the mobilization of local resources. Their role can be measured in terms of different scales, such as social (poverty reduction), economic (income generation) and political (wealth redistribution) contributions [1]. Over the past decades, the problem of access to external finance by microenterprises has been one of the main concerns of academic researchers and practitioners. Around the world, small and especially micro enterprises have limited access to finance mostly because of their high risk of failure and reimbursement. These economic actors were the first to endure the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. The lockdown implemented in most of the countries around the world has had an impact on economic growth of these countries. In Kenya, the economy was severely affected as reflected by a decline in the GDP by 5.6% in 2020. This reduction in economic activities is mainly explained by the decline in labour productivity, exports and tourism sector. The decline in GDP translates into a drop in employment of nearly 12% and real income of 7.9% and 6.8% respectively for rural and urban households [2]. To cope up with this economic recession, it is important support small and micro businesses by providing the necessary funding instruments. The SMEs has continued to be the backbone of the Kenyan economy, generally contributing more than 50 of jobs created in the economy [3]. Access to capital is essential to the success of SMEs, as in most cases, the SMEs are excluded from the banking system, and to cover their financial needs, a new parallel industry has emerged. Without assets and stable income, most of poor borrowers are turned away by traditional lenders. Alternatively, microfinance has become the lifeline for many poor people. The emergence of many microfinance institutions gives microenterprises opportunities to obtain additional capital. According to the World Bank, Microfinance is the provision of formal financial services to poor and low-income people, as well as to others systematically excluded from the financial system. In increasing financial inclusion, conventional social finance institutions provide loans and charge interests. In most cases, this interest rate is higher than the one charged by banks considering the high default risk of the client. Granting loans at high rates does not really help small and micro-enterprises to develop their business and increase their income. This makes it even more difficult for the borrower to discharge all of his financial obligations. Charging a high interest rate is a burden on them since they are obliged to pay back their loan in addition to a high interest regardless of making a profit or a loss. Within the social component of Islamic finance, a variety of shariah compliant products are provided by Islamic microfinance institutions in order to fill the gap and cover the financial needs of micro-businesses and micro-entrepreneurs. Islamic

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microfinance institutions have recently evolved with the hope of overcoming the financial, ethical, religious, and human capital deficiencies faced by their conventional counterparts. Islamic social finance, through microcredit programs, has a great impact on reducing poverty [4]. The establishment of an Islamic microfinance institution (IMFI) is not only helpful in freeing society from the riba system and establishing social justice but should also represent a bridge for the development of small and micro-enterprises and poverty reduction. Living in poverty, financial instability or having financial difficulties has a detrimental impact on individuals, on their households and on the society at large. IMFI has the ability to significantly improve the business performance of small and micro-enterprises by increasing the revenues and profits of businesses [5]. This study aims to explore the case of HAL Microfinance, a Kenyan Islamic fintech and a Shariah-compliant microfinance provider in providing an innovative microfinance facility to the SMEs. HAL Microfinance has developed a unique business-tobusiness finance model that provides funding to small and micro-shops. This study offers several aspects of novelty in the area of Islamic social finance. First, it provides a detailed insights into the application of fintech in Islamic microfinance initiatives, which so far has been discussed mainly at the conceptual level. Second, it looks into the potentials of Islamic social finance in providing a practical solution to SMEs based on a case study approach of an existing Islamic fintech microfinance institution in Kenya.

2 Islamic Social Finance: A Business Enabler for the Kenyan Post-Pandemic Economy 2.1 Context Analysis Since the beginning of its spread, COVID-19 pandemic has affected daily lives of people around the world. Similarly, the pandemic has had a strong impact on the livelihoods of Kenyan households [6]. It has had adverse effects on several sectors of the country’s economy in particular tourism, agriculture, manufacturing and trade endangering people’s jobs and livelihoods [7]. Decisions to reduce the spread of the virus, such as restrictions on movement, shutting down many businesses and banning social gatherings, have led to an increase in food insecurity, while access to education has deteriorated due to school closures 2020 [8]. The reduction in economic activities caused a depreciation of the local currency (KSh), a reduction in domestic investment and an increase in the public deficit [2]. To assess the economic situation of households in Kenya and understand the impact of the pandemic on their lives, the World Bank Group conducted a nationwide survey that covered three samples. The first sample (3295) was randomly drawn from the Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey 2015/16 (KIHBS), the second sample (763) consists of households selected using the random numbering while the

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third sample (2400) consisted of urban and camp-based refugees, as well as stateless persons registered by UNHCR [9]. The survey found that the pandemic has resulted in huge job losses, dropping from 71% of the population in the fourth quarter of 2019 to 50% in the second quarter of 2020. In addition, most Kenyan households had to adopt at least one strategy to cope with the impact of the pandemic. At first, they relied on their savings and reduced their food consumption. As the pandemic continued, the reduction in food and non-food consumption became more common. Some Kenyan households began to engage in additional income-generating activities after the third quarter of 2020. Restrictions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 were first put in place in March 2020 and were relaxed towards the end of 2020. During the period that followed, Kenya’s economy began to show signs of recovery, but this was partially halted by the re-application of the lockdown in April 2021. Many workers have been discouraged from actively seeking work due to the socio-economic conditions created by the pandemic. This rise in unemployment and declining participation in the labor market can have serious and long-term consequences for the well-being of households. The pandemic came as another source of impoverishment that reinforces existing factors limiting the capacity of vulnerable households to escape poverty and even to create new poor households, hence the urgent need to mobilize all possible solutions to stimulate economic recovery.

2.2 Financial Inclusion Through Islamic Social Finance The infusion of credit creates self-employment opportunities for poor borrowers, which increases their income and leads to improved consumption and investment. The existence of a microfinance institution (MFI) that provides a variety of financial services to small and micro-enterprises and low-income households is necessary in every economy [5]. Microfinance is represented by a set of services provided to financially excluded and disadvantaged people. It responds to the financing needs of the poor to ensure their survival, as well as socio-economic mobility to achieve a successful and sustainable exit from poverty [10]. However, microfinance have been long criticized for the use of high interest rates that they charge to microenterprises and microentrepreneurs to compensate for the greater risk of failure, the higher costs of information gathering as well as the smaller volume of external financing. The interest rate charged by conventional MFIs ranges from 25 to 50% of the amount borrowed. This high rate relative to the market rate has serious implications for the income and well-being of poor borrowers, as they have to pay a high and fixed-rate with the capital, regardless of the outcome of their business undertakings in the market [11]. The role of some microfinance institutions is limited to providing microcredit access to some of the poor and needy people using extremely highinterest rates, with no contribution to the fight against poverty. Profit orientation has taken on greater importance compared to socially impactful microfinance products and services. The only outcome of these institutions is the indebtedness of poor

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households and small business owners. Therefore, the claim that microfinance reduce poverty is contradicted due to the excessive loan burden leading to exploitation and over-indebtedness of poor clients. High interest rate charged by microfinance institutions is one of the main reasons of the failure of businesses and indebtedness of business owners. Researchers argue that the high-interest rate, lending procedures are considered as the most important factors limiting access of small and micro-businesses to external finance [12–15]. From their side, Saleh et al. [16] pointed out that the high cost of external finance is one of the reasons microenterprises in Malaysia are reluctant to access external finance from financial institutions [16]. Similarly, Bowen et al. [3] found that the lack of working capital are the main challenges facing businesses in Nairobi. After studying conventional microfinance, Ahmed [17] has concluded that only a few people achieve non-poverty status even after taking out repeated loans. He argues that borrowers tend to fall into the debt trap and have a hard time getting out of it [17]. Alternatively, he belives that Islamic social finance has several shariah compliant instruments that provide small and micro-businesses funding required to operate their businesses and proomote financial inclusion [17]. Islamic microfinance, with its exclusive range of equity finance products, offers a more equal mode of financing. Islamic finance faces many challenges slowing down its development. Haneef et al. [4], argue that the challenges of microfinance development include, among others, the lack of shariah compliance, an exploitative interest rate, over-indebtedness, limited products and low human capital [4]. The main difference between Islamic financing and existing equivalent products is the prohibition of interest (riba). The prohibition of riba in Islam is a way out to avoid exploitation as well as to establish justice. The rationale for banning riba is that it provides a fixed return to the financer while the borrower is left with full business risk [5]. Within the Islamic microfinance frame, institutions offer microfinance by establishing a Shariah-compliant relationship between borrowers and donors. These relationships are established through various contracts such as lease (Ijara), partnerships (Musharakah, Mudarabah), benevolent loan contracts (Qard Hassan) or goods commodity Murabaha. Islamic microfinance refers to a set of institutions that provide Shariah-compliant financial products and services to people who are not able to access banking services due to their low income [10]. It is considered to be effective as some studies found that people who have used Islamic microfinance products experienced an increase in their monthly income, an increase in their spending on food, education and health, as well as assets possession [18]. Others found that the average annual value of sales, business expenditure, net income, household spending, and employment have increased dramatically. Some researchers have mentioned that, from an Islamic point of view, there are three different measures of poverty reduction [4]: • Positive measure (income growth, functional income distribution and equality of opportunity); • Preventive measures (control of ownership and prevention of malpractice); and • Corrective measures (compulsory transfer: Zakat, recommended transfer: charity and state responsibility).

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As part of the redistributive approach, Zakat, Sadaqah and Awqaf have been used to reduce poverty through the provision of health services, educational and infrastructure facilities, as well as job creation. Different approaches, depending on the period and the country concerned, are proposed to reduce poverty, which can be a catalyst for reducing poverty and helping to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Some studies have shown that the funds raised by Zakat, Sadqah and Waqf would enable Islamic microfinance institutions to provide financial support even without charging commercial fees [19]. Many researchers proposed an integrated model of microfinance combining Zakat, Waqf and other Islamic social finance instuments to ensure the availability of philanthropic funds for poverty reduction [1, 4, 11, 20, 21].

2.3 Role of Commodity Murabaha Being widely used in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, two of the largest Islamic financial markets. Commodity Murabahah is the most popular product among Islamic bankers. It represents approximately USD 750–800 billion in Islamic finance assets around the world [22]. Murabaha is an effective transaction in which a real economic need is satisfied by the Islamic bank by first purchasing the required item and then reselling it to the customer for a declared cost and profit, to be repaid over a period of time. In the commodity Murabahah, another stage of the transaction is introduced whereby the customer sells the commodity for money. The surplus (cost or mark-up) on the basic product Murabahah is permitted on the grounds that “time has a share of the price” . This juristic pronouncement constitutes the justification to allow the deferring of obligations in Islamic contracts. There are two alternative forms of “Murabaha” applied to generate working capital for businesses and consumer credit. These are called Bai al Inah and Tawwaruq (Murabahah commodity). In basic Murabahah, the bank will initially buy a tangible asset and then sells it to the client who want to own that asset. However, in the case of the commodity Murabahah, the bank will buy some commodity from a broker and sell them to the customer who does not want to own the commodity, hence, they sell the commodity to another broker to get the cash. Commodity Murabahah is one of the financing products offered by Islamic banks. This product falls under the same generic category “Bai al-Amanah” and belongs to the main category of exchange contract “uqud almu’awadhat”. Tawwaruq is a sale contract process whereby a buyer first buys an asset from a seller with deferred payment and simultaneously sells the asset to the other party for cash with a price lesser than deferred price for the purpose of obtaining cash. It is necessary that the goods be purchased and taken into possession by the bank in a shariah-compliant Murabahah. Therefore, the risk of the commodity will be borne by the bank.

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Fig. 1 Commodity murabaha-based finance transaction. Source Author (2021)

Assuming a customer needs USD 1000 in cash for consumption rather than for the acquisition of assets. He goes to an Islamic bank seeking financing (step 1). The bank purchases a commodity from a designated vendor (Vendor A) in cash for USD 1000 (step 2) and sells the commodity on credit the same day to the customer for USD 1200 (step 3) payable in one year. The customer then sells this commodity to a third party (Supplier B) for the market price of USD 1000 in cash (step 4). The net result is that the customer receives USD 1000 cash while the bank has a claim of USD1200 on the customer that must be paid after one year (Fig. 1). The concept of Tawwaruq has long been discussed among Shariah scholars around the world and it has been officially approved as an authorized instrument and practically implemented in Malaysia in 2005. Based on Tawwaruq principle, commodity Murabahah was introduced in Malaysia as an initiative of Bank Negara Malaysia to support Islamic financial institutions to facilitate liquidity management and investments [23].

2.4 Fintech Potential to Develop Islamic Social Finance The microfinance industry faces several challenges and, due to its high potential, digital microfinance systems are seen as the solution to many of these key challenges. As the size of funding provided to clients by microfinance institutions is smaller, the high fixed costs of credit analysis, documentation and Shariah compliance are difficult to cover while realizing a competitive markup in the market, especially through a brick-and-mortar model, financial technologies present a vital opportunity

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for Islamic finance for enhancing efficiency and competitiveness and organizing effectively its additional administrative procedures. The use of Fintech by Islamic microfinance institutions is necessary to decrease transaction costs and lead time during different processes which increase their competitiveness. The emergence of fintech has dramatically changed the landscape of the global financial industry. Fintech or “financial technology” is the result of a combination of financial services and technologies that change conventional business practices [24]. In line with the growth of Islamic finance globally, fintech has opened up significant opportunities for Islamic finance practices around the world. Islamic fintech has now become a topic of interest among academics and industry professionals. Islamic fintech is defined as an innovative financial industry that uses technology to improve financial businesses that deliver Shariah-compliant products and services [25]. Around the world, technology-based microfinance is becoming one of the main solutions for financial inclusion. It is conventionally designed to provide financial services to disadvantaged entrepreneurs and aims to eradicate poverty within communities. Given the high demand for microcredit in rural areas, fintech can help overcome geographic diversity issues by expanding the reach of microfinance in rural areas as it reduces costs, expands outreach, and helps scale operations. Fintech offers an opportunity to improve efficiency through the digitization of processes and operations and therefore enables the provision of finance to small-scale micro-enterprises [10].

3 HAL microfinance—An Islamic Fintech Microfinance Provider 3.1 Overview It was in the midst of the economic downturn caused by the pandemic that an Islamic microfinance institution has seen the light. With a clear vision and direction to help small businesses overcome the crisis and resume their businesses. HAL Microfinance came with an innovative, shariah-compliant and feasible solution to integrate into the Kenyan market. To successfully enter the market for the first time, microfinance institutions need considerable marketing efforts which will be costly and significantly increase the costs of implementation and hence impact the cost of loans granted. A practical solution would be to partner with an organization that has a wide range of customers or to join an ecosystem that only requires funding. HAL microfinance which is a microfinance provider in Kenya saw an opportunity with a supply chain platform that connects retailers to suppliers through a mobile App. HAL does not provide funding directly. It partners with a supply chain platform because of its high transaction value and large customer base. Through the supply chain’s App, retailers submit orders to different suppliers and wholesalers and pay using an electronic wallet. However,

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through partnering with HAL Microfinance, a new feature has been added. Retailers have the option of paying for their purchases using a short-term finance facility provided by HAL. The first interaction between the retailer and HAL Microfinance is via the supply chain’s application. The retailer should provide important information and documents (such as business registration copy, national ID number, etc.). After that, HAL agents will try to establish a personal relationship with buyers to understand their funding needs and repayment capabilities. Besides building relationships with retailers, HAL also builds relationships with wholesalers. This ecosystem constitutes a social pressure which pushes the retailers to repay on time. A failure to do so may generate cutting supply from suppliers. Additionally, retailers that have not been able to repay on time will have to pay some extra fees that will go to charity. HAL Microfinance model is a microfinance initiative that provides short-term facility to licensed retailers to meet their working capital requirements. These businesses can apply for a funding as low as USD10 and repay within a time frame that can vary from 1 to 4 weeks. For this service, users will be billed based on an amount equivalent to the actual amount directly spent to provide this service. In order to requalify for additional financing, retailers must make all overdue payments to raise their credit score to a suitable level. If there are any delinquencies from a customer, he will not be eligible for additional funding. The stakeholders of the microfinance system are: • • • • • • •

The Retailer (finance seeker); Supply chain platform; HAL Microfinance (the product financier); Wholesalers / Suppliers (The supplier of the product); A Shariah Advisory Agency; Commodity Murabahah Trader; Payment gateways.

These stakeholders are brought together in an integrated ecosystem smoothing the supply chain process and financing facilities.

3.2 Product Architecture and Mobilized Contracts To cover their financial needs and rotate their stock of merchandise, retailers approach HAL through a supply chain platform applying for funding to cover their needs. After reviewing all the requests, HAL will decide which of the requests to approve based on several screening criteria. Once funding is approved, the retailer will be given the right to buy his need through the same App and select paying via the HAL finance facility. HAL will then pay the supplier directly. Finally, the retailer settles his financial commitments directly to HAL (Fig. 2).

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Fig. 2 Structure of HAL microfinance ecosystem. Source Author (2021)

The structure of the HAL Microfinance ecosystem is presented as follow: 1. After fulfilling the registration requirements and going through a KYC process, the retailer logs into his account in the supply chain platform and chooses the products that he wants to purchase. At the payment step, he chooses to pay via the HAL finance facility. 2. HAL receives the financing request from the shop through the platform and studies the client’s request. 3. HAL Microfinance releases Qard Hasan to pay the supplier on behalf of the retailer. HAL pays the supplier through a payment gateway. At the same time, his request is put into a pool of requests for Commodity Murabaha. 4. HAL sends an order to its agent to trade commodity Murabahah of an amount equivalent to the order received that day. 5. The client receives the goods. 6. HAL receives funds related to commodity Murabahah trade. 7. The retailer pays HAL through a payment gateway. HAL Microfinance offers an innovative, unique, and most importantly shariahcompliant financing arrangement combining Wakalah, Qard-Hassan and Commodity Murabaha. This model allows the retailers to have the funds to purchase the merchandise needed to rotate their inventory through wholesale purchases. Once they have sold the merchandise at retail, they will make a profit and have enough income to repay their financial obligation to HAL.

3.3 HAL Microfinance Vision and the Role of Fintech HAL Microfinance was implemented with the aim of providing shops with an opportunity to grow and enable entrepreneurs to thrive and achieve sustainable and selfreliant lifestyles through a unique microfinance program that aims to reduce poverty. To answer the shops’ financial needs, a pool of funds based on internal reserves is

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mobilized as a source of funding in the first stage. However, the second phase of the project will consist of selling shares of HAL to raise money. In order to manage the risk of non-performing loans and increase the probability of repayment, HAL engineers were able to design an artificial intelligence-based algorithm to assign scoring to the shops based on their transaction history with the supply chain platform. This credit rating is linked to the threshold of funding that a shop can request. The higher the credit score, the higher the funding limit. Each shop is responsible for the fluctuation of its respective credit rating, as it varies over time depending on the repayment behavior of the shops. In other words, the scoring can be continuously improved as the data is constructed based on the repayment history. A pure manifestation of fintech in this model is in the process of Commodity Murabaha. Although Hal Microfinance is based in Kenya and the micro-funding is performed in the same country, Commodity Murabahah is traded in bursa Malaysia. Blockchain, as a single source of truth, is used to store contracts digitally signed by users, store their ID, and establish credit scoring. In the second phase of the project, blockchain technology will be used for the automation of the funding cycle through smart contracts. Blockchain technology might also be used for the tokenization of loans and debts. Tokenization of debt is based on the crowdfunding concept where a crowd of investors will buy tokens backed by the core business of HAL microfinance as a micro-funding provider. Additionally, artificial intelligence is used in tracing and screening clients as well as giving credit scoring based on their past behavior. It can also, suggest appropriate financing terms to ensure financial stability and socio-economic mobility.

4 Waqf Linked Microfinance Using Commodity Murabaha Waqf has been historically successful in its contribution to socio-economic development. In the golden age of Islam, the institutions of Waqf played an important role in the elevation of society, in particular through the reduction of poverty. In the Ottoman Empire, Waqf institutions gained importance by helping the government to provide public goods and services. Waqf’s services were so widespread at the time that a person could complete his entire life cycle in waqf environments. Waqf donations have been restricted to wealthy people that are able to donate their assets but recently, with the integration of Cash-Waqf, the donor base has been expanded. The concept of Cash-Waqf has widened the scope of Waqf since it allows the acceptance of donations of Waqf in the form of money and other movable property. Contributions are no longer limited to the wealthy since donations can be made at any amount in cash. In addition, manny studies have highlighted the allignment between waqf and Sustainable Development Goals [26, 27]. Waqf remains one of the powerful instruments which tackle modern socioeconomic problems in society. It helps to redistribute wealth and offers a huge opportunity to reduce poverty, solve current socio-economic issues and help people to live

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Fig. 3 Waqf-linked microfinance using commodity murabaha model. Source Author (2021)

in dignity. For this reason, it is suggested in this study to enhance HAL Microfinance model by introducing Cash-Waqf as a source of funds to sustain the microfinance activity and expand the reach of beneficiaries. The model below represents the introduction of Cash-Waqf in HAL Microfinance model (Fig. 3). The structure of the microfinance arrangement after introducing Cash-Waqf is presented as follow: 1. HAL Microfinance collects Cash Waqf (Perpetual and/or temporary). 2. Client applies for funding (KYC process). 3. HAL Microfinance releases Qard Hasan to pay the supplier on behalf of the client. HAL pays the supplier through a payment gateway. At the same time, his application triggers a request to HAL’s agent to trade Commodity Murabaha. 4. The client receives the goods. 5. HAL receives funds related to commodity Murabahah trade. Commodity Murabahah writes off Qard Hasan. 6. The user reimburses with a mark-up. 7. HAL reimburse Waqif (in the case of temporary Cash-Waqf). The introduction of cash waqf in the afore discussed model is expected to have a sustainability impact, since until now HAL microfinance is relying on private funds to finance the fundraising activity. This improvement is also expected to broaden the range of beneficiaries which will support the SDG orientation of the model.

5 Conclusion To alleviate financing difficulties of underprivileged households and businesses in obtaining funds, most developing countries have set up special institutions (MFIs) to grant loans. In this study, a microfinance solution given by HAL microfinance to provide professionals (shop owners) with the liquidity required to rotate their stock and maintain their business was discussed. Financial services like HAL Microfinance

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are much-needed solutions by microenterprises. This initiative is expected to be extremely beneficial in serving communities by boosting trade. HAL Microfinance model is designed to address the challenges of microfinance in a feasible and shariahcompliant manner to contribute to financial inclusion by providing access to finance for all. This Microfinance initiative was born out of the urgent need for an alternative model that could improve the performance of micro-enterprises in obtaining financial services. HAL Microfinance is mobilizing different stakeholders and products into a comprehensive package ensuring integration, sustainability and efficiency by effectively integrating technology into operations. Through HAL Microfinance, microfinance is offered under the shariah compliant contract financial arrangement. However, to make this model sustainable, the study suggested to include Cash Waqf as fund raising instrument. By using Cash Waqf (perpetual or temporary), HAL will be able to maintain the sustainability of its microfinance business and even expand its reach. The researchers believe that the existing model (as well as the enhancement proposed in this study) will be a catalyst for microenterprise activities and for post-pandemic economic recovery in Kenya. However, whether through the original or the enhanced model, the funding activity provided by HAL Microfinance is aligned directly with SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), Goal 5 (Gender equality), GOAL 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequality) by giving the opportunity to business owners, men and women, to thrive and enhance their businesses and to fresh entrepreneurs the chance to start their retail business.

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A Proposed Model for Bahrain Firm’s: Study the Factors Empowering Employee Retention—A Literature Review Tamer M. Alkadash, Mohammad Allaymoun, Hussein Khalifa, and Rawan Alkadash

Abstract The study sets out to establish a proposed model for Bahrain firm’s: study the factors empowering employee retention—a literature review. The study is constructed entirely from a review of previous literature. A literature review indicates the variables empowering employee retention namely employee training, employee motivation, and leadership style as independent variables, and organizational justice as moderator variable along with their benefits suitability and impacts to improve the relationship between the variables. The study gave useful insights to human resources management managers, policymakers, decision-makers, and management inside businesses about employee retention, as well as recommendations for future studies from the human resources management specialty that human resource researchers should be aware of. This contributes to long-term performance and enhances employee motivation toward reaching firm goals. Keywords Leadership style · HRM practices · Talent employees · Employee retention · Organizational justice

1 Introduction The creation and application of conventional human resource management strategies and practices are insufficient in this hyperactive era to retain a talented workforce. Thus, Employees are an essential resource for every business, and a company’s success or failure is frequently correlated with its capacity to find, keep, and T. M. Alkadash (B) · M. Allaymoun Administrative Science Department, College of Administrative and Financial Science, Gulf University, Sanad 26489, Kingdom of Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] H. Khalifa Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt R. Alkadash Department of Business Administration, College of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Al-Azhar University—Gaza, Gaza, Egypt © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_31

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adequately reward qualified and talented workers. Any firm can see the ability to retain competent workers as a major source of advantage. According to [10] the retention of employees is seen as the key to an organization’s success. According to its definition, it is “A procedure in which personnel is encouraged to stay with the business for the longest possible time or until the achievement of the objectives” [14]. Nevertheless, to maintain the retention of employees, human resource management shall be committed to various obligations inside and outside of the organization starting from recruitment to the employees within the organization is the responsibility of the HRM department. HRM has to be concerned about retaining talent among employees. Human resource management must set the objective of the human resource team and the process of achieving the objectives apart from these it is also responsible for designing and implementing various policies and regulations in order to promote a healthy work environment and motivate the team or meet the objectives of the organization by providing effective reward and benefit with highly efficient training and development program. Training and development programs are helpful to enhance the knowledge of the exit employees properly [7]. Along with these human resource management also must be responsible for acquiring talented employees within the organization by selecting and identifying potential employees. This study focused on retaining talent within employees in an organization through human resource management. To complete the comprehensive study, one dependent variable and three independent variables were discussed along with their benefits suitability, and impacts. The dependent variable is employee retention. Independent variables are employee training, motivation, and leadership style [1–3, 27]. Employee retention is considered a dependent variable. With the help of the independent variables and their implementation, the dependent variable can be controlled effectively. In the literature review part, the relationship between the variables will be discussed elaborately to provide a brief understanding of the research topic. The study’s major goal is to identify the key determinants of empowering employee retention and raise knowledge of how to preserve one of the most important corporate assets. This study added to human resource management. Managers, policymakers, decision-makers, the employees can get proper training and encouragement for developing their future performances. In this way, the organization can easily enhance a range of success and benefits within the workplace.

2 Literature Review The literature has been reviewed by considering the dependent and independent variables related to the topic of employee retention in HRM management.

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2.1 Employee Training Retention of employees is considered an effective process; however, it requires certain strategies. In this aspect, training plays an effective role in enhancing the skills and knowledge of the employees. It has been seen that organizations have considered training in the last decades. References [10, 12] commented that training highly refers to effective learning activities. It can be further defined as the process of learning skills which is required for a particular job. Training sets specific goals to bring improvements in the capability of the individual by bringing long-term productivity, effective performance and also building capacity. Organizations have focused on training processes to bring better outcomes [13]. Adequate training has helped to reduce the gaps in skills and knowledge of the employees. However, it has also impacted the individuals to cope with the changes based on various new technological implementations. However, it has been seen that training is considered the most effective part to motivate the employees to get familiar with the competitive working environment of the present world. This has reduced employee turnover due to the enhancement of confidence [16]. Staff retention is possible through staff training, this will help the employees to get more responsibilities. Benefits and suitable theory related to variable Based on the above identification, further, it can be evaluated that training has been proven beneficial as this creates better performances. Training encourages employees to learn while doing their job. This creates a sense of confidence and self-growth. Training is necessary for the changing environment. Employees can face the significant impact of uncertain situations like the COVID pandemic, this has created a certain loss of productivity as employees are working. In this aspect, training can be helpful for enhancing their skills to work with independency [18]. Training helps in the growth of the overall organization by enhancing the productive work structure [1]. Training helps to reduce the rate of work failures and thus, it brings better cost-cutting or management approaches [20, 23]. In addition, training also helps in improving the managerial functions of an organization. Training increases the morale of the employees by increasing their loyalty. In this regard, various theories can be taken into consideration like experiential learning theory can be aligned in this aspect to show the importance of learning and training. Furthermore, the social learning theory will be most suitable in this context. This theory has focused on major aspects like attention, retention, reproductions, and motivations. Attention helps to stay focused on the task. Similarly, retentions help in collecting information, which helps in self-growth. Training helps in retention through the enhancement of skills and knowledge. In addition, reproduction focuses on factors like skills, behaviors, and knowledge by allowing the employees to gain cognitive development. Motivation is required and it helps to encourage the employees through educational rewards like learning new skills. Thus, this can be said that motivation drives the actions of the employees.

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The above arguments are leads us to our first hypothesis: H1 Employee training significantly influences employee retention.

2.2 Employee Motivation Motivation can be seen as a driving force, which affects the choice of individual. It helps in stimulating, inducing, and leading to goal-oriented behaviors. Motivation is an internal process. Intrinsic motivation can be considered an activity for its own sake. This word has been derived from the Latin word known as Movers, which means to move. Motivation is an important factor in encouraging employees to bring organizational growth and success. Motivation is considered an effective process for fueling the organizational environment. Intrinsic motivation is thus defined as the process of doing an activity, this provides better satisfaction. This has a major role in bringing employee retention [21]. Benefits and suitable theory related to variable Employee motivation is considered the key to bringing organizational productivity and success. Motivations help to satisfy the needs of individuals within a company. Motivation satisfies the employees. Intrinsic motivation enhances employee performance. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation motivates individuals to perform in a better way [25]. Various types of intrinsic motivation are found like attitude, competence, achievement, creativity and psychological motivations [11]. Similarly, extrinsic motivations like incentives, compensation, monetary rewards, and power motivations help in bringing long-term growth and success. The motivations help to encourage the employees by appreciating their participation or contributions. This creates a feeling of value, and this helps them to consider themselves as part of the organization. In this context, it can be said that the employees are facing certain stress and frustration while working from home due to the COVID pandemic. Considering this, motivation can help them to get a sense of relief and satisfaction. In this context, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory can be considered. This will help to analyze the needs based on certain factors like esteem, self-actualization, safety, belonging or love, and physiological aspects. The hierarchy related to Maslow’s theory helps in displaying the basic requirements of individuals working in an organization by providing them with better security and safety. It has been seen that Maslow’s has focused on the needs of the individual, which play a motivating factor, and this has a certain influence on the behaviour of the individual [22]. Thus, it can be said that it is important for organizations to satisfy the needs of the employees for better retention through avoidance of unpleasant consequences and feelings. In this regard, furthermore, the need for self-esteem is more important than the needs of individuals [19]. Safety needs can be fulfilled through consideration of financial security, and health safety. This is the most important aspect of reducing

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the incidents of accidents and injuries in a workplace, which impacts the reputation of the organization and HRM processes. The above arguments are leads us to our second hypothesis: H2 Employee motivation significantly influences employee retention.

2.3 Leadership Styles Various elements, such as innovation, social equality, shared decision-making duties, and strong participation, might better describe leadership style [24]. Leadership styles are the behavioral patterns that a leader use to influence the behavior of others, such as followers. The leadership style denotes the way of providing guidance by putting in place appropriate plans and strategies [3, 23]. The correct leadership styles contribute to the organization’s long-term success by offering the right guidance to team members. Various sorts of leadership styles are used by different leaders. Democratic leadership has been identified as the most significant approach for increasing productivity through supporting employees. Benefits and suitable theory related to variable It can be said that a leader can be anyone, who has proper talents, knowledge, and experiences. However, it has been seen that different situations call for different types of leadership styles. Thus, in various situations, some leadership style is more effective, and others have negative impacts on organizational growth [4]. Democratic leadership style helps in solving various problems by considering extreme intuitive behaviours. Similarly, the participatory leadership style encourages the employee through their charismatic traits [9]. This is highly focused on the production process. On the other hand, Laissez Faier leadership style creates accountability. The autocratic leadership style focuses on the process of creating a clear vision. Among these, transformational leadership is the most effective one as this focuses on the transformation process [26]. The most important characteristic of transformational leaders is motivation [3]. Innovation and creation result from this. This management approach encourages workers to accept or adapt to new developments in light of the more intensely competitive nature of company environments, which aids in employee retention. Uncertainty has been brought on by the COVID Pandemic. In this scenario, leaders play a crucial role in guiding the staff as they operate remotely. Contrarily, the transactional leadership style is simple to grasp yet results in high staff turnover rates since it places too much pressure on the workers. This does not foster a climate that is conducive to working toward a common vision and objectives [16]. In this aspect, the Great man theory can be the best suitable one. This focuses on the aspect that great leaders are born with the right abilities and traits. This involves charisma, clear communication skills, confidence, and social skills. This also defines

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the leaders as mythic, valiant, and ordained. This will be best suited in this regard to bring employee retention. Transformational leaders can lead people in the best ways [15]. Thus, this is evident that the great man theory helps transformational leaders to possess certain traits that will be beneficial for raising and leading others. Great leaders are the asset of an organization, and they are considered heroes. They inspire others through their style and personality. They have the ability to manage organizational conflicts and disagreements. They also consider a clear vision for attaining the goals by delegating rights job roles and responsibilities. The above arguments are leads us to our third hypothesis: H3 Leadership styles significantly influence employee retention.

2.4 Organizational Justice The theory of justice proposed by Adams in 1965—also referred to as the theory of social comparison, the theory of exchange, and the theory of equality—is the foundation for the idea of organizational justice. The core of the notion of justice is that people contrast the outputs they receive with the inputs they provide to their organization (demographics, experiences, activities, and individual acts) (financial and nonfinancial incentives) [21]. It also presupposes that a person evaluates his or her own compensation in light of what others are paid. Due to its significant influence on daily life and society, the topic of justice has attracted the attention of many researchers. Employees use equity theory to compare themselves to reference people in order to preserve what they think to be a fair balance between their organizational inputs and what they receive in return or as a reward. Each employee will assess whether the organization recognizes their efforts and, as a result, will form more or less positive judgements of fairness and justice [1, 16]. Organizational justice refers to the ethical correctness and social appropriateness of a company’s working actions [15]. Additionally, ER fundamentally impacts the longevity of organizations, even though it is a challenging task in this age of intense competition. Scholars in the domain of organizational justice have shown theses action related to employee training, employee motivation, and leadership style. However, Employees are a company’s physical asset. Previous research has found that when a business meets the needs and expectations of its employees, they demonstrate high levels of commitment and drive. In addition, the study investigated the role of organizational justice in moderating the relationship between (employee training, employee motivation, and leadership style) and employee retention. As a result of previous research, this study hypothesizes: H4 Organizational justice in moderate the relationship between (employee training, employee motivation, and leadership style) and employee retention.

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2.5 Employee Retention Employees retention is the most important aspect of increasing work productivity. Employee retention helps in encouraging the employees to put in better efforts. Retention of employees is the foremost role of Human resource management [18]. In this process, leaders also have a major role in planning efforts to bring motivation through effective leadership styles. This study has reviewed the past literature to gather deeper insights related to the topic and different ideas. With this, certain limitations have been identified, based on which certain recommendations have been provided. Vroom’s theory shows that the behaviors, personalities, and skills of employees have a proper influence on the performance of the employees. In this aspect, there is a close relationship between the motivation and performance of the employees. However, it can be argued that increased efforts help in getting increased performances. Transparency and emotional aspects have a proper role in getting proposed outcomes [5, 6]. Thus, motivation is the key to bringing long-term success by motivating the employee to better efforts into the organization. This shows the close connection between the talent and knowledge of employees, which decides the long-term results of an organization. There is a close relationship between talent management practices and employee retention. Employee retention has been creating major concerns for organizations in the competitive business environment [18, 19]. Higher competition has increased the requirement of hiring talented employees. Thus, Talent management can be defined as the identification, attraction, and development of an organization. This also helps to address various organizational issues. On the other hand, the knowledge of the employees can be defined as the ability to get success based on expertise role or effective performance. Talent management practices help in bringing systematic procedures for sustaining the competitive edge [17]. Benefits and suitable theory related to variable Talent development and knowledge of individual employees have become the most important asset for any organization. This is due to the higher competition and the need for employee retention. Talented employees are characterized based on various factors like competencies, knowledge, ability to learn, and competencies. Talented and knowledgeable employees are considered an important resource of an organization. Talent development practices like mentoring, training, and coaching help to develop the career of the employees, TM practices has helped various organizations to bring higher productivity through knowledge management. As a result, better retention of the employees has been possible. This has engaged the employees in the process of meeting organizational requirements. Leaders have played an effective role in this process of enhancing employment abilities by managing turnover rates. With this, knowledge-sharing aspects are considered important resources or assets, and knowledge-sharing aspects have increased the skills and knowledge of the employees. Retaining employees included knowledge management practices for

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gaining tactic knowledge of the employees. This can have a positive impact on the employees to bring productivity while working independently in COVID situations. Talent management helps in proposing effective ways of increasing the power of human capital of any organization. Talent management can help to provide better knowledge by enhancing the skills and participation of individuals in case of a COVID pandemic situation [8]. In this context, 5B talent management has always helped to view talent management as an important aspect of organizational success and growth. 5B’s model will help in proposing an effective competitive advantage by knowing the importance of effective recruitment processes. Building the skills of employees is also valued as a useful process. This requires proper focus to retain employees by retaining their talents of individuals. Talent management strategies help in bringing better culture, environment, and structure to an organization. In this regard, the techno-centric theory can be considered effective for the knowledge of employees as this helps to bring innovation through productive work processes. This also facilitates the flow of useful knowledge by storing useful information. Besides, this model will help to focus on the capabilities of human-like employees. In this context, the talent management model can be presented for a better understanding.

3 Theoretical Framework The primary factors of employee retention for Bahraini firms are the subject of the study. The model for this study was created after evaluating several relevant and related earlier ideas and investigations. As shown in Fig. 1, the three key factors that affect employee retention which are employee motivation, employee training, and leadership style.

4 Conclusion, Recommendation, and Limitation 4.1 Conclusion In order to contribute to the expanding body of research on human resources management (HRM), this study looks at the connection between employee training, employee motivation, and leadership style on employee retention and organizational justice as a moderator variable. This paper discusses in detail the propose a model for Bahrain firm’s: A study the factors influencing employee retention. A literature review indicates the variables show employee training, employee motivation, and leadership style as independent variables have a significant influence on employee retention and organizational justice as moderator variables between employee training, employee motivation, and leadership style as independent variables have a significant influence on employee

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Fig. 1 Theoretical model

retention. Moreover, the Social Exchange Theory, Equity Theory, and Psychology’s Maslow Hierarchy of Needs all lend credence to the studies. The study’s conclusions could be applied by the Bahraini company to empowering employee retention. On the other hand, the researchers encountered several challenges in planning this study. A key limitation of the study is constructed entirely from a review of previous literature, To perform in-depth analysis, researchers may also choose to conduct case studies so future researcher needs expanding this research to include designing survey, and interview with selected industry in Bahrain firm’s to look deeply into details to empower the employee retention as employee retention has long been a major concern for firms since experienced employees make significant contributions to an organization’s success. This study only looked at three independent factors: employee training, employee motivation, and leadership style. Future studies can look at additional variables in systematic research to include more new variables to be examined and aspects of leadership style to be included. to fully comprehend the phenomenon. The study included a mediator variable, organizational justice; future studies should include characteristics of organizational justice to fully comprehend the phenomenon.

References 1. Adams, J.S.: Inequity in social exchange. In: Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 2, pp. 267–299. Academic Press (1965) 2. AlZgool, M., Ahmed, U., Shah, S., Alkadash, T., AlMaamary, Q.: Going green during COVID19: examining the links between green HRM, green supply chain and firm performance in food industry of Bahrain: the moderating role of lockdown due to COVID-19. Uncertain Supply

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Chain Manag. 9(1), 79–88 (2021) 3. Al-Omari, M.A., AlZgool, M.R.H., Ahmed, U., Pahi, M.H., AlMaamary, Q.: Exploring the nexus between E-business processes and organizational performance: can technological opportunism play any role? Front Psychol. 13 (2022) 4. Alkadash, T.M.: Mediating role between authentic leadership, organizational commitment on talents turnover intention: in Palestine higher education. Test Eng. Manag. (2020) 5. Bryson, A., White, M.: HRM and small-firm employee motivation: before and after the great recession. ILR Rev. 72(3), 749–773 (2019) 6. Campos-García, I., Zúñiga-Vicente, J.Á.: The impact of a leader’s demographic and professional characteristics on employee motivation. Empl. Relat. 4 (2019) 7. Colquitt, J.A.: On the dimensionality of organizational justice: a construct validation of a measure. J. Appl. Psychol. 86(3), 386 (2001) 8. Dawwas, M.I.: The relationship between talent management practices, organizational justice, and employee engagement. Spec. Ugdym. 1(43), 2084–2104 (2022) 9. Dawwas, M.I.: Employee perception of talent management practices and employee engagement: a multiple mediator model. Spec. Ugdym. 1(43), 2105–2134 (2022) 10. Dietz, D., Zwick, T.: The retention effect of training: portability, visibility, and credibility. Int. J. Hum. Resour. Manag. 1–32 (2020) 11. Greenberg, J.: Organizational justice: yesterday, today, and tomorrow. J. Manag. 16(2), 399–432 (1990) 12. Goghari, V.M., Hagstrom, S., Madon, S., Messer-Engel, K.: Experiences and learnings from professional psychology training partners during the COVID-19 pandemic: impacts, challenges, and opportunities. Can. Psychol. 61(3), 167 (2020) 13. Haque, A., Fernando, M., Caputi, P.: Responsible leadership, affective commitment and intention to quit: an individual-level analysis. Leadersh. Organ. Dev. J. (2019) 14. Jeffrey, I., Prasetya, A.B.: The employee performance assessment and employee training, on employee intension. J. Apl. Manaje. 17(1), 56–65 (2019) 15. Kurdi, B., Alshurideh, M.: Employee retention and organizational performance: evidence from banking industry. Manag. Sci. Lett. 10(16), 3981–3990 (2020) 16. Lee, H.W.: Moderators of the motivational effects of performance management: a comprehensive exploration based on expectancy theory. Publ. Pers. Manage. 48(1), 27–55 (2019) 17. Loh, E.K.: What we know about expectancy-value theory, and how it helps to design a sustained motivating learning environment. System 86, 102119 (2019) 18. Lorincová, S., Štarchoˇn, P., Weberová, D., Hitka, M., Lipoldová, M.: Employee motivation as a tool to achieve sustainability of business processes. Sustainability 11(13), 3509 (2019) 19. Modau, F.D., Dhanpat, N., Lugisani, P., Mabojane, R., Phiri, M.: Exploring employee retention and intention to leave within a call centre. SA J. Hum. Resour. Manag. 16(1), 1–13 (2018) 20. Rubenstein, K., Bergin, T., Rowe, P.: Gender, leadership and representative democracy: the differential impacts of the global pandemic. Democr. Theory 7(2), 94–103 (2020) 21. Ryan, R.M., Deci, E.L.: Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. Contemp. Educ. Psychol. 101860 (2020) 22. Setiyani, A., Djumarno, D., Riyanto, S., Nawangsari, L.: The effect of work environment on flexible working hours, employee engagement and employee motivation. Int. Rev. Manag. Mark. 9(3), 112 (2019) 23. Smith, K.: Leading with leadership: benefits for millennial employee retention and motivation. Doctoral dissertation, California State University, Northridge (2020) 24. Wassem, M., Baig, S.A., Abrar, M., Hashim, M., Zia-Ur-Rehman, M., Awan, U., et al.: Impact of capacity building and managerial support on employees’ performance: the moderating role of employees’ retention. SAGE Open 9(3), 2158244019859957 (2019) 25. Wigfield, A., Gladstone, J.R.: What does expectancy-value theory have to say about motivation and achievement in times of change and uncertainty? In: Motivation in Education at a Time of Global Change. Emerald Publishing Limited (2019)

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Factors Influencing Employees’ Productivity in Bahraini Alhelli Company—Literature Review Qais Ahmed Almaamari

Abstract The purpose of this research is to investigate the factors that influence employee productivity at Alhelli Company. The article focuses on how employee commitment, training and development, and work stress affect productivity. This report will be a focused literature review of the company’s productivity variables. Employee commitment, training and development, and work stress have all been proved to have a good impact on firm productivity. This article should enable corporate managers to think about the variables that affect how the firm operates. This paper will help the managers and employees of Alhelli Company and manufacturing companies to recognize the factors that are likely to influence employee productivity and develop effective strategies for increasing employee productivity in Alhelli Company. Keywords Factors · Productivity · Alhelli Company

1 Introduction Productivity is the efficient production of outcomes, advantages, or earnings, and employees who have had contact or become a member of the company will do the correct thing in order to accomplish the company’s objectives and to improve and become more productive [1]. There are a number of elements that influence employee productivity and can be classified as either obstacles or facilitators in terms of lowering or raising employee performance. Some of the elements that influence employee productivity could be linked to their perceptions, values, and characteristics. Furthermore, identifying factors that influence employee productivity is impossible, as any element might cost a lot of impacts. Training and development, work stress, and employee commitment are some of the most discussed topics [2]. Q. A. Almaamari (B) Administrative Science Department, College of Administrative and Financial Science, Gulf University, Sanad 26489, Kingdom of Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_32

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According to [3, 4] one of the most important goals for every company is to increase staff productivity. This is because highly productive individuals can have an impact on the overall performance of the company. Employee productivity is encouraged in high-performing firms, and as a result, employees are more inclined to participate in decision-making, goal-setting, and problem-solving activities in the company, resulting in improved employee performance [5]. Also added is that human resource policies aim to provide employees with opportunities to participate in decision-making, incentives to make the discretionary effort, and the ability to acquire the necessary skills. Productivity can be measured in terms of an employee’s output over a set period of time. Typically, a worker’s productivity is measured in comparison to the average for employees doing similar work. Employee productivity is an important factor for companies because the productivity of their workers is so important to their success [6].

2 Literature Review 2.1 The Impact of Training and Development on Productivity Training is a methodical procedure by which companies expand and enhance the standard of their new and inventive employees. In [7] paper, training is considered as a process of growth and teaching that benefits individuals, groups, and organizations, and so as a side effect, it is the collection of tasks carried out by the company that results in the acquiring gathering of data or professional abilities of the growth process. And also benefited are a well and efficiency of intellectual resources, companies, and the community as a whole. Similarly [4], training seems to be an act of engagement that improves a company’s products and services quality while also stiffening the competitiveness by improving workers’ technical expertise. Training comes in the learning of competencies that enable individuals to perform better in their current employment, whereas development serves in the introduction of additional information and abilities that help to develop into future career needs. Similarly, we find that training is limited to the improvement of job-related qualities, whereas development includes the growth and achievement of employees. Furthermore, while training enhances technical staff’s level of skill over a short amount of time for a specific goal, development helps organizations to learn and grow over a longer period of time for an overarching goal [8]. H1 Training and development has a positive significant impact on productivity.

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2.2 The Impact of Employee Commitment on Productivity In order to achieve excellent long-term success, any company must have 100% employee commitment. Whenever workers work in groups, they behave as capitalists, and each person in the group does all possible to prove that he or she is the greatest in the group. Employee commitment levels in organizations that raise their commitment levels increase employee productivity. Within previous, firms have given employment rights to their staff in terms of enhancing their loyalty to the company and productivity [9] whenever a worker plans to stay with the company for a long period, he/she will be taken into consideration. Countless studies have been undertaken throughout the years to back up that assertion. Finally, it was determined that devoted employees stick in the company for quite a long amount of period than those who are less loyal to the company. Employees that are devoted to the company will have a greater desire to remain in the company and work hard to complete their jobs, which will raise their positive attitude toward the company, therefore as a consequence, improve the effectiveness of the company. It will lead to improved performance of the organization [10]. H2 Employee commitment has a positive significant impact on productivity.

2.3 The Impact of Work Stress on Productivity The relationship between a person and the environment causes stress, which causes emotional pressure that affects a person’s self-esteem. Stress is caused by irritants, which can have been an experience that cause the person to lose equilibrium. Expert scholars also confirmed that Stress response has a significant cost for employees, companies, and the community. Mental illnesses and stress-related ailments are common among workers [11, 12]. Expressed that Work stress is a healthy stimulant that motivates staff to contribute to perform challenges, Stress allows workers to focus all resources in order to fulfill job requirements and is a positive stimulation that encourages staff to contribute to job problems. H3 Work stress has a positive significant impact on productivity.

3 Conceptual Framework Figure 1 demonstrates the conceptual framework of this study, which is prepared to depend on the connection between the three different variables from the literature review, in which the employee’s productivity stands as the dependent variable, which is the problem statement of the research, while employee commitment, training and

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Fig. 1 Research model of this study

development, and work stress stand as independent variables that basically shows its influence on the dependent variable. However, the independent variables had a positive significant influence on employee productivity in Alhelli Company in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The conceptual framework shows that the dependent variable is influenced by the independent variable. This research explains how the independent variables influence the dependent variable. To be more specific, it illustrates how employee commitment, training and development, and work stress will influence employee productivity in Alhelli Company in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

4 Limitations and Recommendations This research has some weaknesses, such as focusing on only one company and only one country, the Kingdom of Bahrain, which means that other companies in Bahrain and elsewhere will not profit from this study. I also suggest future researches use the same problem but other independent variables instead of focusing on only one problem and three factors.

5 Conclusion First and foremost, the study’s goal is to incorporate success criteria into the company’s service. This result is thought to contribute to a greater understanding of the importance of greater stages of service efficiency. This also suggests that service management will employ more consistent efficiency strategies, as retaining existing customers is less affordable than acquiring new ones. The results of the study also show that three elements have a significant impact on productivity: training and development, employee commitment, and work stress.

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As a result, this study provides a much stronger and clearer framework for managers, academics, and other scholars to recommend the processes required to ensure a high standard of achievement. As a result, service firms must put in more effort in their development to ensure higher performance and productivity in order to improve employee commitment, training and development, and work stress in the companies.

References 1. Al-Harethi, A.A.M., Al-Maamari, Q.A.: The impact of strategic planning on improving institutional performance at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology in Malaysia. Int. J. Psychol. Cogn. Sci. 4(3), 112–129 (2018) 2. Al-Maamari, Q.A.: The effect of total quality management (TQM) practices on individual readiness for change with in Yemeni oil units. Test Eng. Manag. 83, 13640–13661 (2020) 3. Al-Tahitah, A., Muthaliff, M.M.A., Abdulrab, M., Al-Maamari, Q.A.: Paper review on the relationship between transformational leadership and readiness for change. Int. J. Energy Policy Manag. 3(1), 1–7 (2018) 4. Almaamari, Q.A., Alaswad, H.I.: Factors influencing employees’ productivity—literature review. Acad. Entrep. J. 27(3), 1–7 (2021) 5. Alkadash, T.M.: The implications of employee training programs on the employee productivity. A study with reference to private sector organizations in Palestine. Int. J. Bus. Manag. Res. 8(6), 56 (2015) 6. Alkadash, T.M., Vorobyova, K., Alhajjar, A., Almaamari, Q., Abdulrahim, A.: The influence of social public announcement on consumers’ behavior: a content analysis related to cognitive attitude, affective attitude, behavioral attitude. A study of Bahrain and Malaysia. PalArch’s J. Archaeol. Egypt/Egyptol. 18(4), 2047–2060 (2021) 7. Aldoseri, F.I., Almaamari, Q.A.: Factors influencing employee performance at the banking sector in Kingdom of Bahrain: literature review 8. Abdulrab, M., Zumrah, A.R., Almaamari, Q., Al-Tahitah, A.: Transformational leadership and psychological empowerment in Malaysian public universities: a review paper. Res. Humanit. Soc. Sci. (2017) 9. Al-Maamari, Q.A., Raju, V.: Does organizational commitment affect individual readiness for total quality management (TQM) implementation (2020) 10. Al-Maamari, Q.A., Alkadash, T., Al-Absy, M.S., Nagi, M., Abdullah, M.A.: The mediation impact of organizational commitment on the total quality management practices and individual readiness for TQM implementation within Yemeni oil units. Int. J. Qual. Res. 15(2) (2021) 11. Alsaad, L.H., Almaamari, Q.A.: A semi literature review of factors influencing employee’s performance at banking service. Int. J. Manag. (IJM) 11(8) (2020); Biswakarma, G.: Impact of workplace spirituality on employee productivity in Nepalese hospitality organizations. J. Tour. Hosp. Educ. 8, 62–67 (2018) 12. Al-Maamari, Q.A., Al-Absy, M.S., Alkadash, T., Alzgool, M.R., Abdullah, M.A., Bojiah, J.: The moderating effect of organizational culture on the relationship between total quality management practices and individual readiness for TQM implementation at Yemen oil unit. PalArch’s J. Archaeol. Egypt/Egyptol. 17(7), 6204–6230 (2020)

The Relational Cohesion Exchange Model to Elucidate Commuter’s Switchover Intention for Mass Rapid Transit Rail M. Dileep Kumar , Manisha Semwal , Normala S. Govindarajo , Priya Sachdeva , and Niviya Feston Abstract The likelihood that commuters will use alternate means of transportation can be influenced by the quality of services. According to the relational cohesion theory, social interactions can increase feelings and foster strong bonds between commuters and the service provider. Standardized instruments were used to collect cross-sectional data on the model’s factors—service quality, customer satisfaction, and switchover behavior—using quantitative techniques. The strength of links between the chosen factors and the theoretical models was evaluated. The predicted association between service quality and switchover intention was supported by what was seen. The association between service quality and intention to switch providers was in part mediated by customer satisfaction. Keywords Mass rapid transport · Service quality · Customer satisfaction · Behavioural intention · Relational cohesion theory

1 Introduction Malaysia’s transportation industry is less sustainable as a result of the country’s increasing urbanization and vehicle traffic rise. The nation’s automobile population has dramatically expanded during the last 20 years [1]. Commuters are looking for the M. Dileep Kumar (B) Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria e-mail: [email protected] M. Semwal KL Business School, Vijayawada, India N. S. Govindarajo Xiamen University Malaysia (XMU), Sepang, Malaysia P. Sachdeva Amity University, Noida, India N. Feston Garden City University, Bangalore, India © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_33

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greatest replacement mode of transportation to get to work and home because they are also unhappy with driving their own cars because of traffic deaths. The MRT project is overseen by SPAD to reduce the aggravating traffic congestion in the Klang Valley region of Malaysia. Nevertheless, there are several grievances from MRT commuters regarding the quality of the rail service. According to [2] research, the service quality attributes of the transportation system in Klang Valley are inadequate and fall short of expectations, necessitating some improvement. In this context, a number of inquiries are answered. What problems with service quality do MRT train travellers in Malaysia encounter? What effects do the service quality dimensions have on commuter satisfaction? Do passengers using MRT rail transport have any plans to switch over as a result of their expectations for service quality? The realities of the problems faced by commuters will be made clear by integrating relational cohesion theory with the variables of service quality, customer happiness, and switchover intention. Section 1 of the paper refers to the introduction; Sect. 2 refers to the literature review; Sect. 3 refers to the research methodology; Sect. 6 refers to the analysis and results; and the final section includes the study’s discussion and implications.

2 Literature Review—Hypothesis Formation 2.1 Tangibility and Behavioural Intention In the context of rail and transportation services, it is expected that they will provide a number of service facilities, such as clean restrooms, well-lit seating areas, and correct display sign boards in addition to proper railway platforms and staff appearances [3]. The literature on public transportation provides corroborating evidence that there is a favourable correlation between behavioral switch and intent. Some researchers also noted a contrary outcome [4]. Hence the study poses following hypothesis. H1a There will be direct and negative relationship exist between tangibility and behavioural intention among MRT users.

2.2 Reliability and Behavioural Intention The provider of the railway service must show genuine interest in resolving the issue and adhere to timeliness while responding to commuters’ complaints. Although some studies found a favourable relationship between dependability and switchover intention [5], other studies found no relationship or a negligible relationship [6]. Hence the study poses following hypothesis.

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H1b There will be direct and negative relationship exist between reliability and behavioural intention among MRT users.

2.3 Responsiveness and Behavioural Intention In order to receive favourable reactions, a strong willingness to serve commuters is required. The eagerness of the rail workers to assist, their exact timing of services, and their willingness to address commuters’ concerns are to be expected from a rail service provider. Even though [7] study indicated a link between responsiveness and intention, some scholars have noted that the results can be contradictory. Hence the study poses following hypothesis. H1c There will be direct and negative relationship exist between responsiveness and behavioural intention among MRT users.

2.4 Assurance and Behavioural Intention According to [8] assurance and changing behavior over intention are positively correlated. Transit agencies should look at users’ perceptions of safety, according to [8] 2016 study, which showed that doing so would increase usage in the future. Most travellers are concerned about how employees act, particularly with regard to their respect and safety [8]. However, [9] demonstrated that assurance dimension has a moderately effect on customer satisfaction, which would lead to a behavioural switch over intent. Hence, the study offers the following hypothesis. H1d There will be direct and negative relationship exist between assurance and behavioural intention among MRT users.

2.5 Empathy and Behavioural Intention According to [9] customers would express interest in obtaining services from an organization when they feel as though they are receiving personalized attention. According to [10] the empathy component will have a significant impact on customers’ behavioural switchover intentions in the public transportation sector. The railroad staff should pay close attention to each individual and have the best interests of the traveller in mind. Positive and negative feelings are associated with them because the rail travel invites their unique preferences. The study proposes the following hypothesis as a result.

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H1e There will be direct and negative relationship exist between empathy and behavioural intention among MRT users.

2.6 Customer Satisfaction and Behavioural Switching Over Intention Based on customer satisfaction [11], behavioral intention forecasting [12], and service quality, clients’ emotions are well assessed [13]. The secret to predicting a change in behavior over intention is overall contentment. Numerous academics have found that customer satisfaction and use intention are positively correlated [14]. On the other hand, [15] found in their research on the behavioural intentions of traveller’s that the satisfaction of receiving high-quality service had a beneficial impact on the intention to repurchase. Hence, the study suggests the following hypothesis. H2 There will be direct and negative relationship exist between customer satisfaction and behavioural intention among MRT users.

2.7 Customer Satisfaction Moderate the Relations Between Service Quality and Behavioural Switching Over Intention Studies revealed a correlation between customer satisfaction and switching over that is favourable [16]. When the quality of the service is given special consideration, customer satisfaction will significantly increase and at the same time, customers will be more inclined to employ the transport provider. Additionally, service quality greatly influences switching behavior suggests that, as some features of service facilities improve, users will be happier and more inclined to travel by rail. Additionally, consumer happiness will rise as service quality improves. Hence, following hypothesis as a result of the discussion above. H3 Customer satisfaction will moderate the relationship between service quality and behavioural intention among MRT users.

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3 Research Methodology 3.1 Research Design and Sampling A cross-sectional quantitative study design was used in the current investigation. The participants in this study were MRT users in Malaysia’s Klang Valley. With a high human change index, this region has the nation’s fastest urban growth. The research used purposeful sampling. In Kuala Lumpur, where there are 7.2 million people, the lowest sample size is 384, and the estimated response rate is 80%. PLS structural equation modelling was used to analyze the collected data [17]. Table 1 which exhibits the details of pilot testing. The study finally proposed 29 items, under seven (7) constructs were considered. The Internal consistency reliability was moderate to high for the instruments observed with a range of a Cronbach’s α values are ranging from 0.740 to 0.921 supports the minimum criteria of 0.60 [22].

4 Validity The study used 15 academic and commercial specialists to follow content validity. Average Variance Extracted (AVE) was used in the study’s convergent validity analysis by [23]. For the purpose of achieving sufficient convergent validity, the AVE 0.50 rule was followed [23]. According to the analysis included in Table 2, all of the advantages of AVE continued to fall within the acceptable range of 0.501 and 0.820, indicating a satisfactory convergent validity. As a result, the research’s convergent validity was proven. Table 3 HTMT analysis clearly showed that the scores for each construct are below the required critical values of 0.85 [24] and 0.90 [25]. Additionally, interval confidence readings for every construct also show scores lower than 1. All of the constructs undergo the established discriminant validity requirements, as is demonstrated [26]. Table 1 Measurements of construct after pilot testing with reliability No

Instrument

No of questions

Scale

Cronbach α

Author

1

Tangibility

2

5-point scale

0.865

[18, 19]

2

Reliability

4

0.822

3

Responsiveness

4

0.772

4

Assurance

3

0.740

5

Empathy

3

0.837

6

Customer satisfaction

4

0.887

[20]

7

Switch over intention

3

0.830

[21]

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Table 2 Summary of Cronbach’s α RHO_A, composite reliability, average variance extracted (AVE) Measurement items

Item

Cronbach’s α

RHO_A

Composite reliability

Average variance extracted (AVE)

Tangibility

0.801

0.901

0.905

0.811

Reliability

0.800

0.911

0.900

0.800

Responsiveness

0.799

0.903

0.916

0.732

Assurance

0.821

0.900

0.911

0.723

Empathy

0.788

0.907

0.909

0.775

Customer satisfaction

0.791

0.920

0.903

0.800

Switchover intention

0.780

0.916

0.911

0.680

5 Reliability Cronbach’s α for Tangibility is 0.86, assurance is 0.74, empathy is 0.83, reliability is 0.82, responsiveness is 0.77, customer satisfaction is 0.88, and switchover intention is 0.83, according to the analytical score for the reliability test. The Cronbach’s α appears to be higher than 0.7 for the overall scores [27]. Therefore, it is clear that the instrument’s internal consistency is acknowledged.

6 Analysis and Result Table 4 indicates the results of the hypotheses testing using the SmartPLS path model analysis resulted in three important observations: firstly, tangibility has a positive and significant relationship with switchover intention (β = 0.456; t = 2.311) and hence H1 is supported. Secondly, reliability has a positive and significant relationship switchover intention (β = 0.433; t = 2.200), hence H2 is supported. Besides that, responsiveness has positive and significant relationship with switchover intention (β = 0.520; t = 2.800) and hence H3 is supported. Fourthly, assurance has a positive and significant relationship with switchover intention (β = 0.436; t = 2.491) and hence H4 is supported. Fifthly, empathy has a positive and significant relationship with switchover intention (β = 0.541; t = 2.245) and hence H5 is supported. Besides that, customer satisfaction has positive and significant relationship with switchover intention (β = 0.590; t = 2.521) and hence H6 is supported. The inclusion of service quality and customer satisfaction into the SmartPLS path model analysis contributes 64.6% of the change in the dependent variable (Fig. 1). Table 5 reveals the test findings of hypotheses 5 and 6. Analysis findings indicate that the indirect relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable is partially significant (0.399, p < 0.01). Reference [28] indicates that the

0.812

0.767

0.700

0.790

0.800

Responsiveness

Assurance

Empathy

Customer satisfaction

Switchover intention

0.799

0.761

Tangibility

Reliability

Tangibility

Factor

0.789

0.733

0.720

0.812

0.788

0.765

Reliability

Table 3 Discriminant validity—hetrotait monotrait ratio

0.733

0.721

0.800

0.733

0.745

Responsiveness

0.700

0.788

0.745

0.732

Assurance

0.863

0.737

0.788

Empathy

0.711

0.722

Customer satisfaction

0.722

Switchover intention

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Table 4 Results of direct hypothesis Relationship →

Beta (β)

t-value

p-value

R2 value

Tangibility →

Switch over intention 0.456

2.311

0.035

0.646

Reliability →

Switch over intention 0.433

2.200

0.033

Responsiveness →

Switch over intention 0.520

2.800

0.039

Assurance →

Switch over intention 0.536

2.491

0.041

Empathy →

Switch over intention 0.541

2.245

0.042

Customer satisfaction →

Switch over intention 0.590

2.521

0.045

Significant level = *p < 0.05, t > 1.65

T

0.456 R

0.433

0.646 Switchover intention

0.520 R

SQ

0.536 0.590 0.541

A

CS E

Fig. 1 Structural frame

R-squared scores of 0.67, 0.33, and 0.19 in PLS-SEM can be counted as substantial, moderate, and weak, correspondingly. Interestingly, the association amongst service quality and customer satisfaction on switchover intention is decreased although continues significant as complimentary. Table 5 Results of indirect hypothesis Relationships Direct t-value Significant Indirect t-value Significant Effect effect (p > 0.05) effect β (p > 0.05) β SQ → IS

0.469

2.279

Yes (p = 0.000)

0.399

1.864

Yes (p = 0.000)

Partial mediation Complimentary

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The Q2 is a criterion is used to a determine how good a model forecasts the data of excluded cases [28]. According to [29] a model with Q2 statistic (s) more than zero is believed to have predictive significance. Additionally, a model with greater positive Q2 scores indicates more predictive importance. The test results show that Q2 values are between 0.341 and 0.389 [29]. The scores are higher than the specification that is greater than zero [30]. Consequently, the results normally establish the analytical significance of the SmartPLS path model utilized in this research. Lastly, the influence of f square size of the association amongst the factors ranges from 0.0356 to 0.437. Such scores are classified as small and medium-size results as confirmed by [31] the value of f square = 0.02 is categorised as small, 0.15 as moderate, and 0.35 as large.

7 Discussion Based on the tangible and intangible services offered to passengers by the service provider, the quality of public transportation services is assessed. Travel service providers, with whom commuters’ good feelings are strongly associated, are subject to a variety of expectations from the general public. Therefore, the desire to travel with a service provider is seen as a good emotional response that is dependent on personal judgments about their favourable or unfavourable attitude. Beyond the basic physical amenities that satisfy commuters’ travel needs, their emotions are strongly linked to the auxiliary amenities that support travel, such as appropriate restrooms, drinking water facilities, restaurants that serve a variety of cuisines, etc. On the train as well as within the station, commuters hope that the physical amenities will be enticing. Technology-integrated amenities like “touch and go,” “online recharge,” “mobile recharge,” electronic sign boards, “electronic information systems,” and “electronic messaging information about the train arrival,” among others, increase commuters’ comfort levels by extending a positive emotional state. Rail stations should make you feel good because of their architecture, design, or physical arrangement. They anticipate an attractive seating arrangement inside the train that is nice, clean, and roomy. Signboards indicating the direction of travel, ticket counters, washroom facilities for different genders, seating within the train for the elderly and handicapped commuters, special coaches for women, information about the train’s arrival and departure, way in and out of the rail station, signs of escalators and lifts, etc., should be proper enough to avoid confusion among the commuters. Signs indicating the direction of travel, ticket booths, restrooms for different genders, seating inside the train for the elderly and handicapped commuters, special coaches for women, information about the train’s arrival and departure, the way in and out of the rail station, signs of escalators and lifts, etc., should be appropriately placed to prevent confusion among the commuters. Positive feelings are experienced by commuters when service providers work with dependable personnel. Commuters will be relying on the rail

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service professionals to resolve their issue in the event of an emergency. According to [32], how personnel handle complaints will have a big impact on how passengers behave. The study also provides evidence for the moderating impact of customer satisfaction on associations among service quality subdimensions and behavioral switching over intention. Such a moderated result indicates that positive emotions attached to the service deliverables are moderating commuters’ intentions on whether to switch over to other means of transport or retain them with the same logistic provider.

8 Implications 8.1 Practical Implications It is poor service, which is still a major problem in the public transportation industry, that pushes commuters to choose alternative modes of transportation. The service providers and commuters are anticipated to have a harmonious partnership. Only if commuters experienced happy feelings as a result of using public transportation would this association be established. Service providers need to be aware of what constitutes quality service delivery and how passengers’ emotions are connected to service deliverables in order to achieve this goal. Finding out which aspects, from the perspectives of both users and non-users, should receive the most attention and which improvements will have the biggest impact is crucial. By comprehending commuters’ expectations and emotional connections to a service provider, MRT management should adopt a customer-focused strategy.

8.2 Theoretical Implications Beginning with the concept of a social exchange unit, Relational Cohesion Theory assumes that people have a variety of options that satisfy their positive feelings while making a decision. According to the theory, structural interdependence generates structural cohesion and emotions are produced through efficient interactions that promote relational cohesion. Relational cohesiveness, which enhances the likelihood that the service exchanges will be successful, will occur when the service delivery and expected customer interaction coincide. Commuters’ emotional outbursts might disrupt MRT services. By creating positive feelings in the consumer’s cognitive process, tangible, dependable, attentive, confident, and empathy-oriented transactions increase the possibility that they will return or reduce their intention to transfer providers. Each subdimension of service quality causes commuters to feel either positively or negatively. When passengers have favourable emotions following a service experience,

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the source of the positive emotions transforms into a source of value for the consumer, according to a relational cohesion theory application to MRT railway services. Such pleasant feelings result in the commuter’s desire to stick with the same service provider, which is the MRT, and less switching behavior.

9 Limitations and Future Direction The study also carries some limitations in conducting the research. The research had to follow purposive sampling since the respondents are infinite. The study would have provided better result if it includes some the variables like perceived value, and travel fare. The investigators also suggest mix method research to get an in-depth qualitative interpretation about the deep-rooted beliefs of commuters related to the variables selected for the study.

10 Conclusion The purpose of the current research was to establish the relationship between service quality dimensions of MRT Klang Valley, Malaysia with commuters’ satisfaction and switchover behavioural intention. The study posed 2 direct and 1 indirect research questions to test 7 hypotheses. The result clearly indicates that the service quality dimensions have positive and direct impact on the switchover behavioural intention among Klang Valley MRT users. The moderating effect of customer satisfaction in its association among service quality and behavioural intention is partially confirmed through this study. Theory of relational cohesiveness is well supported by all the findings liking emotions of the commuters with their switching over intention to other transport mode. MRT management should ensure better level of perceived service quality to increase customer satisfaction level which will reduce the commuters behavioural switch over intention spreading positive word of mouth about MRT.

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24. Kline, R.B.: Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling, 3rd edn. The Guilford Press, New York (2011) 25. Gold, A., Malhotra, A., Segars, A.: Knowledge management: an organizational capabilities perspective. J. Manag. Inf. Syst. 18, 185–214 (2001) 26. Henseler, J., Ringle, C.M., Sarstedt, M.: A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. J. Acad. Mark. Sci. 43, 115–135 (2015). https:// doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8 27. Nunnally, J.C.: Introduction to Psychological Measurement. McGraw-Hill, New York (1970) 28. Chin, W.W.: The partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling. Mod. Methods Bus. Res. 295, 295–336 (1998) 29. Henseler, J., Fassott, G.: Testing moderating effects in PLS path models: an illustration of available procedures. In: Esposito Vinzi, V., Chin, W., Henseler, J., Wang, H. (Eds.) Handbook of Partial Least Squares, pp. 713–735. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg (2010). https://doi.org/10. 1007/978-3-540-32827-8_31 30. Henseler, J., Dijkstra, T.K., Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C.M., Diamantopoulos, A., Straub, D.W., Ketchen, D.J., Hair, J.F., Hult, G.T.M., Calantone, R.J.: Common beliefs and reality about partial least squares: comments on Rönkkö and Evermann (2013). Organ. Res. Methods 17(2), 182–209 (2014) 31. Hair, J.F., Hult, G.T.M., Ringle, C.M., Sarstedt, M.: A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), 2nd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA (2017) 32. Lai, W.T., Chen, C.F.: Behavioral intention of public transit passenger—the role of service quality, perceived value, satisfaction and involvement. Transp. Policy 18(2), 318–325 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2010.09.003

Modern Social Media, Public Relations and Its Effects on Society and Business

A Study on Viewers Preference Towards OTT (Over-the-Top) Release Platforms in Commercial Films After Covid 19 M. Esther Krupa , S. Gokilavani , N. Kavitha , and S. Udhaya

Abstract On the off chance that there is one industry which wouldn’t care for the lockdown to end, it’s undoubtedly the OTT players. The more we stay at home, the more we wind up stuck to the screens. Presently, with not a single film deliveries to be found on account of the closure of theaters and shoot of TV shows slowed down the nation over, what everybody is discovering comfort in are the OTT stages. Hotstar, Netflix and Amazon Prime have become large names in the business and in like manner we have new members, for instance, MX player and SonyLiv. This study explores the viewer’s level of awareness towards various OTT platforms, streaming medium used by viewers, understand the different languages and the types of film genres chosen by the viewer’s and also the viewer’s satisfaction towards the OTT platforms. Data has been collected from 120 respondents through structured questionnaire and statistical tools have been used to extract the output. Keywords OTT · Viewers · Platforms · Languages

1 Introduction Today, however quick as innovation seems to be changing, the quicker we are additionally changing our propensities. Discussing TV, there would have been a TV in the whole area and everybody used to sit and watch it simultaneously, while today it M. Esther Krupa · N. Kavitha · S. Udhaya Department of Commerce, PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, India e-mail: [email protected] N. Kavitha e-mail: [email protected] S. Udhaya e-mail: [email protected] S. Gokilavani (B) Department of Commerce, Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru, India e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_34

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is the time of OTT where each individual has an advanced mobile phone wherein he can observe any sort of substance whenever. While OTT has become the new popular expression, it very well may be difficult for some to accept that OTTs in India are longer than 10 years old stage. Today, India appreciates administrations from more than 40 OTT suppliers including homegrown and global players like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney + Hotstar, Zee5 and Eros Now. To burn-through content by means of OTT medium, it is basic for the customer to approach a web empowered gadget like a Smart TV, Mobile telephone, Laptop or a Tablet.

1.1 Statement of the Problem The rise of the pandemic impacted the OTT release platforms to gain much popularity among viewers. The outbreak of Covid 19 created a booming of viewership in this media platform. The National Daily newspaper of INDIA reported that, there were more than 40+ providers of OTT services in INDIA granting streaming media over the internet. The rise in the viewership of OTT has interrupted the entertainment sector. It has shaped a convenient and near atmosphere in the viewership of films/web series with in the home itself. This growth is not only in the town/cities alone, but also gained the eyes of viewers from the smaller village households from the month of April, 2020. With the consideration of the above facts, this study aims to explore the impact of Covid 19 on the OTT release platforms related to commercial films in INDIA as it has led to transmute consumer content preferences and the reasons behind the sudden boom in this industry.

1.2 Objectives of the Study • To identify the OTT awareness sources and the reasons to choose this platform instead of theater platform. • To identify the streaming medium used by viewer’s and the motives behind the specified medium. • To understand the different languages and the types of film genres chosen by the viewer’s through OTT platform. • To study the OTT viewer’s satisfaction compared with the theatrical experiences. • To find out the problems faced by the respondents in OTT.

1.3 Research Methodology 1.3.1 Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sampling.

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1.3.2 Sampling Technique: Convenient Sampling Technique. 1.3.3 Source of Data • Primary Data Data which is collected directly from the users through a questionnaire. • Secondary Data Data which is already collected through Magazines, Journals, Newspaper, Research Papers. 1.3.4 Sample Size: 120 Respondents. 1.3.5 Geographical Location: Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. 1.3.6 Tools Applied • • • •

Percentage Analysis Garrett Method Weighted Average Analysis Chi Square Test.

1.4 Limitations of the Study • The paucity of the time, resources and the restrictions due to the global pandemic limited the physical study on the topic, which led to the respondents in homogeneous nature and demographic restriction. • The fact that the OTT platforms are still in budding condition in our Country, so that the researcher can’t get the space to go for deeper study while comparing to other countries. • There were many OTT platforms available in INDIA, but this study is limited to some major players of OTT platforms like AMAZON PRIME, NETFLIX, DISNEY + HOTSTAR, JIO CINEMA.

1.5 Review of Literature Google Trends (April 16, 2020) [1] in the article, they stated that—OTT leading platforms like Netflix and Hotstar were the most-searched OTT platforms since March 1, 2020. Correspondingly, Diurnal run-of-the-mill users for Amazon Prime had a ramble of whooping 83 proportion, which predestined there was an evergrowing appetite for Content Ingestion since the lockdown. Research Firm Kantar (2019) [2] in their cross-questioning, they found that the state-of-the-art hike was a subject to exploration that did the media practices and watch time considerably rehabilitated during Lockdown as more time was being expended with the family. The Movie observing habits were second desired content after web series and the spectators was already broadening in the year 2019. They also found that the older age groups be in the region of 35–44 years, and 45–54 years,

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showed evolution increase in OTT viewership ingestion at 18%, and 63% correspondingly. And the large number of onlookers already exhibited concentration in subscription-based platforms. Singh (2019) [3] in his assessment based on the topic “CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOR TOWARDS OTT”, he scrutinized that the Media consumption behavior of the Users that sophisticated percentage of Audience watched content during night time for two-hour on daily basis. Reboot to a New Normal Journal (2019) [4] in the report, they paraphrased about the detailed dynamics like consumption configuration and media procedure by Public is Group quantified that in the first month of Lockdown OTT registered a 34% increase in time expended by the users. CNBCTV18 (July, 2020) [5] the reason behind our analysis was that Armageddon films like Contagion which was grounded on a similar imaginary virus pandemic lengthways with Zombiel and Double Tap were the most inspected films HT Dated April 6, 2020. The report supplementary added that the documentary Pandemic: How to Thwart an Occurrence now was another top viewed Content on respective gushing platform. Netflix plays a major player of OTT streaming had a analogous trend again, because alternative pandemic apocalyptic pictures such as Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, a sci-fi movie in which mortality is smeared out because of a T-Virus outbreak was on top in user viewership. So, it was thought-provoking to learn out auxiliary about the viewership Media behaviors consumption that did the ghettoized distribution improved into a collective movie watching habit as this was the most conspicuous gap in all of the study tracked.

1.6 Findings From Table 1 it is understood that majority (71%) of the respondents are male, majority (97%) of the respondents are between the age group of 18–25 years, majority (61%) of the respondents are using OTT after Covid, majority (60%) of the respondents are using OTT for less than 2 years before Covid and majority (52%) of the respondents are aware of OTT through social media. It is clearly understood from Table 2 that the respondents ranked the reasons for choosing the OTT platforms, First—More popular films/series, Low cost/good subscription as second, High resolution videos as Third, All types of genres films as Fourth, and Can watch with entire family as Fifth for the reasons influenced by the users towards OTT (Table 3). It is clear that 44% of the respondents were using Amazon Prime, 47% of the respondents selected due to the Wide range of film availability in that specific medium, 48% of the respondents prefer English language and 41% of the respondents like to watch Action films (Table 4). It is clear that 54% of the respondents like the Screen visibility of Theatre, 65% of the respondents like to watch more number of films at cheap fees in the OTT platform, 60% of the respondents like the Sound facility in Theatre, 63% of the respondents

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Table 1 The demographic profile Profile

Groups

Gender

Male

Frequency

Female Age group

71

35

29

18–25 years

116

97

26–30 years

2

1.5

Above 30 years Using OTT Usage period before Covid 19

2

1.5

Before Covid

47

39

After Covid

73

61

Less than 2 years

28

60

2–3 years

12

26

3–4 years

4

9

More than 4 years Sources of awareness about OTT

Percentage

85

3

5

Social media

62

52

Family and friends

51

43

7

5

Television advertisements

Table 2 The Garrett ranking reasons behind choosing the OTT platforms by the respondents Factors

Rank

1

2

3

4

5

Value (X)

75

60

50

40

24

Low cost/good subscription

No (F1)

High resolution videos

No (F2)

Score Score

Can watch with entire family

No (F3)

Because of more popular films/series

No (F4)

All types genres of films

No (F5)

Score Score Score

Total

53

31

23

6

7

120

3975

1860

1150

240

168

7393

43

43

24

5

5

120

3225

2580

1200

200

120

7325

37

26

42

9

6

120

2775

1560

2100

360

144

6939

53

34

19

9

5

120

3975

2040

950

360

120

7445

49

34

18

7

12

120

3675

2040

900

280

288

7183

Rank 2 3 5 1 4

like the convenient seating in OTT, 75% of the respondents selected OTT for the Vast variety of genres films and 80% of the respondents selected OTT for Watching in group. Table 5 shows the weighted average analysis on the satisfaction level of OTT Platforms of the respondents. User friendly has got the highest weight (4.7), followed by Trend (4.14), Diversity of content (3.93), Portability (3.9), and Ad free (3.41). It is clear from Table 6 that majority (51%) of the respondents have faced problem in OTT, out of that majority (53%) of them faced streaming problem (Table 7).

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Table 3 Streaming medium used by viewers and the motives behind the specified medium Medium

Groups

Frequency

Percentage

Service medium used

Amazon Prime

53

44

Netflix

30

25

Disney + Hotstar

28

23

9

8

Wide range of film availability

56

47

Low subscription fees

35

29

Recent updates on new films

22

18

Others (brand name and free offer)

7

6

English

58

48

Korean

6

5

52

44

4

3

Action

49

41

Comedy

22

18

Romantic

19

16

Horror

14

12

Others

9

7

All

7

6

Jio Cinema Reason behind selecting the specified service medium

Language preferred

Any Indian languages Others (Japanese, Arabic, Egyptian) Type of genres films preferred by the respondents

Table 4 The level of satisfaction towards OTT compared with theatrical experience by the respondents S. No.

Reasons

%—OTT

%—Theater

1

Screen visibility

46

54

2

More no. of films can be watched at cheap fees

65

35

3

Sound facility

40

60

4

Convenient in seating

63

37

5

A vast variety of genres films are available

75

25

6

Watching it in a group

80

20

The chi-square statistic is 1.4161. The p-value is 0.701757. The result is not significant at p < 0.05. Hence the null hypothesis is rejected. It is concluded that there is no significant difference in the usage of OTT platform before and after Covid-19.

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Table 5 The weighted average analysis on satisfaction towards OTT platforms by the respondents Very highly satisfied Values

Highly satisfied

Neutral

Less satisfied

Very less satisfied

Points

Weighted average

120

3.93

5

4

3

2

1

Diversity of 44 content 220

52

19

2

3

208

57

4

3

472

33

50

32

2

3

120

165

200

96

4

3

468

48

45

25

0

2

120

240

180

75

0

2

497

Portability Trendy AD free User friendly

28

27

39

19

7

120

140

108

117

38

7

410

44

39

32

1

4

120

220

156

192

2

4

574

3.9 4.14 3.41 4.7

Table 6 The problems faced by the respondents in OTT Groups

Problems Problems faced Type of problems faced

Frequency

Percentage

Yes

61

51

No

59

49

Payment problem

18

30

Streaming problem

32

53

Security problem

4

7

Technical problem

7

10

Table 7 Chi square test: OTT platform usage before and after Covid-19 Netflix

Disney + Hotstar

Jio Cinema

Row totals

Before Covid 19 18 (20.76) [0.37]

14 (11.75) [0.43]

11 (10.97) [0.00]

4 (3.52) [0.06]

47

After Covid 19

35 (32.24) [0.24]

16 (18.25) [0.28]

17 (17.03) [0.00]

5 (5.48) [0.04]

73

Column totals

53

30

28

9

120 (grand total)

Amazon Prime

Null hypothesis: there is no significant difference in the usage of OTT platform before and after Covid-19 Alternative hypothesis: there is no significant difference in the usage of OTT platform before and after Covid-19

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1.7 Suggestions • The OTT streaming players should elevate more user experience through the technique of ease of navigation to the sources provided by them. • Still, the OTT players were not focusing more in the regional language sources. It should be taken care by all the streaming players to look after to publish maximum all the regional languages that we have in our country INDIA. • The technical errors like buffering while viewing a subscribed movie, the length of the movie is cutshort due to some uploading problem etc. … should be taken care and need to focus more in this to rectify the errors. • The English/Hindi subtitles should be provide for all type of language movies, so that the viewer can understand the meaning correctly by watching it. • The clarity of video and sound quality should be improved to get a more comfortable towards viewers on watching the movies through OTT. • The OTT platforms should have to provide a mechanism of parental lock in their services, as per the Government of India to avoid the misuse of this platform.

1.8 Conclusion The technology improvement witnessed the convenience of living, and it now been extended with entertainment too. Though this pandemic locked us in the walls still the opportunities have wide wings to bring out the virtual world of reality. This changes the Indian culture on movie among the students and younger generation, which converts the wait to release of the movie and the telecast in television into one payment for whole year and ease of all time availability. The changes gradually erodes the traditional method of telecast and viewing. This study results about the people who tends to use more online platforms for entertainment rather than the traditional method like TV telecasting. The lack in availability of the Indian regional language films that were publishing in OTT platforms and the high subscription fee made a dissatisfaction among the viewers itself. This study conclude that, the lockdown and the word of mouth powerful spread increased the opportunities to the OTT platforms and brought up a drastic changes in viewers preference over theatre experience on OTT platforms.

1.9 Future Research The present study focuses on the viewers perception towards OTT platform post pandemic. Future research may be carried out by comparing the various OTT platform and the growth of OTT industry after pandemic. Since OTT has occupied a prominent place in the entertainment industry, further research would enhance the growth of OTT platforms.

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References 1. Patel, M., Khadia, R., Awasya, G.S.: A study: OTT viewership in “lockdown” and viewer’s dynamic watching experience, Aug 2020 2. Singh, P.: New media as a change agent of Indian television and cinema: a study of over the top platforms, 31 Aug 2019 3. Roy, L.D.: Covid-19 lockdown: unprecedented boom in OTT market, cinema halls take backseat (2020) 4. Dasgupta, S., Grover, P.: Int. J. Comput. Eng. Technol. (IJCET) 10(1) (2019) 5. CNBCTV18, Netflix, Amazon Prime see spike in viewership; find out which is most searched OTT platform in India, 16 Apr 2020 6. Laghate, G.: How OTT players are geared up to woo Indian viewers, 02 Mar 2017

Citizen Journalism: Technological and Digital Challenges Abdulsadek Hassan and Mohammed Khouj

Abstract This paper identifies the phenomenon of data journalism and its role in providing readers with relevant news and analytical insights. This study highlights that with the profound changes that have occurred in information technology, journalists who deal with data need a working knowledge of mathematics and statistics while also having the capability to perform simple statistical analyses and support their reports with animated graphs, interactive maps, and infographics. Additionally, the capability to create apps based on data from large databases can also prove advantageous to journalists. Keywords Citizen journalism · Digital age · Audience perception · Public sphere · Professional journalism · User-generated content · Social media · News

1 Introduction New forms of media have resulted in the production of significant content. This has led to traditional media to losing authority and control. These new forms of media majorly include websites that generate content via internet applications [1]. All websites that generate content using internet applications are collectively referred to as the “virtual world” [2]. Individuals can create content using these new forms of media, wherein they can post blogs, upload videos, and comment directly using their own speech [3] or audio clips. Thus, with the decline of traditional journalism, citizen journalism has emerged as a distinct reality on the internet [4]. Traditional media and paper-based journalism are no match for the tools provided by modern technological innovation [1]. A. Hassan (B) Ahlia University, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] M. Khouj Jeddah College of Engineering, University of Business and Technology, Jeddah 21448, Saudi Arabia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_35

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So far, by maintaining a monopoly on information, the traditional media have managed to overcome any fear of judgement while also preventing prejudice against their institutions. However, since anyone can own a computer now and access information online, the media, journalists, and the public all play an instrumental role in obtaining and disseminating information. Opinions can now be published [1] for free, without any hindrances or regulation [5]. There is now an increasing tendency of everyone among the common public taking up the role of a journalist [6], thus posing a challenge to traditional journalists. The ability to broadcast news in real-time through social media has made it increasingly challenging for traditional journalists to acquire a journalistic lead. However, researchers disagree on the exact definitions of citizen journalism [7].

1.1 When Did Citizen Journalism Appear? In general, researchers and practitioners are not in agreement about the exact period of emergence of citizen journalism. However, most agree it to be subsequent to the events of the tsunami disaster of 2004 [8]. Prior to that, a distinct example of citizen journalism was first presented by Dan Gillmor in 2003 in We are the Media: Popular Journalism from the People to the People [3]. Digital cameras equipped on mobile phones along with the broadcasting capabilities of the internet offered a universal viewing platform [9]. This type of journalism became increasingly important during the Iraq war and the American elections in 2004. Videos and photos were broadcast worldwide during the 2004 tsunami disaster. Most of the amateur footage recorded by citizens was broadcast by television stations [5]. In the US elections, the Democratic and Republican parties issued journalism credentials to bloggers. A new level of influence and credibility was gained by these non-conventional journalists [10]. In 2005, the London bombings presented a new opportunity for citizen journalism to emerge [11]. The events of these bombings were also filmed by amateurs who later shared them with newspapers and television channels via Flickr. BBC obtained 20,000 e-mail messages, 1000 photos, and 20 graphic films within 245 h. Citizen journalism peaked in the Arab world recently as being the primary source of news obtained from Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Syria [10]. Besides making audio-visual and photographic records of global events, the traditional media have generally relied on eyewitnesses for descriptions of disasters [12]. According to the British newspaper The Independent, international television channels forgo sending their correspondents and cameramen to the scenes and instead have them intercepting passengers at airports to locate the footage and record their testimonies regarding events as those described above [13]. Social networks are one of the most prominent manifestations of the new forms of media. These include many sites and applications, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, Tik Tok, and others [6]. These social networks have enabled ordinary citizens of different ages and professions to participate in the media

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industry [14] to exchange news and information and engage in discussions on various community issues and interests. The participants do not have to restrict themselves merely to receiving messages [5] but can be actively involved in rapid interaction to express their approval, agreement, or opposition [15] to the provided media content [7] regardless of factors such as gender, economic and educational level, or cultural background. Thus, the increasing use of the internet and social networks has enabled citizen journalism to become an invaluable tool for professionals in the media industry [16]. Regular interactions from denizens of the virtual world, such as Facebook users, make the internet a media outlet that journalists and media professionals can follow and report on, as was done by traditional media in the real world previously [17].

1.2 Definition of Citizen Journalism Citizen journalism is produced by amateur or ordinary journalists, whereas professional media content is created and broadcasted by traditional media journalists [12]. The notion of citizen journalism thus implies that anyone can be a journalist and publicly express their opinion regardless of having a degree in media or to belonging to a media organization [18]. Therefore, ordinary citizens play a crucial role in citizen journalism [1]. Such journalists can transmit news from sites of live events using all technological means available. Citizens can thus develop and add media content in addition to reading and commenting on it [19]. Alternative media. Along with the consumption and reception of information provided by traditional media, the public publishes information or contributes to it by means of alternative media [12]. The citizens involved in contributing to alternative media, who could be considered to have a “desperate” stance towards journalism and media, believe themselves to be a significant source of news content since they provide instant news content such as photos and videos of accidents. As the rapidity of events demands consistent ground presence, many newspapers rely on blogs written by citizens without professional training and experience [20]. This detrimental change in the professional landscape of the media industry has led to many news websites and traditional media organizations adding sections for news materials sent by citizens in newspapers and periodicals. This addition of creating special sections for citizen journalism has led to not just being satisfied with specific doors crammed into programs and angles [21], denigrating the credibility of journalists, but at the same time, shedding light on their work for there to be continuity in the follow-up and attention to the roles played by citizen journalists in traditional journalism [22]. New forms of media have a wider coverage than that of traditional media, as the latter was restricted to publishing images that were voluntarily sent by citizens for documenting abuses or violations in society, which may have had limited availability [23].

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Advantages of citizen journalism. Citizen journalism marked a significant shift in conventional media as it documented and transmitted events with increased frequency in a timely manner. During the explosion at Beirut Port [24], citizen journalists swiftly posted images and videos to social media that were gathered by news sites and media outlets to prepare reports [25]. Revolutionaries stormed the Spence cooperative in Sidon, filmed state-sponsored products for sale at high prices, then posted the videos on social media [26]. A citizen journalist’s involvement in monitoring events is a characteristic acquired by them from traditional journalists [27]. Citizen journalism aims to report information that is hidden by other media outlets that are loyal to a government or specific individuals. This enables the majority of people to communicate with each other easily and quickly during a blackout. Traditional media publish news that may coincide with events but is aligned with their policies. It avoids publications that might conflict with its policies and publishes material it deems compatible with them. Citizen journalism has allowed everyone to post their findings or opinions without restrictions [28]. An example would be the traditional media outlets portraying the Syrian army’s achievements and military operations during the Syrian war in a glorified light as they rely heavily on the state [12]. In contrast, opponents to the war filmed and published materials presenting their views of the war that were not covered by state-affiliated channels [3]. Citizen journalism does not replace or compete with traditional media and is complementary to it. Therefore, traditional media has allocated a special section for citizen journalism to stay updated with events [12]. Disadvantages of citizen journalism. In citizen journalism, every individual seeks to direct the news according to their preferences while being able to publish information as done in traditional journalism. Thus, it may be argued that citizen journalism contributes to revealing and communicating facts and events. However, it can also be used to distort facts and enflame public opinion for the benefit of specific entities [13]. Traditional media rely on multiple sources to verify the authenticity of events before publishing them. However, the credibility of the information on the internet is questionable [6]. False news published on social media is rapidly shared by citizens. However, the untrue and fabricated nature of it tends to quickly become apparent [29]. For example, during a war, old videos from other countries could be circulated as being those of current events. This was seen during the Syrian war, where videos taken during the Israeli aggression on Gaza in 2006 were attributed to the Syrian war [20]. The profession of journalism has ethical standards that are taught in universities due to their importance to the profession. Some citizen journalists violate media ethics. This includes publishing pictures of children against their consent while being inconsiderate of their feelings or showing violent videos on publicly accessible platforms without appropriate censorship [5].

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The danger of citizen journalism is in the creation of a media model that disregards media standards. This can lead to false and irrelevant ideas, information, and knowledge being marketed. Unlike trained and qualified journalists, citizen journalists lack the necessary skills and have limited expertise [18].

1.3 Types of Citizen Journalism Sites of traditional media organizations: These sites contain participatory elements, such as blogs, which have enabled readers to read the news content and comment on it [1]. Independent news sites: These are sites that specialize in news and are independent of other organizations. They tend to present analyses that are of good quality, especially when compared to those derived from interviews or editorials [25]. Fully participatory news sites: These are sites where citizen journalists intensively contribute media content [10]. Co-operative websites: These are websites that employ mechanisms that facilitate the automated organization and classification of all media content on them [8]. Other light media: These are media that support citizen journalism, such as e-mail and electronic newsletters [26]. Broadcasting and personal distribution sites: These sites publish content in the form of images or videos [27].

1.4 Most Popular Types of Citizen Journalism Social media: This includes social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and others that were originally created for the purpose of social networking and building friendships [3]. Video broadcasting sites: These are sites that allow an individual to broadcast audio or video that can be downloaded, such as YouTube, personal blogs [11]. Co-operative news sites: These sites function in a manner similar to that of newspapers. However, these sites employ citizens from all over the world to edit content and write headlines as volunteers and amateur journalists while not being employed by any particular media institution [4]. Collective liberation sites: These websites enable citizen journalists to collectively edit content [2].

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2 Citizen Journalism Content In citizen journalism, individuals who typically are consumers of journalism create their own news content and report, analyze, and disseminate information in a manner similar to that of professional journalists [24]. Amateur journalists produce a wide range of news, from podcast editorials to blog posts about city council meetings. Social media play a major role in disseminating news and promoting citizen journalism content [20]. This news can include text, images, audio, and video. In our research on how journalism affects society, we found that citizens often are the first ones to report breaking news because they have a 24/7 access to technology [9]. This technology enables information to be disseminated more rapidly than that done by media reporters. However, it is very likely that citizen journalists might not have performed background research and verification of sources as done by professional journalists [10].

2.1 Collaboration Versus Independent Reporting Citizens can contribute content to existing professional news sites in various ways. To prevent the dissemination of obscene or objectionable content, many websites require their visitors to register for publication and the readers post comments on content written by professional journalists by means such as letters to the editor [16]. Readers can also add information collected by them to professional journalists’ articles. For example, a reporter may write about disparities in gas prices in a city, and readers can comment on gas prices in areas not covered in the original story [13]. The readers could also offer tips on where to find cheaper gas. Citizens and professional journalists can collaboratively work on articles. Journalists could directly gather information from readers and also ask them to report on the topic [5]. This information can then be used to create the final draft of the articles to be published. Several amateur journalists operate independently of traditional and professional media outlets. They contribute by alternative means such as blogs that report on local events or offer commentary on current events. Moreover, citizens also report news and provide commentary through YouTube channels and informal print publications [20].

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3 Citizen Journalism Theory 3.1 The Concept of Citizen Journalism The concept of citizen journalism emerged as a result of the phenomenon of journalistic practice by citizens. Such journalistic practices are not merely a transfer of information regarding current events and problems but extend to citizen participation in journalistic coverage of political and/or social issues [1]. The gap between the citizens and the government and between the citizens and the institutions of journalism has been widening. This has contributed to the decrease of citizens’ participation in political life [4].

3.2 Ideas of Citizen Journalism Theory The citizen journalism theory places emphasis on the importance of covering elections and not on the individual candidates. It serves the interests of citizens and links and aggregates the activities undertaken by candidates [7]. Relevant reports and their impact on the target audience must reflect a citizen’s interest [16]. Citizens can develop solutions to advance citizen journalism [6]. According to this theory, the communicative process can be regarded as a party that chooses the topics that they want to cover in the press by means of collecting, editing, and publishing news [18].

3.3 The Relationship Between Citizen Journalism and Traditional Media Various forms of media that tend to interact, share, and move beyond the old senderreceiver pattern have emerged in recent years due to major changes in the traditional media industry [29]. These forms of media emphasize on the participation of groups; they are also referred to as “citizen media” or “participatory media” [1]. Content of these forms of media involve critical investigations based on the participants’ visions and analysis [17] as well as discourses that demonstrate and/or oppose the problem [10]. This study aimed to perform a cognitive analysis of citizen media, its manifestations, and its contents. In addition, the research is complemented by a preliminary analysis that aimed to identify the features of this practice and its relationship to traditional media, explore whether this relationship is complementary or mutually exclusive, and attempt to predict the future formula of media practice [12]. The question explored in this research was: Will the participatory “citizen media” pattern represent the dominant mode, pushing aside the conventional style, or will it resemble a “hybrid” style that incorporates the best of both styles [26]?

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Researchers have greatly disputed the nature of the relationship between citizen journalism and traditional media. The disagreement is mainly about whether citizen journalism should be considered a competitor or an alternative to traditional media [20]. In response to successive waves of change related to the rapid development of communications technology [14], citizen journalism emerged in what is referred to as new media, which is innovation that led to electronic communication [18], while other forms of traditional media succumbed to limitations and shortcomings. News in general is no longer exclusive and has become more accessible through speed and interactive features [9]. The sites created by new media have become a source of news for many satellite channels [13]. According to some researchers, citizen journalism is not a competitor but rather an alternative to traditional media [23]. Traditional journalism achieved monopoly and acclamation since the end of the last century. The negative effects of globalization on the media and communication industries led to the emergence of citizen journalism as a reaction that might have simultaneously been spontaneous due to the conscious awareness of the reduced presence of the citizens in public affairs [17] while also being a confirmation of a state of skepticism about the credibility of the press, which thus reflects a critical circumstance of mistrust between the traditional media and the new generation of internet and electronic media users [25]. There is a consensus on the criticism of mass media outlets based on a phenomenon observed in western media: Media institutions became commercial empires that worked to satisfy shareholders. Stock exchanges were regularly monitored by these empires [3]. This led to the dissolution of media institutions [15]. Investigative news and social functions were affected. Multinational companies, being commercial private institutions, lack objectivity and credibility [19]. A crisis developed between the media and the public as well as the path and the future as a result of the media sector’s moral and professional laxity [1]. This was countered by new digital communication that is more personal [22].

3.4 The Concept of Citizen Journalism Theory Citizen journalism emerged from civil journalism since journalists do not merely relay current events and problems [1], but rather go beyond their duties as citizens to actively participate in journalistic coverage, whether political or social [3]. This led to the gap between the citizens and the government and the citizens and journalistic institutions to widen, contributing to citizens’ decreased participation in political life [3]. Ideas of Citizen Journalism Theory This theory focuses on the necessity of covering elections. Therefore, it does not focus on the individual candidates but rather serves the interests of citizens, linking and aggregating the activities undertaken by candidates [8]. Reporting needs to be

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centered on citizens, especially reports that are of interest to citizens, focusing on their impact on their target audience [3]. Moreover, citizens can develop solutions to advance citizen journalism [29]. According to this theory, citizens decide what topics they wish to cover in the press and collect, edit, and publish news accordingly [1]. Challenges to Citizen Journalism Some researchers believe that citizen journalism faces several challenges that prevent it from playing the role of alternative media. Among these challenges are: Conceptual challenges: Citizen journalism is less accurate because it cannot be verified using the traditional methods used by editors in newspapers and on television networks [18]. The credibility of the data presented by traditional journalists is questionable, and the lack of comprehensiveness and objectivity of traditional journalists’ coverage [17] has led to Americans being hesitant to abandon the type of journalism practiced in older media. Despite 26% of Americans considering the internet as their main source of news, a large majority still get their news from television [11]. Economic challenges: Every form of participatory media faces economic challenges [11]. Since amateurs produce the media content in citizen journalism, advertisers might be concerned that their ads will be displayed alongside pirated, pornographic, racist, slanderous, or defamatory material [5]. Legal challenges: With regard to the protection of authors’ rights, despite the willingness of citizen journalistic outlets to withdraw any content that does not respect the rights of authors or violates copyrights, many legal cases regarding such issues are noted [25]. Moral challenges: Protecting individuals from false accusations is a major concern, especially if they are collectively imposed because it becomes difficult to identify the accusers [4].

3.5 The Future of Citizen Journalism Various indicators confirm that citizen journalism is the next dominating paradigm in the media industry in the coming years. This is especially evident in light of the technological advances witnessed in the current era that have contributed to the reduction of the impact of traditional journalism [17]. Such indicators were first seen with the disappearance of newspapers. Several international newspaper companies closed their paper presses and adopted a digitalonly approach with the advent of the age of electronic media. Therefore, the media must aim to dissolve barriers between themselves and countries, companies, and institutions [15].

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This seems to force the traditional media to include special sections for news articles sent by citizens in newspapers and periodicals [24]. In addition to creating special sections for citizen journalism, and not being satisfied with specific sections crammed into programs and angles that undermine the credibility of the news [16], but rather forcing to shed light on it, a continuity can be established in the attention given to the role of the citizen journalists in traditional journalism in addition to that provided to them by the new media [28]. Many media outlets had meagre achievements in this regard, given that they were limited to publishing pictures sent by citizens associated with abuses or violations in society [19].

4 Conclusion and Recommendations In this study, citizen journalism was identified as a novel form of non-professional journalistic practices that emerged out of the information revolution. Our results suggest that citizen journalism is a complement to traditional media. Contrarily, many communication scientists emphasize that citizen journalism is an alternative to it. Regardless of these opinions, media organizations must be encouraged to invest in and develop citizen journalism. Citizen journalism is intertwined with traditional media. Therefore, the two cannot be considered to be mutually exclusive. The use of social networking sites has led to significant advancements for media institutions as well as individuals, communities, and nations. This new communication revolution has overturned several oppressive mechanisms, such as hierarchy, gatekeeping, and monopoly over information sources. Several new concepts have consequently emerged, including digital media, virtual communities, and social networking. As a result, the new media has become a powerful competitor to journalism owing to its diversity and abundance of communication methods. Despite accepting the contributions of the public to news by means of citizen journalism, media professionals want to maintain control over the media industry. Journalists acknowledge citizens to be integral and necessary contributors. However, the majority of them believe that the citizens’ contributions should end at the stage of preliminary data collection. The institutions of traditional media will continue to serve as gatekeepers of information as long as they feel vulnerable and unprotected by laws and regulations. Youth, who comprise the majority of social media users, should focus on the use of new media as a tool for progress and social transformation.

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References 1. Chung, D.S., Nah, S., Yamamoto, M.: Conceptualizing citizen journalism: US news editors’ views. Journalism 19(12), 1694–1712 (2018) 2. Jeljeli, R., Setoutah, S., Farhi, F.: Citizen-journalist dilemma between media freedom and professionalism. Utop. Prax. Latinoam. 26(Esp. 1) (2021). Universidad del Zulia, Venezuela 3. Mahamed, M., Omar, S., Tamam, E., Krauss, S.: Citizen journalism in action: empowering the rural community via citizen journalism. Int. J. Acad. Res. Bus. Soc. Sci. (2018) 4. Rabia, N.: Citizen journalism vs mainstream journalism: a study on challenges posed by amateurs. Athens J. Mass Media Commun. 3(1), 55–76 (2017) 5. Mahamed, M., Zobidah, O., Eric, S., Krauss, S.: Understanding citizen journalism from the perspective of young journalists in Malaysia. Utop. Prax. Latinoam. 26(1) (2021). Universidad del Zulia, Venezuela 6. Farooq, U., Rashid, M.: The ethical standard of citizen journalism practice on Twitter: a case study of 2018 general elections in Pakistan, 26 July. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abs tract=3893453. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3893453 7. Thetanaya, T., Nurcholis, C.: Government response in managing citizen journalism in pandemic times. In: The 3rd International Conference on Governance, Public Administration, and Social Science (ICoGPASS), KnE Social Sciences, pp. 506–515 (2022). https://doi.org/10.18502/kss. v7i9.10962 8. Nah, S., Yamamoto, M.: Communication and citizenship revisited: theorizing communication and citizen journalism practice as civic participation. Commun. Theory 29, 24–45 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qty019 9. Ozkececi, Z.: Citizen journalism—opportunities and challenges. Asia Stud. 2(8), 33–39 (2019) 10. Bhat, P., Chadha, K.: Anti-media populism: expressions of media distrust by rightwing media in India. J. Int. Intercult. Commun. 13(2), 166–182 (2020) 11. Nah, S., Chung, D.S.: Understanding Citizen Journalism as Civic Participation. Routledge, New York (2020) 12. Almutarie, A.: Critical approaches to citizen journalism. J. Mass Commun. Journal. 11, 1–5 (2021) 13. Ruchel-Stockmans, K.: From amateur video to new documentary formats: citizen journalism and a reconfiguring of historical knowledge. In: Media and Mapping Practices in the Middle East and North Africa, pp. 139–158 (2021) 14. Mpofu, S.: Jesus comes to South Africa: black Twitter as citizen journalism in South African politics. Afr. Journal. Stud. 40(1), 67–90 (2019) 15. Ritonga, R., Syahputra, I.: Citizen journalism and public participation in the era of new media in Indonesia: from street to tweet. Media Commun. 7(3), 79–90 (2019). ISSN: 2183-2439 16. Lee, J., Kim, K., Park, G., Cha, N.: The role of online news and social media in preventive action in times of infodemic from a social capital perspective: the case of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. Telemat. Inform. 64(101691), 1–13 (2021) 17. Mwaura, J.: The practice of citizen journalism at Kibera News Network. Afr. Journal. Stud. 42(4), 15–45 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2021.2021262 18. Setiawan, A., et al.: Virtual application technology of citizen journalism based on mobile user experience. J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 1502, 012057 (2020) 19. Seungahn, N., Yamamoto, M.: Int. J. Commun. 14, 5177–5198 (2020) 20. Umar, M., Haruna, A., Abaji, H., Aliyu, M.: Youth and citizen journalism: the need for media literacy as a GST course in Nigerian Universities. Presented at the National Conference on Youth Organized by Centre for Economic, Social and Population Research (CESPOR), Bayero University, Kano, 18–19 Jan 2022, pp. 1–15 (2022) 21. Roberts, J.: Citizen journalism. In: The International Encyclopedia of Media Literacy, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 1–10 22. Pain, P.: Educate. Empower. Revolt: framing citizen journalism as a creator of social movements. Journal. Pract. 12(7), 799–816

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Social Interactive Engagement for Generation Z: A Proposed Conceptualization Pipit Buana Sari, Paham Ginting, Arlina Nurbaity Lubis, and Syafrizal Helmi Situmorang

Abstract In Indonesia, the COVID-19 epidemic has altered consumer behavior. The government’s physical distance strategy has led to the closure of non-essential physical stores. Consequently, e-commerce platforms, such as online marketplaces, web storefronts, and social media, have become viable alternatives for offline retailers. The e-commerce company utilizes social networking. In the middle of a global epidemic, it is believed that the social commerce idea, which combines social and business activity, is a timely invention. Human connection predominates in social commerce and is the primary factor influencing client purchase choices. The surge in social commerce is partly attributable to the improved development of progressive digital infrastructure in Indonesia, the emergence of digitally savvy millennials and generation Z, and the increased digital penetration outside of metropolitan regions. This study’s objective is to investigate and evaluate the social commerce interaction engagement process’s setup. This study was qualitative in nature. A content analysis is used to draw the conceptual framework in this study. Relevant literature are referred which includes summaries, implications, theoretical and practical contributions, and the study’s limitations. The results are anticipated to address the two study topics listed below. Initially, how to arrange social commerce interactions inside the brand community was unclear. How successful is the participation of social commerce interactions in the brand society’s brand experience process. Keywords Social commerce · Social interactive engagement · Online brand experience · Brand community

P. B. Sari (B) · P. Ginting · A. N. Lubis · S. H. Situmorang Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, North Sumatera, Indonesia e-mail: [email protected] P. Ginting e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_36

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1 Introduction Economic progress in Indonesia’s digital economy has been propelled by the country’s burgeoning millennial and Gen Z populations, as well as by the expansion of the country’s existing digital infrastructure. The value of Indonesia’s digital economy has grown by a factor of almost five in the last few years. According to 2019 research by e-conomy SEA, Indonesia’s digital economy is expected to expand to US $133 billion by 2025. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the government has been instituting physical distancing measures since early 2020, which has resulted in the shutdown of non-critical brick-and-mortar businesses. As a consequence, traditional brick-andmortar retailers have begun looking to e-commerce platforms, including marketplaces, online stores, and social media, as viable alternatives. During the height of the epidemic, a huge number of new sellers joined the online market. Social media is growing in popularity in Indonesia, especially among the nation’s young digital natives who use these sites on a daily basis because of their extensive potential in connecting businesses and consumers. SIRCLO found that 82% of Indonesian online shoppers had complete faith in the legitimacy of the businesses they patronize and the quality of the goods they offer. Social commerce, often known as the exchange of products and services via social media, describes this phenomenon. Social commerce, or the buying and selling of goods via social media platforms, is the use of content creation functionality in e-commerce to improve discussions between potential and present buyers; online C2C interactions; and the sharing of eWOM within the buyer community [17]. In practice, e-commerce systems are combined with social commerce features that let people sell items to their friends, rate sellers, give detailed and visual customer reviews, and talk about the pros and cons of products in online discussion forums [17, 41]. Nevertheless, the new fad of shopping experiences has managed to spread even farther. Customers’ interest in joining the social commerce ecosystem is piqued by the human contact it promises to provide as a primary driver of purchase decisions. Most online stores in Indonesia use either WhatsApp, Instagram, or Facebook, which are the three most popular social media sites. Marketers’ attention has been captured by the meteoric rise of internet and social media users. Advertisements on social media sites like Facebook (93.7% of companies) and Twitter (84.4%) are popular. Over 96% (496) of Fortune 500 companies use at least one social media platform [31]. However, data demonstrates a large variation in consumers’ levels of engagement across various brand pages [37]. There are a variety of hidden expenditures that come with a strong online presence, including design and support, maintenance and administration, and re-platforming changes and modifications. Customers may connect directly with merchants via social media platforms when making purchases. Thus, social commerce has the apparent advantage of facilitating better customer-merchant connections than its competitors. Facebook and BCG conducted a poll in 2019 that indicated 94% of Indonesian customers are more

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inclined to acquire a product from a chat-responsive merchant prior to making a purchase. This demonstrates the significance of customer-vendor communication in the context of digital transactions in Indonesia. Hence, social commerce eventually helps the channel’s expansion in Indonesia. Several generations have an effect on the retail landscape, but the Millennial and Generation Z generations are rising through the ranks. Gen Z, a rising demographic for companies and applications looking to attract loyalty, has a lot in common with millennials, including a love of technology and an interest in both the environment and unique experiences. Companies focus on Generation Z because of their brand loyalty, social media popularity, and general lifestyle compatibility rather than because they are similar to millennials, Generation X, or the Baby Boomer generation. When compared to previous generations, Generation Z is more likely to be exposed to advertisements, to desire customized services, to shop on emerging platforms, to freely spend their income, and to make purchases that align with the values and identities of the brands they support [39]. Brand experience is an essential marketing tool that has assumed a strategic role in contemporary brand management [34, 35]. Today, marketers face obstacles and build methods to give consumers enduring experiences at every touch point [25]. Emotionally engaging consumers require experience [32]. In the current market dynamics, brand love is also significant [32, 34], and it is a novel idea that may be used in recent research investigations [5]. In Asia, brand experience and brand love are evaluated by effective commitment, brand loyalty, and behavioral intent [15, 16, 21]. Consequently, it shows that researchers are encouraged and inspired to work on the relationship between brand experience and brand love from numerous perspectives. Accordingly, this research focused on attribution theory by outlining the primary issues associated with social commerce marketing in generation Z. What factors encourage online presence, as not all online presence may be advantageous to the business? [31, 36]. What are the elements that impact consumer engagement in the social commerce of a business? Previous research has a tendency to regard online presence as a predictor of brand experience. What factors impact customer participation in social commerce? [24, 28]. This study shows that brand experience is a key factor in how consumers interact with each other and with brands in social commerce and brand love. The purpose of this research is to learn how business enterprises may enhance social commerce. Why? Because if social commerce marketing is done right, it will entice consumers, especially millennials, to buy the goods. Even as public anxiety continues to decrease and the COVID-19 virus grows more pervasive, social commerce remains an appealing alternative for people who choose to avoid connections with the outside world. Companies operating in any field of industry would do well to get ready ahead of time in case they find themselves thrust into one of the numerous situations for which there is no clear solution. Indonesia’s businesses are under more pressure to give their customers a great experience because e-commerce is growing and digital technologies are used by almost everyone.

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2 Theoretical Framework 2.1 Attribution Theory Attempts are made to correlate this occurrence with the attribution theory. Attribution theory is a theory that explains how humans determine the reasons for behavior and events in their environment [27]. Attribution theory posits that people’s perceptions of the reasons for previous happenings or events impact their later responses and behavior [18]. Human experience distinguishes internal and external causes, enabling individuals to comprehend conclusions and predict future occurrences [18, 23].

2.2 Social Commerce in Indonesia In comparison to online marketplaces and internet stores, social commerce has a number of distinct advantages, including the capacity to facilitate better customerseller relationships and more product availability. Statista conducted a poll to further examine the comparative appeal of selling via social media versus other e-commerce channels. It is believed that the convenience of establishing social media businesses is the primary motivation for merchants to sell things via social media. In addition, social media makes it simpler for retailers to reach a broader audience of clients while also allowing them to use their current network of friends [37]. Small and medium-sized enterprises can benefit greatly from the simplicity of launching an online company through social media. According to a poll conducted by Paxel, the use of social media platforms to sell items is most common among vendors with less than one year of experience. In accordance with the findings of a survey provided by PayPal for Asia during COVID-19, an increasing number of offline retailers are shifting to online sales, with social commerce being the channel of choice due to lower entry hurdles than other digital channels. Another advantage of social commerce for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises is that the velocity of money is quicker than the marketplace. In the event of a marketplace, the seller must wait 5–8 days for payment until the consumer has received the products. Due to the low barrier to entry and high potential client base, MSMEs have begun favoring social commerce, or selling products and services through social media platforms. Also, unlike other digital channels, the channel requires the buyer to actively engage with the seller in the form of a private message before the sale is finalized, allowing for a more personalized experience overall. The term “conversational trade” can also be used to describe the interaction between a buyer and a seller before a purchase is finalized. Chat commerce’s direct engagement between buyers and sellers not only improves product and pricing information for consumers, but also fosters a sense of trust between the two parties. More and more online transactions include chat discussions, and these conversations are becoming both urgent and crucial. To succeed in today’s market place, companies need to adopt this strategy.

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2.3 Online Brand Experience Conceived brand experience and presented the idea of experience in customer perception [19]. Brand experience define as the customer’s internal responses (sensations, emotions, and cognitions) and behavioral responses elicited by stimuli that are part of the brand’s design, identity, packaging, communication, and surroundings [8]. It consists of four dimensions: cognitive, behavioral, sensory, and emotional. The sensory component describes intuitive and potent consumer intelligence; the emotive dimension includes intentions and feelings; the behavioral dimension outlines how customers should engage with the brand; and the intellectual dimension explains how consumers should consider the brand [22, 40].

2.4 Social Interactive Engagement The findings of a June 2020 study performed by SIRCLO on 2987 respondents revealed that 94% of Indonesian customers said that the style of engagement dialogue had a significant impact on their purchase decisions. Chat commerce is a key part of social commerce, and businesses will need it to grow their customer base and give customers a seamless brand experience. Distinguish between two forms of media engagement: personal and socialinteractive. Personal participation may be demonstrated by a variety of experiences, including stimulation and inspiration, social facilitation, temporal, self-esteem, intrinsic delight, and utilitarian [10, 20]. Therefore, personal involvement is substantially correlated with media experiences such as periodicals, television, and radio [10, 11]. In contrast, social-interactive engagement is centered on website experiences, including participation, socializing, and brand love in online communities [10]. Therefore, when consumers experience social-interactive engagement, they will obtain greater value from networking and engaging in online groups, as well as receiving feedback from other users [20, 29]. Consumers are frequently motivated to participate in brand communities by the recognition and camaraderie that result from customer interactions [14, 30, 38].

2.5 Brand Love Brand love is described as “the degree of customers’ passionate, emotional, and satisfied devotion to certain brand names” [12]. Positive consumer perceptions of a brand affect emotional responses and brand assessments [6]. Within the brand love study stream [33], suggest that romanticism, consumer pleasure, brand experience, self-congruence, and satisfaction are crucial experiences for good word of mouth

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and brand love. According to Garg et al. [15] brand experience and customer brand choice positively influence brand love. Rarely does online brand experience, social interactive engagement, and brand love research have the capacity to investigate this problem.

2.6 Conceptual Framework During consumer contacts with businesses, experience happens [9]. The vast majority of customer contacts take place online, allowing for a more dynamic and real-time brand experience [26]. Each time a customer interacts with a brand, an opportunity for experience presents itself. Brand encounters are increasingly occurring online, allowing for a more dynamic and real-time experience. Authentic brand traits and consistent brand behavior are two examples of the kinds of extraneous factors that are taken into consideration by attribution theory. Customers’ positive intellectual, behavioral, emotional, and sensory brand experiences are attributable to attribution. As a result of these pleasant experiences, consumers are more likely to be loyal to the brand and to attribute positive qualities to the brand in their own minds. In a study conducted by Sensory, cognitive and behavioral brand experiences were found to positively affect brand love [21]. Customers having positive brand experiences have a positive impression of the brand for a variety of reasons. Enhanced customer satisfaction, particularly in the form of positive emotions, has been shown to promote brand loyalty. Using brands, customers establish and sustain relationships with other consumers [1]. They plan to build memories with the desired product or service by sharing it with coworkers and recalling it afterwards. Spouses’ participation in severe events enhances their connection [4]. Also discovered a significant link between a sense of kinship and brand love [7]. According to the self-development paradigm, individuals strive to grow their social identity through interactions with their family, friends, nation, etc. Similar experiences tend to build ties with friends and family [3], as well as relationships with customers who share similar interests. The need to socialize is one of the driving forces for shopping [2], sailing, and carnivals [13]. Consumers who have formed a deep emotional bond with a brand. They believe that brands offer intrinsic rather than extrinsic pleasures and that they may express their individuality through cherished brands. Thus, the involvement of brand love as a mediator in the link between brand engagement and social interactive engagement may be larger than the role of satisfaction as a mediator (Fig. 1).

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Social Interactive Engagement

Online Brand Experience

Brand Love

Fig. 1 Conceptual framework

3 Research Methods This study used a content analysis which derived from various articles and past researches in order to develop a framework. A number of referred articles justify drawing and proposing the above concept.

4 Conclusion The purpose of this study is to fill the knowledge gap concerning the process of social media participation inside the brand community. In this study, we investigate how customers’ sentiments regarding a certain brand may affect their engagement with that brand on various social media platforms. At the end of the day, this research will provide light on how we may better understand the socially integrative engagement of brand communities. The findings of this investigation of social commerce advertising may prove useful to researchers, academics, and corporations. The findings can teach stakeholders how to better use social commerce to mitigate the effects of the COVID19 pandemic. Therefore, the practical results of the study might serve as a great source of motivation for businesses involved in the process of online engagement to develop and implement strategies for increasing brand equity through their actions. The authors aim to put the proposed paradigm to the test in the actual world as part of their ongoing study.

References 1. Ahuvia, A.C.: Nothing matters more to people than people: brand meaning and social relationships. In: Brand Meaning Management, vol. 12, pp. 121–149. Emerald Group Publishing Limited (2015) 2. Arnold, M.J., Reynolds, K.E.: Hedonic shopping motivations. J. Retail. 79(2), 77–95 (2003) 3. Aro, K., Suomi, K., Saraniemi, S.: Antecedents and consequences of destination brand love—a case study from Finnish Lapland. Tour. Manage. 67, 71–81 (2018) 4. Aron, A., Norman, C.C., Aron, E.N., McKenna, C., Heyman, R.E.: Couples’ shared participation in novel and arousing activities and experienced relationship quality. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 78(2), 273 (2000)

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Impact of Organisational Culture on Knowledge Sharing in Information Communication Technology Firms in India Malini Nair, Anand Sasikumar, and Abdul Ghafar

Abstract People’s experiences, perspectives, and contextual information combine to form knowledge. As a result of globalization and the transition from the information era to the knowledge era, knowledge has become increasingly valuable to businesses. A knowledge-based activity, Knowledge Sharing (KS) involves the company’s staff bringing forward new ideas and sharing them with one another to gain competitive advantage. In the Knowledge Management (KM) process, KS plays an important role, and the success of KM depends heavily on it. There are factors that can hamper the completion of successful KS processes in organizations due to traditional organizational culture (OC) and systems. Our study seeks to fill the gap in existing literature regarding the nature of the relationship between OC and KS in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) firms in India. The objective of the paper is to investigate the relationship between KS and OC, and examine the connections between the procedures required to incorporate KS. Based on the results of this study, a framework can be developed that will support employees in ICT firms to share Knowledge. Keywords Organizational culture · Knowledge Management · Knowledge Sharing · Information and Communication Technology

M. Nair (B) · A. Ghafar Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE e-mail: [email protected] A. Ghafar e-mail: [email protected] A. Sasikumar SDM Institute for Management Development, Mysore, India e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_37

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1 Introduction In Knowledge Management (hereafter referred as KM) initiatives, Organization Culture (hereafter referred as OC) plays a prominent role. In order to gain and sustain competitiveness, organizations must create an environment to share knowledge and create knowledge. The research thus discusses Knowledge Sharing (hereafter referred as KS) and its applicability in the ICT industry as an example of an intensive knowledge based industry. A country’s economy is profoundly affected by the technological advances enabled by ICT. For a growing digital economy, ICT skills have become crucial. In this respect, India stands out: since 1998, the Indian ICT sector has grown exponentially—from 1.2% of GDP in 1998 to more than 7.9% in 2018 [1]. About 10 million people are employed in the Indian IT industry. Across the region, India and other countries are seeing an increase of start-ups in ICT. Of late, employees of the ICT industry seem to be emigrating as well causing a brain drain. This research is an attempt to find out how OC shapes the knowledge sharing aspects of people working in the ICT sector of India. According to David and Fahey [2], the influence of traditional OC and systems in ICT firms contribute to significant obstacles that prevent the successful execution of KS processes. In their opinion, OC has a profound effect on how staff create knowledge, share knowledge, and use it. Moreover, most companies’ lack a culture that promotes teamwork because employees believe that possessing knowledge will lead to job stability. In order to understand the different kinds of knowledge created, used, or even shared in ICT firms, more information is needed, since there are few studies on it. ICT studies that focus on KS have been done only in a few economies and that too from the lens of KM which does not align with our main theoretical views. In ICT business, hands-on knowledge constitutes the main source of knowledge. Hamzah and Isa [3] found that ICT firms utilize various methods including email, meetings, conferences, seminars, learning centers, newsletters, and intranets in order to share knowledge. Thus this paper is an attempt to know how culture leads into the establishment of knowledge sharing and being able to fill the current gap of not having enough studies on KS initiatives in the ICT firms of a growing economy like India. The paper is structured as follows: an in-depth review of the literature on organization culture and knowledge sharing, research methodology, findings and results of the study, conclusions, recommendations and limitations.

2 Literature Review According to Wang and Noe [4] organizational staff’s capability and desire to share knowledge determines the effectiveness of KS. Many firms are unaware of how to integrate KS across their OC. El Harbi et al. [5] investigated KS practices in Tunisian ICT firms. The study showed that knowledge and information are crucial in achieving

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tremendous operational success in such companies and that knowledge and its applications have an enormous impact on enabling companies to gain better competitive advantages. In addition, Al-Zubi [6] assessed the impact of OC on knowledge transfer within the Jordanian construction sector. KS was found to be fundamentally affected by culture in the studies. As well, communication technology, social networking, gender, and leadership behavior have an influence on KS [7]. According to Nair and George [8] who conducted KS studies in the UAE, organizations that align KS with KM are on their way towards Continual Improvement. Tiwari [9] has identified six factors namely regular cadence, integrating expertise from different teams, diversityinclusive social environment, interconnected platforms that are accessible to all, a regular update schedule that needs to be followed, to create points of contact within different departments of an organization in order to facilitate sharing. Anand et al. [10] have highlighted the importance of improving small and medium enterprise (SMEs) with the involvement of KS and Knowledge transfer by including organizational learning, customer relations, creativity, higher profit and positive effects on operational processes and decision-making. The social media has become an effective instrument in learning and exchange due to its utility of KS such as document exchange, virtual communication and knowledge information [11]. Syifa and Ahman [12] have analyzed the interaction between OC and KS activities with innovation behavior that impacts organizational performance. The study further emphasized that a better OC would shape the positive behaviour of employees, as indicated by the high level of KS activities and the level of innovation in the organization. Natu and Aparicio [13] have conducted a study of KS behavior within employees in software development roles in virtual teams, namely functional and technical, having subjective distance in mind. The results imply that the individuals share knowledge to satisfy their inherent needs, but OC also plays a vital role in KS. Ugwu and Ejikeme [14] have investigated the mediating effect of organizational culture on the relationship between KM practices and the job performance of academic librarians in university libraries in Nigeria. The outcomes of the study provide significant evidence of the positive impact of OC on the relationship between KM and job performance of academic librarians in the university libraries in Nigeria. Research studies have highlighted that KS drives people towards positive relationships that supports employees with other administrators working at the university and finding strong connection with workforces who have common jobs and relationships depend on trust which ultimately lead to increased KS [15]. Also, assigning administrative knowledge increases productivity within university, supports innovation among administrators and increases the efficiency of employee cooperation. There is also evidence from studies which points out that the increase in KS activities will improve employee competencies (EC) and encourage organizational effectiveness (OE) [16]. Learning culture if strengthened further will result in elevation of KS and it is clear that employee capabilities will increase when the employee is skilled and knowledgeable. The old-fashioned beliefs of organizations need to be changed. A knowledge system should create an environment that fosters knowledge sharing rather than a

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culture of “knowledge hoarding” (to keep knowledge hidden or private). The business would thus grow and perform.

3 Research Methodology We were able to develop an understanding of the actual scenario in relation to Indian ICT companies and their types of operations while gaining insights on KS and OC by using the quantitative and qualitative methods. Based on the literature review, a questionnaire was developed. Study participants were employees at three ICT firms. A total of 285 participants were selected randomly. In addition, semi structured face-to-face interviews were conducted based on themes, with pertinent questions surrounding each theme. This semi structured face-to-face interviewing was conducted primarily to gather data regarding a company’s understanding of OC, KS, as well as underlying concerns pertaining to the subject areas discussed to develop an understanding of both.

3.1 Data Analysis Procedure A descriptive statistical analysis was conducted on the data collected from the questionnaire. Statistical analysis software, SPSS and the following techniques were used: • For the purpose of describing the characteristics of the sample and to calculate the survey answers in each of the questionnaire parameters, frequencies and percentages were used. • Responses of participants were sorted with Arithmetic mean and average. • A standard deviation was used to measure the uniformity of the questionnaire’s responses on the basis of the average of their consent across the variables of the questionnaire. • Validity and reliability of the questions were verified using Cronbach alpha.

4 Findings and Results 4.1 Determining the Meaning of Knowledge, Sharing and Knowledge Sharing This section presents the concepts of knowledge chosen by the participants. The results are presented once the suitable questions were asked. Participants were asked

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Table 1 Meaning of knowledge Knowledge interpretations

Knowledge’s origins

The information in books can be applied in practice in every way

An observation, an experience, a belief expressed by a person, or a theory that a person has derived knowledge from

Recognizing the importance of events in our environment and understanding the reasons behind them

Experiences, qualities, and facts

Knowledge is acquired through communication and collaboration

Shared values, feelings, and thoughts

It is available to all employees in an organization

Details and data, skills and expertise are everything

A fundamental element of one’s existence

Competencies, beliefs, values, and experiences that shape our lives

It is the ability of finding facts that are not yet Information and opinions known A wide variety of ideas are possible

Ideations and facts

the meaning of Knowledge, and the results were assessed through Thematic Analysis. In response to this questions our respondents stated that: Communication and cooperation are keys to building knowledge […] implying that knowledge is a result of actions. It is knowing what is happening around us to gain an understanding of its significance and impact […]. The findings indicate that knowledge can be acquired from multiple avenues, e.g. accumulated knowledge, shared values, scientific principles, observations, as well as personal experience and lessons learned. Thus this was the primary theme that emerged from the results of the participants’ responses (Table 1). In the next open-ended question, participants were asked about what sharing knowledge meant to them. As part of the interaction, participants answered the what, where, and grounds of sharing. In the responses, sharing is evidently a multifaceted concept applicable both in the workplace and in life as a whole. Among the many things that can be exchanged are powerful opinions, knowledge from the past, insights, collective learning, beliefs, and so on. However, to share different things such as thoughts, ideas, experiences, beliefs, etc., people must have the intention to do so first. Participants were also asked about the significance of KS. According to the results, most of the participants agreed that KS incorporates people’s desire to contribute knowledge they have gathered or developed in collaboration with others (Table 2).

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Table 2 Definition of knowledge sharing What is sharing?

Where to share? What to share?

What are the conditions for sharing

The ability to provide strong opinions when they are needed

Place of work

A few thoughts, opinions, and ideas

Regulations and rules, personal desire

Offering a new service, building on prior knowledge regardless of the interaction’s purpose

A day-to-day experience

Ideas, experience, the vision and values of the organization

Belief and desire

4.2 Understanding KS Issues in Organizations We asked closed-ended questions to assess how organizations support KS. Participants reported that the level of KS in the studied firms was varied based on availability, inaccessibility, and uncertainty. Researchers identified four levels of KS: individual, unit, departmental, and organizational. Most participants felt that KS was practiced at the individual level, but the highest level of concern was found at the departmental and organizational level. To determine if participants’ firms included KS, and whether such activities were accessible, non-existent, or uncertain, a list of activities was given to them. According to the participants, the most common knowledge transfer activities are “fairs, talk rooms, conference reports”. Meanwhile, the majority were unsure if such a challenge (such as educating the public, encouraging discussions, publishing, teaming, and rotating jobs) was feasible. Approximately one-third of participants indicated that they did not know whether decentralized approaches to knowledge, credibility of knowledge, or information sources were prevalent in their firms. In response to a close ended question about opportunities to share knowledge offered by the firm, nearly half the respondents said they were scarce. The Internet, newsletter, and email received the highest scores from participants. Due to the type of business such firms provide (ICT firms), services such as the Internet, email, and Intranet seem to be more readily available. Additionally, staff were not trained in the use of the services, if they were available, indicating a lack of awareness. To put it another way, the staff may not know that these firms offer services, even if they already do, since they have not been trained (Tables 3, 4, 5 and 6).

5 Conclusion The development of knowledge in ICT, compared to other sectors, appears relatively new. Even though the ICT sector only emerged 20 years ago, it continues to influence millions of businesses and people worldwide. Based on the results of the study,

13.8 11.1

3.5 5.1 7.1

It is an aspect of knowledge culture within OC

KS has a significant impact on decision-making

It provides individuals with the opportunity to create and exchange information

5.5 There is a wide variety of process, ranging from skill exchange to experience exchange and understanding, which can take place in both directions (for example, interaction and language exchange)

4.3

16.4

5.8

3.2

KS is an organization’s readiness to transfer knowledge it has acquired or created

Disagree (%) 12.6

Strongly disagree (%)

KS behavioural characteristics are likely to 3.1 depend on the situation as well as individual motivations

Concept

Table 3 Significance of knowledge sharing

13.8

12.9

21.4

3.4

6.1

2

Not sure (%)

54.8

48.7

48.5

54.1

70.1

56.2

Agree (%)

14.8

17.5

20.7

22.6

14.8

26.1

Strongly agree (%)

100

100

100

100

100

100

Total (%)

Impact of Organisational Culture on Knowledge Sharing in Information … 443

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Table 4 Knowledge sharing levels Knowledge sharing levels

Strongly disagree (%)

Disagree (%)

Not sure (%)

Agree (%)

Strongly agree (%)

Total

At the organizational level

12.1

15.8

24.1

40.2

7.8

100

At the departmental level

8.3

23.9

17.5

43.3

7

100

At the unit level

8.5

12.1

10.3

54.2

14.9

100

At the personal level

6.5

4.3

13.7

52

23.5

100

Table 5 Knowledge sharing activities Activities

The availability (%)

Inaccessible (%)

Unsure (%)

Total

Face-to-face meetings to foster relationships and trust

22.4

57.2

20.4

100

Educate, discuss, publish, 17.9 learn, and rotate jobs to create a sense of community

5.6

76.5

100

Organize fairs, talks, conferences, and rooms to exchange knowledge

17.5

70.1

12.4

100

Assess productivity and reward in accordance with sharing

21.8

66.8

11.4

100

Prepare employees for 20.9 adaptability and offer training opportunities

56.7

22.4

100

Promote a rational approach to learning; value quality more than authority

12.2

75.5

12.3

100

Embrace and reward creative failures, cooperation; not knowing everything does not diminish status

17.9

57.6

24.5

100

each aspect of knowledge including knowledge, sharing and knowledge sharing has a different interpretation. There is a multifaceted approach to the meaning of knowledge, according to the findings. From the findings, it appears that knowledge can be acquired both from texts (such as theories and practical information) and from personal experiences as well as interactions in addition to texts. Knowledge sharing behaviour within an organization is strongly correlated with organizational culture.

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Table 6 Services provided by the firm Firm’s services

The availability (%)

Inaccessible (%)

Unsure (%)

Total

Seating arrangements for teams/offices with an open floor plan/having an open door policy

19.7

60.1

20.2

100

Send an email

73.3

17.5

9.2

100

Knowledge-boosting notes

21.3

66.3

12.4

100

Cafeteria for sharing knowledge and experiences in the firm

21.3

60.6

18.1

100

Knowledge can be shared and communicated at water cooler chats

12.9

65.3

21.8

100

2.1

22.1

75.8

100 100

Discussions with friends/post-work outings Sessions with lunch and learning

2.1

71.2

26.7

World Wide Web

63.2

10.2

24.6

98

Technical bulletin boards

15.9

62.5

21.6

100

Forums online

16.2

54.3

29.5

100

Specialized chat rooms

23.2

67.2

9.6

100

Displays using plasma

24.2

58.5

17.3

100

The newsletter

63.4

10.1

26.5

100

Training for new employees

20.2

42.8

37

100

Team members

13.6

64.2

22.2

100

Events/conferences

24.4

64.4

11.2

100

Lectures by subject experts

11.3

64.2

24.5

100

3.3

26.3

70.4

100

Conferencing online Brainstorming sessions

7.3

52.7

40

100

Teleconferences/videoconferences

14.3

62.5

23.2

100

Workshops for consultants

17.3

71.4

11.3

100

Symposiums for suppliers

15.2

25.2

59.6

100

A seminar for customers/clients

26.3

60.6

13.1

100

Centres of learning, fairs, and expositions

7.9

73.1

19

100

Groups of interest/practice

5.4

53.5

41.1

100

An initiative for mentoring

14.4

51.6

34

100

Traineeships

14.3

58.4

27.3

100

A corporate intranet

47.5

12.2

40.3

100

Organizing team-building activities 11.4

75.4

13.2

100

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6 Recommendations and Limitations It is recommended in the research that ICT firms include a dedicated training plan to support KS. Additionally, a knowledge-based industry requires regular updating of KS initiatives to remain competitive. Research needs to be replicated in other countries to determine how organization culture impacts knowledge sharing.

References 1. Sasaki, S.: Towards a Brighter Future of Work in the Digital Economy. Statement Online. Global Research Webinar, India (2022) 2. David, W., Fahey, L.: Diagnosing cultural barriers to knowledge management. Acad. Manag. Exec. 14(4), 113–127 (2000) 3. Hamzah, N., Isa, R.M.: Intellectual and social capitals development a case in Malaysian’s ICT companies. Int. J. Bus. Manag. 5(1), 53 (2010) 4. Wang, S., Noe, R.A.: Knowledge sharing: a review and directions for future research. Hum. Resour. Manag. Rev. 20(2), 115–131 (2010) 5. El Harbi, S., Anderson, A.R., Amamou, M.: Knowledge sharing processes in Tunisian small ICT firms. Libr. Rev. 60(1), 24–36 (2011) 6. Al-Zubi, M.: The Impact of Organisational Culture on Knowledge Sharing in the Construction Sector in Jordan. University of Salford, Salford (2011) 7. Burghate, M.: A conceptual framework on knowledge management implementation in IT industry. IJCAMS 01(01) (2016) 8. Nair, M., George, S.: Integration of knowledge creation and quality management practices in the UAE hospitality sector. In: Fifth International Conference on Advances in Social Science, Management and Human Behaviour—SMHB 2017, pp. 33–36 (2017) 9. Tiwari, S.P.: Emerging technologies: factors influencing knowledge sharing. World J. Educ. Res. (2022) 10. Anand, A., Muskat, B., Creed, A., Zutshi, A., Csepregi, A.: Knowledge sharing, knowledge transfer and SMEs: evolution, antecedents, outcomes and directions. Pers. Rev. (2021) 11. Hosen, M., Ogbeibu, S., Giridharan, B., Cham, T.H., Lim, W.M., Paul, J.: Individual motivation and social media influence on student knowledge sharing and learning performance: evidence from an emerging economy. Comput. Educ. 172, 104262 (2021) 12. Syifa, R.H.A., Ahman, E.: The design of organizational culture and knowledge sharing in creating innovation behavior and its impact on organizational performance in family companies. In: 6th Global Conference on Business, Management, and Entrepreneurship (GCBME 2021), July 2022, pp. 424–428. Atlantis Press (2022) 13. Natu, S., Aparicio, M.: Analyzing knowledge sharing behaviors in virtual teams: practical evidence from digitalized workplaces. J. Innov. Knowl. 7(4), 100248 (2022) 14. Ugwu, C.I., Ejikeme, A.N.: Knowledge management, organizational culture and job performance in Nigerian university libraries. IFLA J. 03400352221103896 (2022) 15. Gharieb, M.E.: Factors affecting knowledge sharing in the administrative work environment. Teh. glas. 16(2), 187–196 (2022) 16. Meher, J.R., Nayak, L., Mishra, R.K., Patel, G.: Impact of organizational learning culture on organizational effectiveness: a serial mediation analysis with knowledge sharing and employee competencies. VINE J. Inf. Knowl. Manag. Syst. (2022)

The Extent of the Use of Information and Communication Technology on the Quality of Higher Education at Palestine Technical University Kadoorie Rawheya N. S. Awad and Ihab Ahmed Awais Abstract The current study aimed to identify the extent of the use of information and communication technology on the quality of higher education at Palestine Technical University Kadoorie, where a sample was selected deliberately from the deans of faculties and quality staff at the university and the study sample consisted of (12) of a dean and an employee. The descriptive analytical approach was used through the formulation of an open paper questionnaire to obtain information, and the results were reached after analyzing the interviews and the most important of which was the consensus of everyone that the university uses media and communication technology in the educational process, and interested in ensuring the quality of higher education, and the results of the repetitions showed that the majority of obstacles are represented by the weakness of the Internet and networks and the lack of modern computers, and one of the most important recommendations is the need to work to find a radical solution to the problem of Internet interruption and replace it with the connection of an alternative fiber line to the Internet and work to hold training courses on how to use technology for lecturers, administrators, and students. Keywords Information and communication technology · Quality of higher education · Palestine Technical University Kadoorie

1 Introduction The current era is characterized by tremendous scientific progress and a cognitive explosion, which has led to many changes in all different fields of life such as the R. N. S. Awad (B) · I. A. Awais Faculty of Leadership and Management, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Nilai, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] I. A. Awais e-mail: [email protected] R. N. S. Awad Faculty of Business and Economics, Palestine Technical University Kadoorie, Tulkarm, Palestine © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_38

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cultural, social, educational, and economic fields, and this was the result of qualitative progress in the fields of technology and industry, and the emergence of information and communication technology in all its forms such as the Internet and the computer, websites, e-mail, and their use in the educational process in the right way work to achieve quality and apply its standards [1], and because education in the current era is one of the most prominent manifestations of progress in society [9], and the majority of organizations and institutions have turned to research on the application of quality has become the main supporter of any organization, where it has created local and international competition, but no organization can apply quality in its departments without having a department familiar with the quality, its concept, and principles. With the development of electronic means in modern societies and their use in the digital processing of data, the importance of information and communication technologies has increased until they are what they are now [7], and because we consider the total quality in higher education in general to be global standards for measurement and recognition, and the transition from a culture of minimalism to a culture of mastery and excellence, and to achieve total quality in education, not. It is necessary to develop all the elements included in the educational process in general, including the teacher, learner, management, building, and general climate, and to improve the educational processes by applying modern foundations and strategies in the management of the methods of the educational process to reach the desired level of quality.

2 The Study Problem With the great dependence on the use of information and communication technology in all walks of life, especially in educational institutions, it has become clear to everyone the remarkable growth in the number of universities and colleges in Palestine in recent times, and the increase in the number of students enrolled in them, as this increase has affected the fears of those interested in the quality level of higher education institutions of a deterioration in educational levels. If the focus is not on Achieving good quality requirements for quality, so Palestinian universities rushed to use and acquire communication and media to provide solutions that improve the educational product. Quality management needs actual monitoring and continuous development by institutions, knowing that the application of quality management in Palestinian universities is considered in the beginning, so there is a noticeable weakness in its knowledge by employees, academics, and students, especially Kadoorie University, which does not have a long past using information and communication technology in educational processes, so lies the problem The study to answer the main question: the extent of the use of information and communication technology on the quality of higher education from the point of view of the deans of faculties and the staff of the Quality Department at Palestine Technical University Kadoorie—Main Branch, and the following sub-questions are branched from the main question: the extent of the use of information and communication technology on the quality

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of higher education from the point of view of the deans of faculties and the staff of the Quality Department at Palestine Technical University Kadoorie—Main Branch, and the following sub-questions are branched out from the main question: – What factors affect the quality of the infrastructure at the university from the point of view of the deans of the faculties and the staff of the Quality Department at Palestine Technical University Kadoorie—Main Branch? – What are the factors affecting the quality of higher education from the point of view of the deans of the faculties and the staff of the Quality Department at Palestine Technical University Kadoorie—Main Branch?

3 The Study Objectives The main objective of this study is to know the impact of the use of modern media technologies on the quality of higher education, and accordingly the objectives of the research are as follows: – Identify the factors affecting the academic quality system from the point of view of the deans of the faculties and the staff of the Quality Department at Palestine Technical University Kadoorie—Main Branch. Identify the extent of the emergence of information and communication technology globally. – Identify the factors affecting the quality of the infrastructure at the university from the point of view of the deans of the faculties and the staff of the Quality Department at Palestine Technical University Kadoorie—the Main Branch. – Knowledge of the factors affecting the quality of the infrastructure in the university from the point of view of the deans of the faculties and the staff of the Quality Department at Palestine Technical University Kadoorie—Main Branch. – Identify the factors affecting the quality of higher education from the point of view of the deans of the faculties and the staff of the Quality Department at Palestine Technical University Kadoorie—Main Branch.

4 Determinants of the Study The Study Addresses the Following Question: What is the impact of the use of information and communication technology technologies on the quality of higher education from the point of view of the deans of the faculties and the staff of the Quality Department at Palestine Technical University Kadoorie—Main Branch? Therefore, the researcher used the qualitative procedural approach, to reach the causes beyond the research problem and solution to the problem [6]. Institutional Limit: The study was limited to Palestine Technical University Kadoorie—Tulkarm.

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Time Limit: The researcher conducted the field study in the year 2022/2023.

5 Study Terminology Information and Communication Technology: It has been defined by [10] as the sum of the physical tools used in combining the written and spoken word, the static and moving image with telecommunications. Quality Management in Higher Education: “It is a management philosophy of the university’s leaders that focuses on satisfying the needs of students and beneficiaries, achieving the growth of the university, reaching its goals”. Deans of Faculties (Procedurally): Is a person with authority whose task is to supervise a specific academic unit or a particular academic area or scope allocated to him, in most academic units. Employees of the Quality Department (Procedurally): Employees working for the Deanship of Planning, Development, and Quality, which is one of the main supporting deanships at Palestine Technical University “Kadoorie” (https://ptuk.onl ine/site). Palestine Technical University—Kadoorie: It is one of the institutions of higher education in Palestine and is the first and only public technical university in the West Bank, founded in 1930 as an agricultural school, to serve the Palestinian community, and then developed into a university affiliated to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (https://www.mohe.pna.ps).

6 Literature Review The survey of Abu Stala et al. [2] reached several results, the most important of which are: that there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between the realization of the importance of using information technology in teaching university accounting and improving the quality of the educational process in colleges. A study [3] targeted the effectiveness of social media methods in achieving interaction between university students, through Facebook and WhatsApp groups after which they are promising means, and the results attributed the reasons for students’ preference. Social media is a means that provide the exchange of discussions and visual communication between students. While a study [11] Communication in the university institution is not only important, but irreplaceable because it is the main pillar through which the good performance of all assigned tasks is ensured from the highest degree to the lowest level, and therefore I consider communication in his research as a safety valve to

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improve quality in the university, in the various actors in this institution, including administrators, employees, professors, students. The study [5] aimed to present a strategic developmental application proposal to enhance organizational immunity in the light of the applications of artificial intelligence in the field of communication technology, with attention to the characteristics of digital media as an intermediate variable, the most important results of the study were that the level of awareness of the students of the Faculty of Communication Sciences and Languages at the University of Gaza of the reality of artificial intelligence applications was highly appreciated.

7 Sample Heading The research methodology is considered to be how the researcher follows his steps, to reach the results related to the subject under study, which is the method used to solve the research problem, and that the researcher knows in advance the aspects and dimensions of the subject under study through her review of previous studies related to the subject of research, we relied on our study on the descriptive approach being an approach used in the study of the current conditions of phenomena from their characteristics. He is interested in the study of the presence of phenomena and events and often includes predictions of the future of the phenomena and events he studies, often associated with studies of the social sciences and humanities. The descriptive approach monitors and follows closely the phenomenon of a particular event quantitatively or qualitatively in a certain period or several periods or to identify the phenomenon or events in terms of content, content and reach conclusions and generalizations that help in understanding and developing reality.

8 Sample Study The study sample was selected using the intentional method, to access and obtain accurate information from the source by the deans of the faculties, and the staff working in the Department of Academic and Administrative Quality, (12), (5) faculty deans, (7) male and female employees of the department, who follow things closely to reach quality in higher education.

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9 Study Form (1)

Dependent variable: Quality of higher education The effectiveness of the websites used in the educational process The level of electronic academic achievement of students Availability of technical infrastructure at the university

Independent variable: information communication and technology E-learning application Portals LMS, ZOOM

Reference: The Study [8], and the Study of Al-Dhabiani [4]

10 Study Results and Discussion (10) of them unanimously agreed that the university uses the applications of information and communication technology in the educational process, and the answer was (2) neutral, and also (10) agreed that the working conditions of academics using information and communication technology in the educational process, and (9) replied that academics have tendencies towards the use of the Internet in the application of modern higher education methods, and the answer was (3) neutral. And I agree (9) that the university provides training courses on how to use ICT applications. The answer (2) was neutral. The (2), and, (3) neutral answers affirmed (9) that ICT applications enable lecturers to rely on e-learning methods (Table 1). Answered (11) The participation of the administrative staff in scientific conferences and seminars affects the level of quality of education at the university and exhibited (1). He agreed (11) that the continuous development and modernization of the mechanisms of work at the administrative level affect the level of quality of education at the university, and (1) was neutral. He unanimously agreed (10) that holding training courses for administrative staff affects the level of quality of education at the university, and opposed (2). Answers were (9) Respondents to the questionnaire are yes about the fact that the use of information and communication technology by administrators affects the level of quality of education at the university, and casual (3) (Table 2). He agreed (11) yes, and answered no (1) that the university has the existing vision of developing libraries and electronic resources. He unanimously agreed (10) that the university has a modern technical information network for the uses of academics, administrators, and students, and is a viewer (1) and neutral (1). He agreed (10) and opposed (3) that the university has new and ongoing vocational rehabilitation

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Table 1 Respondents’ answers by the most frequent First field: factors influencing the academic quality system

Duplicates Yes

Duplicates No

Duplicates Neutral

Percentage

1.

The university uses the 10 applications of information and communication technology in the educational process

0

2

0.833

2.

Working conditions allow academics to use information and communication technology in the educational process

10

0

2

0.833

3.

Academics have tendencies toward the use of the Internet in the application of modern higher education methods

9

0

3

0.75

4.

The university provides training courses on how to use media and communication technology applications

9

2

3

0.75

5.

ICT applications enable lecturers to rely on e-learning methods

9

1

1

0.75

and training programs. Combine (9) Yes, and Neutral (3) that the University adopts continuous development and improvement using applications of Modern technology in its development plans. (6) He replied yes that the university provides Internet technologies without interruption. He opposed (3) and answered neutral (3), answered (5) yes and (3) no, and (5) neutral about the fact that the university has an infrastructure of communication media networks (Table 3). I agree (11) and oppose (1) that the university cares about ensuring the quality of higher education and makes it one of its priorities. Gather (11) that the activation of the monitoring system and the annual evaluation procedures are a reason to improve the quality of higher education. Collect (10) and (2) that flexibility is one of the advantages of the electronic portal system used in the educational process. He answered yes (6), opposed (3), and neutral (3) about the low quality of higher education due to a large number of requirements for its application (Table 4).

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Table 2 Respondents’ answers by the most frequent Second field: factors influencing the administrative quality system

Duplicates Yes

Duplicates No

1.

The participation of the administrative staff in scientific conferences and seminars affects the level of quality of education at the university

11

1

2.

The continuous development and modernization of the mechanisms of work at the administrative level affect the level of quality of education at the university

11

0

1

0.916

3.

Holding training 10 courses for administrative staff affects the level of quality of education at the university

2

0

0.833

4.

The use of information and communication technology by administrators affects the level of quality of education at the university

3

0

0.75

9

Duplicates Neutral

Percentage 0.916

11 Second: Discuss the Results of the Open Interview Questions The percentage of repetitions (0.461%) was high in the opinion of the respondents using modern information and communication technology that benefits the quality assurance of higher education, and the repetition showed that the quality of education is related to the use of the Internet, and the practical application and utilization of the services and programs provided by the university, and its continuous improvement was (0.384%), and the percentage of cost reduction came low by (0.076%) (Table 5). The results of the study showed that one of the highest frequencies is (0.352%), which is that the use of information and communication technology positively affects the quality of education, gives indicators to raise the level of performance, and then

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Table 3 Respondents’ answers by the most frequent Third field: factors influencing the Duplicates quality of infrastructure at the Yes university

Duplicates No

Duplicates Neutral

Percentage

1.

The university has the 11 vision of developing libraries and electronic resources

1

0.916

2.

The university has a 10 state-of-the-art technical information network for the use of academics, administrators, and students

1

1

0.833

3.

The university has the 10 new and ongoing vocational qualification and training programs

0

3

0.833

4.

The university adopts continuous development and improvement using modern technological applications in its development plans

9

0

3

0.75

5.

The university provides uninterrupted Internet technologies

6

3

3

0.5

6.

The university has an infrastructure of communication media networks

5

3

5

0.416

affects students and academics significantly for the opportunity to deal in all fields, especially technological, and increase communication and facilitate the learning process by (0.235%), about the fact that the use negatively affects the exams came (0.058%) (Table 6). The results of the study showed that the answers to the third question came with high frequencies, where (26) answers were represented by the most important obstacles facing information and communication technology by academics, administrators, and students at the university, the answers were about the weakness in the Internet and networks (0.230%), the lack of computers, especially modern ones, and also the lack of knowledge and encouragement for workers to use technology. One of the highest frequencies were (0.230%) as well, and it came that one of the most

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Table 4 Respondents’ answers by the most frequent Fourth field: factors influencing the quality of higher education

Duplicates Yes

Duplicates No

Duplicates Neutral

Percentage

1.

The university is interested in ensuring the quality of higher education and makes it one of its priorities

11

1

0

0.916

2.

Activation of the monitoring system and annual evaluation procedures are a reason to improve the quality of higher education

11

0

0

0.916

3.

Flexibility is one of 10 the advantages of the electronic portal system used in the educational process

0

2

0.833

4.

The quality of higher education decreases due to a large number of requirements for its application

3

3

0.5

6

Table 5 Distribution of the answers of the deans and employees of the quality department at the university, about their opinion on the first question of the interview, which is about the opinion of the respondents on the use of modern information and communication technology is beneficial to ensure the quality of higher education, with the frequencies and percentage in the answer that was distributed to (13) answers and their distribution Number Text

Iteration Percentage

1

Improving the quality of education and teaching methods

6

0.461

2

The basis of the Internet, technology, and media in accessing any information

5

0.384

3

Reduction of cost

1

0.760

4

Helps keep pace with the development of everything new in the 1 higher education sector

0.760

important obstacles is the large academic burden and the lack of time as a result of the great pressure at work by a percentage (0.115%), and the power outage came from the obstacles facing the use of information technology by (0.76%) (Table 7).

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Table 6 Distribution of the answers of the deans and employees of the quality department at the university, about their opinion on the use of modern information and communication technology for: (academic, administrative, and students) in the educational process credibly affects the level of educational quality at the university Number Text

Iteration Percentage

1

Positively affecting the level of quality of education

6

0.352

2

Allowing students to deal with developments in all fields for the academic and students

4

0.235

3

Facilitating and enhancing the process of communication with 4 the components of the university

0.235

4

Increasing technological services and developing the electronic system

2

0.117

5

Increasing technological services and developing the electronic system

1

0.058

With the iterations and percentage in the answer that was distributed into (17) answers and their distribution

Table 7 Distribution of the answers of the deans and employees of the quality department at the university, about their opinion on the most important obstacles facing the use of modern information and communication technology by academics, administrators, and students at the university Number

Text

Iteration

Percentage

1

Weakness and interruption of the Internet, and the lack of Internet networks outside the university

6

0.230

2

Discourage workers and students from using technology

6

0.230

3

Lack of modern computers

5

0.192

4

Problems with applications and systems

4

0.153

5

Not training to use technology the good way

4

0.153

6

Lack of time available to academics, excessive academic load, great pressure at work

3

0.115

7

Internet or electricity breakdown

2

0.076

With frequencies and percentages, where their answers were distributed to (26) answers, and their distribution

It was one of the highest frequencies (0.208%), and one of the ways of improvement proposed by the study sample is to encourage the use of technology used in education, especially the academic portal, the percentage of repetitions (0.166%), and the item of the proposal to motivate students and employees either by rewarding them financially or morally with repetitions (0.125%) and then it was proposed to improve the quality of the Internet by connecting a fiber line instead of the Internet (Table 8).

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Table 8 Distribution of the answers of the deans and employees of the quality department at the university, about their opinion to propose ways to improve the application of the use of information and communication technology in the educational process at Palestine Technical University— Kadoorie, with frequencies and percentages, where their answers were distributed to (24) answers and their distribution Number Text

Iteration Percentage

1

Professional development, training for workers and students, and spreading awareness at all levels to apply modern technology in education

5

0.208

2

Contracting with private companies, and creating programs that serve the university, integrate technology, and establish radio and educational television

5

0.208

3

Building an evaluation system for applications, electronic 4 systems, and means of communication, converting some theoretical materials to electronic, and encouraging students’ use of the academic portal to communicate with the lecturer

0.166

4

Using material and moral incentives to use technology in education

3

0.125

5

Improve the quality and speed of the Internet, and connect the 3 fiber line instead of the Internet at the university

0.125

6

Periodic evaluation, presence of senior management

2

0.083

7

Developing infrastructure and identifying the necessary needs carefully

2

0.083

12 Results Discussion This chapter discusses the results reached based on the analysis of the results of the interviews conducted with the competent authorities, the results of the study, and the repeated answers about the use of information technology and the impact on the academic and administrative quality system, and the quality of infrastructure, which in turn affects the quality of higher education. Respondents agreed that the university uses information and communication technology in the learning process and that the working conditions of academics allow the use of media technology. It supports the participation of the administrative staff in scientific conferences and seminars. The University has a vision for the development of libraries and electronic resources at the University. It is concerned with ensuring the quality of higher education and makes it one of its priorities. Since the quality standard is especially important for universities, it is necessary to maintain their level through the optimal use of lecturers, employees, and students and that senior management performs its role through attention by applying quality standards at all levels because using technology correctly benefits the university and facilitates the process of communication with students, lecturers, and the university. This is due to the great importance of using the Internet and encouraging everyone to use it so that the quality to which universities aspire is obtained, and my study is consistent with the study [11] confirms that communication in the university institution is not

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only important but irreplaceable because it is the main pillar through which the good performance of all assigned tasks is ensured starting with From the highest grade to the lowest, I also agreed with the results of a study which found that the use of distance education technology increases the motivation of students to teach and that one of the most important obstacles to the application of quality is the high cost of Internet fees and the lack of time allocated to the course. While the results showed high repetitions of the obstacles facing the university academics, administrators, and students represented by weaknesses in the Internet and networks and the lack of modern computers. Therefore, it is necessary to work on the integration of modern communication technology and services due to the importance of facing the developments facing education, keeping pace with the development in the use of technology, and raising the quality levels at the university, where it is consistent with the study of agrees with a study that found that the use of distance education technology increases students’ motivation to learn.

13 Recommendations The most important recommendations that emerged from the study were identified after discussing the results of the questions, and a set of recommendations were monitored, namely the following: – Finding a radical solution to the problem of Internet interruption and replacing it with the connection of an alternative fiber line to the Internet. – Paying more attention to the administrative aspect, developing and integrating it in all developmental aspects, and supporting financially and morally. – Providing a strong infrastructure with a vision that looks forward to development, especially in its possession of modern media technology technologies. – Holding training courses on how to use technology for lecturers, administrators, and students. – Conducting comparative studies between the use of information and communication technologies and traditional means. Acknowledgements A special thanks to Palestine Technical University—Kadoorie for supporting this research.

References 1. Al-Bakhit, H.M.A.-S.: The use of information and communication technology and its role in improving the quality of educational outcomes of students with reading difficulties from the point of view of their teachers and students of field training at the University of Hail. Arab J. Stud. Res. 5(5), 56–56 (2020)

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2. Abu Stala, A.A.-Q.M.I., Tantoush, A.N.M.: The impact of recognizing the importance of ICT use on the quality of the educational process: an exploratory study from the perspective of faculty members in accounting departments in some Libyan universities. J. Econ. Res. Stud. 17(7), 69–103 (2021) 3. Ahmed, K., Ainebyona, G.: Investigating the effects of social media on the education of university students in Hargeisa, Somalilan. Am. Res. J. Humanit. Soc. Sci. (ARJHSS) 03(02), 66–76 (2020) 4. Al-Dhabiani, A.M.: University portal: its concept, importance, and quality standards. J. Media Stud. 4(13). Arab Democratic Center, Berlin, Germany (2020) 5. Al-Masri, N.M.A.-A.: The impact of artificial intelligence in the field of communication technology on organizational immunity in light of the characteristics of digital media as an intermediate variable in Palestinian universities. J. Econ. Bus. Stud. 1(8) (2021) 6. Al-Najjar, F.J., Al-Najjar, N.J., Al-Zoubi, M.R.: Methods of Scientific Research—An Applied Perspective, p. 63. Al-Hamid Publishing and Distribution Bureau, Amman (2013) 7. Ibn Brika, A.A.-W., Zainab, I.A.-T.: The impact of information and communication technology in advancing development. J. Res. A 7, 245–257 (2010). https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM279170 8. Olayan, N.Q.M.: The use of modern technology in the educational process. J. Fac. Basic Educ. Educ. Sci. Humanit. 42. University of Babylon (2019) 9. Salem, A.M.: Educational Methods and Technology. Al Roshd Library, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2007) 10. Son of Burish, the activity of religion: the impact of information and communication technology on the quality of banking services: a study of some Algerian commercial banks. J. Strateg. Dev. 7(12), 60–86 (2017) 11. Zeyoush, S., Boumfa, T.: The effectiveness of communication within the university institution and its role in ensuring the quality of higher education: a sociological study. J. Soc. Sci. 14(2), 78–92 (2020)

Websites 12. https://ptuk.online/site/vision-about-planning-development-and-quality-deanship is the official website of the university, it was visited on 27/6/2022 at 12:22 13. https://www.mohe.pna.ps

Determining of Factors Influencing Employee’s Retention at Almarai Company in Saudi Arabia Qais Ahmed Almaamari and Tasnim Elbastawisy

Abstract This research paper examines the factors that influence employee retention at Almarai Company in Saudi Arabia, specifically performance appraisal, work environment, and training and development. The purpose of this paper is to highlight key factors for employee retention at Almarai Company based on a literature review. The findings revealed that performance appraisals, work environments, and training and development have significant impacts on employee retention. In light of the findings of this paper, policymakers and corporate managers alike will have a greater understanding of the factors that might affect employee retention at Almarai Company, thus making it easier to attract and retain more employees. This paper will help the managers and employees of Almarai Company and manufacturing companies to recognize the factors that are likely to influence employee retention and develop effective strategies for increasing employee retention in Almarai Company. Keywords Employee retention · Performance appraisal · Work environment · Training and development

1 Introduction The word retain means to keep a person’s service and secure it or absorb and hold, according to the Oxford English Dictionary [32]. Hence, Neog and Barua [21] revealed that retaining workers means holding them. Neog and Barua [21] described employee retention as the practices that encourage or incentivize employees to remain Q. A. Almaamari (B) Administrative Science Department, College of Administrative and Financial Science, Gulf University, Sanad 26489, Kingdom of Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] T. Elbastawisy Accounting and Financial Science Department, College of Administrative and Financial Science, Gulf University, Sanad 26489, Kingdom of Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_39

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in the company as much as possible or until the project is done. It is advantageous to the business, employees and employers. Employees are a significant resource in the business, according to Nyanjom [23], since they contribute positively to the accomplishment of the organization’s goals and objectives. According to Armstrong [5], retaining these people has proven to be critical in the growth and accomplishment of the organization’s goals and objectives, particularly in terms of gaining a competitive edge over other enterprise. Tadesse [31] found that it is more vital for managers to devise methods to retain talented individuals in order to realize the advantages of their past investment in them. The company’s future growth might be threatened if talented personnel leave. As stated by Devi [10], success in the present globalized market requires developing a retention-rich company that recruits, engages, and fosters enduring loyalty among the most talented employees. Many sources acknowledged that failing to retain talented and high staff turnover has cost enterprises throughout the world a considerable amount of money for years [4, 8, 9, 25]. Employees are a company’s most precious resource, therefore retaining them in their current positions is critical. There has been a paradigm change from human resources to human capital, which involves the skills, knowledge and capacities of the individuals who work in the business and demonstrates its worth [5]. Employee retention, according to Johnson et al. [16], is the capacity to maintain personnel you desire for longer than your rivals. Chaminade [6], meanwhile, describes retention as an organization’s voluntary decision to create an atmosphere that engages people over time. High-performing individuals, on the other hand, became harder to retain for managers since they regularly switch jobs because they are drawn by several organizations at the same time. According to Chew and Entrekin [7], when all or most of the current jobs in a company have been filled, employees enjoy a high rate of job retention, they have little or no intent to quit, they have a stable employment status, they have career growth, and they have kept their job for a long time. It is critical to examine the factors influencing employee retention. Employee retention remains an untouched study topic in Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that many studies have been undertaken to uncover the reasons that cause employees to remain or quit organizations. Consequently, the goal of this study is to discover what factors influence employee retention at Almarai Company in Saudi Arabia.

2 Theoretical Background 2.1 The Relationship Between Performance Appraisal and Employee Retention There is a link between employee retention and performance appraisals, according to several previous studies. A significant and positive relationship has been found

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between employee retention and performance appraisal according to research conducted by Perera and Edirisooriya [26]. In another study, Rao et al. [27] found a direct and significant link between performance appraisals and employee retention. Additionally, Aleem and Bowra [2] conclude that performance appraisals contribute significantly to employee retention. Additionally, Aleem and Bowra [2] showed that performance appraisal had a considerable impact on employee retention. According to Mehta et al. [20], a fair and unambiguous performance appraisal has a considerable beneficial effect on employee retention. Furthermore, according to Imna and Hassan [14], performance appraisals associated to incentives and salary have a big and positive influence on employee retention. According to Gulzar et al., employee performance appraisal has an influence on staff retention [12]. H1 Performance appraisal has a positive significant influence on employee retention.

2.2 The Relationship Between Work Environment and Employee Retention According to the previous studies, employees prefer a work environment that is not dangerous or uncomfortable. Robbins et al. [28] conducted that most workers prefer to work in facilities that are clean, contemporary, and have enough tools and equipment. According to Tadesse [31], the work environment has an impact on employee retention. A conducive work environment appears to be a key factor in the area of employee retention, according to Kossivi et al.’s [17] research. Additionally, Yousuf and Siddqui’s [33] research demonstrated a favourable association between employee retention and the workplace. Koteswari et al. [18] discovered that job satisfaction is influenced by the workplace environment, which raises the retention rate inside the company. H2 Work environment has a positive significant influence on employee retention.

2.3 The Relationship Between Training and Development and Employee Retention Duah and Danso [11] performed research in Ghana on the influence of training and development on employee retention, collecting data using questionnaires from a sample of one hundred participants. The majority of employees they found, feel that training affects their retention and that training is applicable to their occupations. Another study conducted by Jaseel [15] looked into how employee training affects their salary and keeps them satisfied in their current jobs. This promotes employee

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retention, which boosts the performance and profitability of the company and makes the employee a key component of its competitive advantage. Furthermore, Nguyen and Duong [22] discovered that there are several aspects to consider while retaining workers, including training, job satisfaction, and job performance, as they all have a favourable impact on employee retention. Additionally, Omoikhudu [24] found that employee retention is not just affected by training and coaching alone. He insisted that there are numerous other factors that might influence employee retention, such as pay, which incentivizes workers to stay. Also, he suggested investing in different factors besides training in order to attain the goals of the organization. The research conducted by Yousuf and Siddqui [33] has proven a positive effect of training and development on employee retention. H3 Training and development has a positive significant influence on employee retention.

3 Conceptual Framework Figure 1 demonstrates the conceptual framework of this study, which is prepared to depend on the connection between the three different variables from the literature review, in which the employee’s retention stands as the dependent variable, which is the problem statement of the research, while performance appraisal, work environment and training and development stand as independent variables that basically shows its influence on the dependent variable. However, the independent variables had a positive significant influence on employee retention in Almarai Company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The conceptual framework shows that the dependent variable is influenced by the independent variable. This research explains how the independent variables influence the dependent variable. To be more specific, it illustrates how performance appraisal, work environment and training and development will influence employee retention in Almarai Company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

4 The Underpinning of Theories 4.1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need Theory The average number of societies is mostly partially satisfied and partially unsatisfied in all of their wants, so according to Maslow [19], people are motivated by a desire to achieve or maintain the various conditions on which these fundamental satisfactions are based, as well as by some more intellectual desires. Humans desire to be selfactualized, he believed, and he regarded human potential as an underappreciated and

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Fig. 1 Research model of this study [3]

unexplained area [30]. Humans have five fundamental needs, according to Maslow: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization. The physiological need is the most important, and it includes, among other things, food, shelter, clothing, and body comfort. Since the majority of the lower desires are experienced frequently, this theory contends that in order to motivate people, managers should create programs or processes that address developing or unmet needs. Managers are accountable for establishing an atmosphere that allows employees to attain their full potential when the need hierarchy concept is applied to work environments. Failure to establish such an atmosphere may impair employee pleasure, resulting in poor performance, lower job satisfaction, and more employee turnover [29].

4.2 Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory The two-factor theory, also known as Herzberg’s Motivational Hygiene Theory and the Dual Factor Theory, was proposed by Herzberg et al. [13], claims that some workplace conditions create job satisfaction while others cause job dissatisfaction. Herzberg, a psychologist, created the theory in an attempt to expand Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. On the basis of this research, Herzberg observed that when individuals talk about feeling happy or satisfied, they think of an advantage in acknowledgement of the job example, growth in success, and work itself as a fact of leadership and hygiene. The greatest method to inspire individuals, according to Herzberg, is to focus on elements related to the task itself or directly derived consequences, such as promotion prospects, opportunities for personal growth, acknowledgement, responsibility, and accomplishment [28].

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4.3 Adam’s Equity Theory Adam, a psychologist and work behavior, established equity theory, emphasizing the employee’s responsibility to preserve equality between what they put into the workplace and the outcomes produced [1]. According to the theory, people compare their efforts and rewards with those of their co-workers who have a reference to others in terms of what is considered a superstitious distribution of effort. People’s perceptions of reward fairness in comparison to other employees have an impact on employee retention. To summarize, the employee must believe that their contribution and hard work are valued when they are rewarded.

5 Discussion and Conclusion The findings of this paper allow organizations to discover and analyze the key factors impacting employee retention, which may be extensively used and implemented by businesses to find solutions for the employee retention issue, potentially saving employee costs for companies. It will help the management and employees of Almarai Company in Saudi Arabia, as well as other manufacturing organizations to recognize the factors that influence employee retention. Moreover, the outcomes of this study will benefit researchers and academics since it will provide them with additional value and information. Researchers and academics can detect trends utilizing realistic information from this research regarding how performance appraisal, work environment and training and development impact employee retention since there is not an extensive study which investigated the relationship between all those three factors to employee retention in a manufacturing company. The limitations can be analysed for future modifications and to find gaps. While conducting this research the main obstacle was time constraints as the study was conducted in a short time due to the limited time of the course. Additionally, the previous studies contained mutual independent variables which limited the diversification of the research. Also, the study focused on Almarai Company in Saudi Arabia, however, a similar study may be conducted in a broader manufacturing sector, with special focus paid to allow the research findings to be applied to the rest of the manufacturing sector. It is recommended to future researchers to build upon the findings of this research and generalize research findings to the rest of the manufacturing sector by analysing each factor in depth from different perspectives of different manufacturing companies.

References 1. Adams, J.: Towards an understanding of inequity. J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol. 67, 422–436 (1963)

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2. Aleem, M., Bowra, Z.A.: Role of training & development on employee retention and organizational commitment in the banking sector of Pakistan. Rev. Econ. Dev. Stud. 6(3), 639–650 (2020) 3. Almaamari, Q.A., Ali, B.M., Almeer, S.: Factors influencing organizational performance at petroleum products distribution company in Yemen. Spec. Ugdy. 1(43), 2071–2083 (2022) 4. Allen, D.G., Bryant, P.C., Vardaman, J.M.: Retaining talent: replacing misconceptions with evidence-based strategies. Acad. Manag. Perspect. 24(2), 48–64 (2010) 5. Armstrong, M.A.: Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. Kogan Page Limited, London (2009) 6. Chaminade, B.: A retention checklist: how do you rate? (2007). www.humanresourcesmaga zine.co.au 7. Chew, J., Entrekin, L.: Retention management of critical (core) employees: a challenging issue confronting organizations in the 21st century. Int. Bus. Econ. Res. J. 46–50 (2004) 8. Dawwas, M.I., Zahare, I.: Testing the relationship between turnover intention and human resource practices in a non-western context of the Palestine. J. Adv. Soc. Res. 4(6), 10–22 (2014) 9. Dawwas, M.I.: The influence of employee engagement on organizational profit. Doctoral dissertation, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 2010 10. Devi, V.R.: Employee engagement is a two-way street. Hum. Resour. Manag. Int. Dig. 17(2), 3–4 (2009) 11. Duah, P., Danso, B.: The impact of training and development on retention of employees in capital bank in Ghana. Int. J. Acad. Res. Dev. 2(5), 526–532 (2017) 12. Gulzar, S., Advani, A., Jalees, T.: Impact of performance appraisal on employee retention: a study on banking sector of Pakistan (2017) 13. Herzberg, F., Bernard, M., Barbara, B.: The Motivation to Work, 12th edn. Wiley, New York (1959) 14. Imna, M., Hassan, Z.: Influence of human resource management practices on employee retention in Maldives retail industry (2015) 15. Jaseel, J.: Impact of training and development on employee retention of the sales team in Vodafone at United Kingdom (2019). Retrieved from https://esource.dbs.ie/handle/10788/3813 16. Johnson, J.T., Griffeth, R.W., Griffith, M.: Factors discriminating functional and dysfunctional sales force turnover. J. Bus. Ind. Mark. 45–65 (2000) 17. Kossivi, B., Xu, M., Kalgora, B.: Study on determining factors of employee retention. Open J. Soc. Sci. 4(05), 261 (2016). https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2016.45029 18. Koteswari, D., Dhanalakashmi, D.R., Tiwari, R.: The role of training and work environment on retention and job satisfaction as a mediator at startups, Bangalore. Int. J. Manag. 11(9), 1181–1191 (2020) 19. Maslow, A.H.: A theory of human motivation. In: Vroom, V.H., Deci, E.L. (eds.) Management and Motivation. Penguin Books Ltd., MD (1943) 20. Mehta, M., Kurbetti, A., Dhankhar, R.: Study on employee retention and commitment. Int. J. Adv. Res. Comput. Sci. Manag. Stud. 2(2) (2014) 21. Neog, B.B., Barua, M.: Factors affecting employee’s retention in automobile service workshops of Assam: an empirical study. SIJ Trans. Ind. Finance Bus. Manage. (IFBM) 3(1), 9–18 (2015) 22. Nguyen, C., Duong, A.: The impact of training and development, job satisfaction and job performance on young employee retention. Int. J. Future Gener. Commun. Netw. 13(3), 373– 386 (2020) 23. Nyanjom, C.R.: Factors influencing employee retention in the state corporations in Kenya. Doctoral dissertation, University of Nairobi, 2013 24. Omoikhudu, J.: The impact of training and development on employee retention in the retail sector, an examination of the role of coaching in a leading retailer in Dublin, Republic of Ireland (2017) 25. Ortlieb, R., Sieben, B.: How to safeguard critical resources of professional and managerial staff: exploration of a taxonomy of resource retention strategies. Int. J. Hum. Resour. Manag. 23(8), 1688–1704 (2012)

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26. Perera, D.R., Edirisooriya, W.A.: The relationship between succession planning and employee retention in information communication industry in Sri Lanka (2019) 27. Rao, K.S.S., Sahyaja, C., Akhil, P., Narasimha, N.L.: Role of leadership on employee retention. Int. J. Mech. Eng. Technol. (IJMET) 9(2) (2018) 28. Robbins, S.P., Odendaal, A., Roodt, G.: Organizational Behavior: Global and Southern African Perspectives, Eighth Impression. Pearson Education South Africa (2007) 29. Steers, R., Porter, L.: Motivation and Work Behavior, 3rd edn. McGaw-Hill Book Company, New York (1983) 30. Stephens, C.D.: The Maslow Business Reader, 1st edn. Wiley, New York (2000) 31. Tadesse, W.M.: Factors affecting employee retention in Ethiopian public organizations. J. Strateg. Hum. Resour. Manag. 7(3), 22 (2018) 32. Weiner: The Oxford English Dictionary. Clarendon Press, Oxford (1989). Print 33. Yousuf, S., Siddqui, D.A.: Factors influencing employee retention: a Karachi based comparative study on it and banking industry. Int. J. Hum. Resour. Stud. 9(1), 42 (2018). https://doi.org/10. 5296/ijhrs.v9i1.14111

Board Interlocking, Knowledge Sharing and Firm Performance Reem Khamis, Allam Hamdan, Bahaa Awwad, and Majdi Alkababji

Abstract This study aims to shed light on the role of board interlocking and the resulting knowledge sharing among board members and the role of this in improving companies’ performance. This study provides theoretical evidence that the board interlocking can have an actual role in the knowledge sharing and transfer among board members from various industries and cultural, religious, educational backgrounds, and therefore this will have an important impact on improving the performance of the company by opening new ideas, markets and opportunities. The current study can be the basis for a set of future studies that aim to identify the role of knowledge sharing and management at the level of the board of directors in improving the performance of companies. Keywords Board interlocking · Knowledge management · Firms performance

1 Introduction The behavior of board of directors can be explained through two basic theories: Agency theory and Resource Dependence theory. While the former seeks to understand the role the board of directors plays in the domination and control over firm decisions to reduce agency disputes between the parties of firm common interest [11], the latter helps in understanding the mechanism by which the board of director’s function in order to get foreign resources [25]. Most of the studies that discuss board of R. Khamis University College of Bahrain, Manama, Bahrain A. Hamdan (B) Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] B. Awwad Palestine Technical University—Kadoorie, Tulkarm, Palestine M. Alkababji Al-Quds Open University, Hebron, Palestine © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_40

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directors focused on the agency theory, but [10] sees that this theory is unable to provide any practical evidence, due to the complexities of the milieu in which boards function. Because of this inability of agency theory, the resource dependence one highlights the significant role the boards play in limiting the skepticism related to tis functional environment. This study is mainly based on the resource dependence theory in an attempt to understand board interlocking. Most of the studies which dealt with the board interlocking issue were based on that theory which shows that firms resort to hiring members of boards of directors as a mechanism to run firm foreign resources and reduce skepticism surrounding the company. It also helps reduce transaction costs [24, 28]. This theory also explains many firm phenomena like: mergers and acquisitions, common investment processes, non-competition agreements, and exchange members of boards of directors. This theory sees that board interlocking relates companies to their environment and that reduces doubt cases in firms, helps it to develop, relates it to the surrounding environment, and consolidates its status [18]. Due to the scarcity of material and human resources, companies compete to get such resources in order to maintain their influence [4, 12]. Therefore, they go back to old methods to sustain that influence. Board interlocking is one of the common issues in many of the developing economies and becomes clearer when some members of the board of directors or executives are also members in other boards. Dooley [8] noticed that in the United States, since the thirties of last century, 90% of American firms have at least one member of their board working in more than one company. Davis in [7] discovered that, during the eighties of last century, 40 American companies had board members in seven other firms at least. In Canada, it was found that between 1964 and 1977 there were 1600 interlocking between companies [22]. Santos and Silveira [26] and Kayal et al. [19] tested 230 companies in Brazil between 2003 and 2005 and found that approximately 74% in 2003 and in 2005 69% of members had relations with other councils in Brazil. In 1997 there was 61% of interlocking among 200 big companies in Hong Kong, 69% in England and 64% in the U.S during the same period [2]. The rest of this paper has been organized as follows: the second part is concerned with the theoretical framework and literature review. The final part is concerned with conclusions, implications and future studies.

2 Literature Review These international tests which support boards of directors only aimed at the expected benefits as members of the boards utilized their names and personal relations to attract the necessary external resources to develop the company [17, 23, 24]. When the company decides to employ an expert in its board of directors, it expects that this expertise will provide the sources which help the company to organize its financial, and administrative status in order to be developed [24]. Thus, companies prefer to hire board members from other firms. It is also always in need for collective work

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to achieve its aggregate interests [3, 27]. Companies remain in constant search for board members who play the same roles assigned for them in other organizations with one goal which is increasing the capital through a third party [18] as seen in the ability of the firm to get easy loans with competitive costs as a result of the companies relations with financial institutions which might help in improving performance. As for the relation between board interlocking and improving firm performance, Kim [21] studied this kind of relation in Korean companies and found evidence that such a relation improved performance. The study showed that there was an acceptable level of interlocking among boards of directors. This level helps to achieve the best performance, while increasing the level of such relation might harm the company performance [9]. Not only improving the company performance, but also interlocking of board of directors may improve the company relation with organization of civil community and give a good image of that company. Ribeiro and Colauto [25] see that board interlocking also aims at improving the company relation with the forcing social and environmental organizations. The firms, in their board of directors, employ members of those organizations to avoid procedures which might be taken against the company by such organizations and to shun through knowing the attitude of those organizations in advance. That, of course, helps the company maintain its good name in the society that has social and financial influences as well. In general, comprehending board interlocking leads to the understanding of several phenomena related to companies work, for example, Haunschild [16] noticed that mergers and acquisitions behavior between companies is related in a way or another to board interlocking. He conducted a study on 32 firms in the U.S and noticed that processes of merging or acquisition among companies are strongly related to the relation between board of directors of such companies. Ribeiro and Colauto [25] regarded board interlocking a continuous process of learning as that helps refine members experiences and knowledge exchange among them, through an informal way of learning by which they benefit from exchanging experiences and avoiding mistakes. It also helps them acquire an advantage of organizing and strategic planning which will be reflected in the management of the firm [20]. This learning and experience acquisition might not be always positive. Board interlocking might end up with unethical practices between firms as seen in earnings management with the intention of changing financial results of optional maturity. Some studies found a relation between board interlocking and the tendency of companies to adopt policies of earnings management as seen in the study of Chiu et al. [6], which he conducted in the U.S and that of Ribeiro and Colauto [25] conducted in Brazil. Connely and Slyke indicated that board interlocking leads to common practices between companies among which is earnings smoothing that aims at refining financial results. But this can’t be considered a common rule. Other studies on Canadian companies like that of Mindazk found a negative impact of board interlocking on reducing such practices [5]. The preceding lines highlighted the significance of board interlocking in company performance and its social responsibility, in addition to the negative things that might emerge as a result of this interlocking. It also opens horizons for local companies through which they can achieve their goals. Will the low level of

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foreign investment be an obstacle in the way of benefitting from board interlocking. Based on the problem of the study and resource dependence theory, hypotheses of this study can be formulated as follows: there is no impact of foreign ownership on the relationship between board interlocking and firm performance [1, 11, 14, 15].

3 Conclusion Many factors influence firm performance; some of which are related to firm characteristics, internal organization, level of governance and the fund it can obtain. Other factors are related to the market where it works and to general economy of the country. Studies have recently begun to focus on the role of institutional governance on firm performance through discussing the best methods of organizing in order to secure firm removal of interest contradictions among those concerned as that helps the firm achieve its goals. Board interlocking, which is considered one of the best methods to which firms resort to extend cooperation bridges with the economic community, to get experiences and competences, to upgrade its organizational, operational, and financial efficiencies, were never given enough concern by studies. Past studies found empirical evidences on the significance of board interlocking in improving firm performance.

References 1. Al Amosh, H., Khatib, S.F.A.: Ownership structure and environmental, social and governance performance disclosure: the moderating role of the board independence. J. Bus. Soc.-Econ. Dev. 2(1), 49–66 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1108/JBSED-07-2021-0094 2. Au, K., Peng, M.W., Wang, D.: Interlocking directorates, firm strategies and performance in Hong Kong: towards a research agenda. Asia Pac. J. Manag. 17(1), 29–47 (2000) 3. Awwad, B.S., Binsaddig, R., Kanan, M., Al Shirawi, T.: Women on boards: an empirical study on the effects on financial performance and corporate social responsibility. Competitive. Rev. Int. Bus. J. Ahead-of-print (2022) 4. Buallay, A., Hamdan, A., Zureigat, Q.: Corporate governance and firm performance: evidence from Saudi Arabia. Australas. Account. Bus. Finance J. 11(1), 78–98 (2017) 5. Buallay, A.M., Hamdan, A.M.M., Zureigat, Q., Aldhaen, E.S.: Does voluntary disclosures contributed to the intellectual capital efficiency? Int J Learn Intellect Capita 16(2), 145–179 (2019) 6. Chiu, P.C., Teoh, S.H., Tian, F.: Board interlocks and earning management contagion. Account. Rev. 88(3), 915–944 (2016) 7. Davis, G.: Agents without principles? The spread of the poison pill through the intercorporate network. Adm. Sci. Q. 36(1), 583–613 (1991) 8. Dooley, P.: The interlocking directorate. Am. Econ. Rev. 59(2), 314–323 (1969) 9. Effah, N.A.A., Asiedu, M., Otchere, O.A.S.: Improvements or deteriorations? A bibliometric analysis of corporate governance and disclosure research (1990–2020). J. Bus. Soc.-Econ. Dev. Ahead-of-print (2022). https://doi.org/10.1108/JBSED-10-2021-0142 10. Eisenhardt, K.: Speed and strategic choice: How managers accelerate decision making. Calif. Manag. Rev. 32(3), 39–54 (1990)

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11. Fama, E., Jensen, M.: Separation of ownership and control. J. Law Econ. 26(4), 301–325 (1983) 12. Hamdan, A.: The relation between board independence and firm performance: evidence from Bahrain. Jordan J. Bus. Adm. 12(3), 481–504 (2016) 13. Hamdan, A.: Board interlocking and firm performance: the role of foreign ownership in Saudi Arabia. Int. J. Manag. Finance 14(3), 266–281 (2018) 14. Hamdan, A.M., Khamis, R., Aldhaen, E., Masfaka, M.M.: The moderation role of board interlocking on the relationship between intellectual capital and firm performance. In: Proceedings of the European Conference on Knowledge Management, ECKM, 2018, vol. 1, pp. 300–307 (2018) 15. Hamdan, A., Musleh Al-Sartawi, A., Khamis, R., Anaswah, M., Hassan, A.: Board interlocking and it governance: proposed conceptual model. In: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, 2019, vol. 341, pp. 457–463 (2019) 16. Haunschild, P.: Interorganizational imitation: the impact of interlocks on corporate acquisition activity. Adm. Sci. Q. 38(3), 564–592 (1993) 17. Hejazi, M.T.: Effect of supply chain resilience on organizational performance through knowledge sharing. Rev. Geintec Gestao Inov. Tecnol. 11(4), 4764–4771 (2021) 18. Hermalin, B.E., Weisbach, M.: Boards of directors as an endogenously determined institution: a survey of the economic literature. Econ. Policy Rev. 9(1), 7–26 (2003) 19. Kayal, G., Balfaqih, H., Durani, F., Akeel, H., Abukwaik, A., Azudin, N.: Evaluating the impact of verified government accounts on the knowledge, attitudes, and intentions of Saudi residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Int. J. Electron. Gov. Res. (IJEGR) 18(1), 1–23 (2022) 20. Khamis, R., Elali, W., Hamdan, A.: The effect of dividends and institutional ownership on performance of companies listed in Bahrain stock exchange. Jordan J. Bus. Adm. 11(4), 921– 941 (2015) 21. Kim, Y.: Board network characteristics and firm performance in Korea. Corp. Gov. Int. Rev. 13(6), 800–808 (2005) 22. Ornstein, M.D.: Interlocking directorates in Canada: evidence from replacement patterns. Soc. Netw. 4(4), 3–25 (1982) 23. Pfeffer, J.: Size and composition of corporate boards of directors: the organization and its environment. Adm. Sci. Q. 17(1), 218–228 (1972) 24. Pfeffer, J., Salancik, G.R.: The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective. Harper & Row, New York (1978) 25. Ribeiro, F., Colauto, R.: The relationship between board interlocking and income smoothing practices. Rev. Contab. Financ. USP, São Paulo 27(70), 55–66 (2016) 26. Santos, L., Silveira, A.: Board interlocking no Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Finanças 5(2), 125–163 (2007) 27. Zald, M.: The power and functions of boards of directors. Am. J. Sociol. 5(4), 97–111 (1969) 28. Zerban, A.M., Madani, A.M.A.: Corporate governance and board of directors responsibility in appointing senior managers: a case in Saudi Arabia. Int. J. Bus. Manag. 13(1), 183–189 (2018)

Management Control System: A Literature Review Ahmad Yahia Mustafa Alastal, Che Zuriana Muhammad Jamil, and Hafizah Abd-Mutalib

Abstract The purpose of this study is to review the benefits of management control system on the organization and how they can control their employees and resources to achieve their goals. This paper used a meta-analysis and considered the previous literature to evaluate the works of MCS. The study concluded that the MCS provide a lot of benefits to the organizations such as supported the control system inside the organization and improve it, encourage the employees to achieve the organization goals, help the top management in the organizations for their decision making and provide to them the information’s that are timely and accurate, improve the performance of the organization and help them to produce a new product and enter a new marketing, MCS work to supports the organization strategies to their goals and objectives, and MCS provide to the organization a competitive advantages to compete in their environment. This paper recommended more studies on MCS in developing countries. Keywords Management control system · Control system · Lever of control framework · Human resources

1 Introduction Nowadays we live in the era of globalization which increased the competition between the organizations [1, 2, 16]. This era encourages the organizations to implement and adopted a new mechanism that will help them to face this competition A. Y. M. Alastal (B) Department of Administrative and Financial Science, Gulf University, Sanad 26489, Kingdom of Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] C. Z. M. Jamil · H. Abd-Mutalib Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz School of Accountancy, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] H. Abd-Mutalib e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_41

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and survive as well as achieve their goals and objectives. The management control system (MCS) is a tool by the hand of managers which provide to the organizations the strategies about how can they control the organization and manager their resources as well as encourages the employees to work in the organizations interest not to their interest [25]. The MCS defined as a tools in the hand of organization to achieve their goals and these tools such as decisions making, planning, information system, control system, life cycle products, rewards, and other tools are helped the organizations to achieve their goals and objectives [25]. In the paper, we examined and reviewed the MCS and how these mechanisms and tools benefits the organization, as well as how the control system inside the organization is a crucial factor to lead the employees, control the operations and production. At the end, this paper compared between two control system model which are popular and used by a lot of organizations. This paper organized as is follows, Sect. 1 looked into the overview and definition of MC, Sect. 2 looked into the important and the benefits of MCS, Sect. 3 looked into the control system and how the organization can implement a new control system model, Sect. 4 looked into the control system models and compared between them, and lastly Sect. 5 provide the conclusion of this paper.

2 Management Control System Three concepts of MCS consist three different discipline which are, management, control and system. According to Nandan et al. [26] the terms management control system accomplish three disciplines and there is a lack for defining these terms. The management represents what managers should do to achieve the organization goals in which they have resources, capital, employee and equipment, and the control is one of important functions in managers work [21]. At the same time, management defined as “the process of using organization resources to achieve organizational objectives through the functions of planning, organizing and staging, leading and controlling” [11]. According to this definition the main purpose of MCS is to allocate and save as well as use the resources of the organization in the proper way to achieve the organizations goals. Moreover, to achieve the organizations goals the organizations should plan and organize their work as well as explained the persuaders and the rule to their employees to control them, all of this are the part of MCS mechanisms that will benefit the organization. As well as Merchant [23] defined control as “keep things on track”, and he identified control as the important function on management processes to achieve the organizations goals. In another definition of control [4] defined it as “control is the process of guiding a set of variables to attain a preconceived goal or objective, it’s a broader concept applicable to people, things, situation and organization, in organizations it includes various planning and controlling processes”.

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The oldest definition of Management control explained the purpose of this discipline, the management control defined as “the process by which managers assure that resources are obtained and used effectively and efficiency in the accomplishment of the organizations objectives” [3]. This definition gives us the important of control on the organization recourses which will lead to achieve the organizations goals, these resources the managers should keep them from waste and insure that the employees used them in effective and efficient. According to Merchant and Van der Stede [25] the MCS is a tools in the hand of organization to achieve their goals. This definition has provided the purpose of management control system inside the organizations which is to achieve organization goals. Furthermore, these tools such as decisions making, planning, information system, control, life cycle products, rewards, and other tools are will be in the hand of managers which will help them to lead the organization better as well as manage their recourses and will lead them to a continuance improvement, all of these at the end are some of the purposes of MCS mechanisms. On the another definition of management control [14] have looked into the purpose of management control which combines between achieving the goals of the organization and planning to achieve these goals, they defined management control as “those steps taken by management that attempt to increase the likelihood that the objectives set down and planning stage are attained and to ensure that all parts of the organization function in a manner consistent with organizational policies”. At the same time, Otley [27] defined MCS as “all practices that the organizations use to assure that individuals act to achieve the organization’s goals and enhance its performance”, the view of this definition is different than the previous two definitions, this view comes from the idea of encourages employee and make control among them to work in organizations goals not their goals, and as the work an control system inside the organizations should all the transactions goes to achieve the organizations goals. Simons [34] identified the MCS from another perspective when he defined MCS as “the formal, information-based routines and procedures managers use to maintain or alter patterns in organizational activities”. Simon’s in his definition looked to MCS as information based control which will benefits the managers in decision making. The information processes inside the organization is one of crucial factors that should be accurate and understandable to managers as well as should be timely information, this wouldn’t have happened without the MCS tools and procedures that will give the managers an overview about the organization performance and how can they evaluate this performance. While, Chenhall [7] seen MCS as a tool which provide the information’s to managers and influence them. However Merchant and Van der Stede [25] looked into the behavioral aspects of MCS when they suggested that managers should influence their employees in order to do what is the best for the organization. Furthermore Malmi and Brown [22] considered MCS as a package of systems, rules, practices, values and other activities that management put in place in order to foster firms environmental and financial performance, and the management couldn’t isolate any of this package to achieve their goals and objectives.

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Table 1 Summary of MCS definitions Authors Anthony [3]

“The process by which managers assure that resources are obtained and used effectively and efficiency in the accomplishment of the organizations objectives”

Lowe [20]

“A system of organizational information seeking and gathering, accountability, and feedback designed to ensure that the enterprise adopts to changes in its substantial environment and that the work behavior of its employees is measured by reference to a set of operational sub-goals (which confirm with overall objectives) so that the discrepancy between the two can be reconciled and correct for”

Emmanuel et al. [13]

“Processes by which organizations govern their activities so that they continue to achieve objectives that they set for themselves”

Simons [33]

“The formal, information-based routines and procedures managers use to maintain or alter patterns in organizations activity”

Otley and Soin [28]

“The process of steering organizations through the environments in which they operate in order to achieve both short-term and longer-term goals”

Efferin and Hartono [12] “Is a leadership style constructed in a system”

Moreover, in the current literature of MCS, authors such as Hoque have included other aspects under MCS banner such as motivation, performance measurement, incentive, strategic planning, accountability, responsibility accounting and strategic management (Table 1). In the common, the above definitions of MCS we can understand from them that MCS • A system used by managers to use the resources of the organization effectively and efficiency. • A mechanism used by organization to achieve their goals and objectives. • A system for providing the information to managers to help them in their decision making, planning and controlling. A process used by managers to influence their employees to achieve the organizations goals and objectives.

3 The Benefits of Management Control System They are a lot of benefits that the organization will achieve when they adopted the tools of MCS inside the organization, these benefits are. 1. Help the organizations to compete in their environment, Kimura and Mourdoukoutas [16] in their study have provided three types of competition that the organizations should considered them in their strategy, these are, the organizations

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compete in costs and quality of the production, and this happened during the operations of the product, the organizations compete by produce or development a different kind of products, he organization compete by marketing their products to outside customers, by this way the organizations should focused on their customers and know about them, categorized them and the price of products are acceptable to them. As well as, in their study, they provided a lot of benefits of MCS in competition and how MCS provide the information to managers and help them to come out with a good strategy to compete in their environments, such as, motivate the employees and training them and give them a reward to work hard to achieve the organizations strategy of competition, empower the employees to making decision about the products and by this may the organizations develop their products or produce new one, improving the effectiveness of the operations, save the resources of the organization from waste and use them effectively and effectively, increase the communication between all departments, provide the information to top management about the operations, development, customers to help them in their decision making. 2. Competitive advantages The way that organizations compete in their business environment represents the failure and success to that organization [30]. The management control system help the organization to face their competition from other organizations, it leads them to compete in their business environment and implementing the strategy of competition and lead it to success [9]. 3. Supporting organization strategies According to Kober et al. [17] the MCS plays in important role for supporting the organizations strategies, it’s provides to top managements the information that will help them on their decisions making and put the write their organization strategies, as well as the writing a good and appropriate strategies for the organization as well as Fulfil these strategies wouldn’t happened without a control system that the MCS enhance [18]. 4. Performance improvement: several studies have found a positive relationship between MCS and performance of the organization when they adopted MCS mechanisms such as, Bisbe and Otley [6], Chenhall and Langfield-Smith [8], Davila [10] found a positive relationship between MCS and organization performance and innovation. Moreover, Adler et al. found a positive relationship between MCS and product performance. These studies identified the benefits of MCS on performance, which means that, MCS influences the performance of the organization on the positive way because of the information which provided to top management, control system, reward system, and the loyalty of the employee to the organization all of these variables and others are some of MCS tools that enhance and influence the performance.

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4 Control System Models Control in the literature of management studies used to differentiation between what the organizations planned for achieving their goals and what they achieve after they adopted the plane and work on it, it help the organization to make comparison between what they have been planned and the actual performance at the end of each season of the plan [15]. Moreover, Anthony et al. [5] defined control as “the process by which managers influence other members of the organization to implement the organizations strategy”. According to this definition the purpose of control system inside the organization is to influences and control the employees to ensure that they work in the line of the organization plan. Furthermore, the control system regarding to this definition is a crucial factor to implement the organization strategy and goals, and without control these strategies and goals wouldn’t achieve and work. Moreover, the control system has been classified into three types which are, formal and informal control system, behavior and outcomes control system and bureaucratic and clan control system, as well as all the organizations have a formal control system and outcomes control systems which measures the operations and output such as performance, and for the clan control consist of belief and values [19]. Moreover, the traditional control systems traditional system that the organizations used the measure and controls their performance, such as budget, information system, financial system, the organization used them to implement their objective and insure that their employees work to achieve the organization goals [29]. Moreover, to evaluate wither the control system is good or not, the control system should fulfilment and implement the objective of the organization [23]. At the same time, in MCS there are more than one model for identifying the control system in the organization, during the adoption of MCS inside the organizations they should adopt one of these models and work on it and integrate it with their system to achieve the organizations goals. Firstly, the control model of Merchant [24] which categorized the control system into three parties, and they should work together to come out with a good control system inside the organization. These categories are • Personnel control: in this part on the control system the focus will be on influencing the employees and top management to changing their personal interests into the organization interests, because sometimes the employees work in their interest and forget about the organization interest and by this way the organization will not achieve their goals. • Action control: in this part on the control system the focus will be on describing and prescribing the actions to employees that they should do and take, as well as these actions should be understandable to the employees. • Results control: this part of control system focusses on the information feedback and results which come from all departments and how the organization should respond to it. This part of the control is one of the important measurements to the organization which the organization measure the performance of the organization,

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if the feedback and the results are not good and the performance this mean that, the control system has a problem and there is no integration between the control system parties, as well as the employees didn’t follow the procedures and the rules which the organization adopted to influence them, as well as they didn’t understand these rules and procedures, and what they should do to achieve the organization goals. Secondly, Simons [31, 32, 34] categorized the control system into four categories, and these categories should integrate effectively to achieve the purpose of the control system, these categories are: • Belief control system: the belief control system refers to the systematic way that managers of the organization provide to their employees the basics organization values, direction and purpose of the organization, as well as encourages the managers to communicate formally with their employees. • Boundary control system: the boundary control system refers to rules and procedures that the employees should acts on them, and these rules provide to employees the justifications about what they can do and what they can’t do, as well as these rules should be understandability for employees and all workers inside the organization. • Diagnostic control system: in this part of the control systems managers used formal information to evaluate organization performance and outcomes, and the ability for them to correct the solve the problems that may influenced the performance and outcomes. Moreover, the managers should know how to evaluate the performance of the organizations either by measures the output of the system, or compared the actual performance of the year with the predetermined standards or last year’s performance, and the ability to evaluate and solve the deviations from standards. • Interactive control system: in interactive control system managers concerns about the information feedbacks and outcomes, as well as how they used these information’s for their decisions making processes. Moreover, this system should include the output system which provide the information to managers, the managers should know about all the operations inside the organization continuously, the managers between time to time should have a meeting with their employees and discusses with them about the operation and how they can improve it, and lastly, they should consider their plans and targets and evaluate it with the real operations and work to make the goals of organization in reality.

5 Conclusion The purpose of this study was reviewing the benefits of management control system and how the organization used these tools to control their employees and resources to achieve their goals. The study concluded that the MCS provide a lot of benefits to the organizations such as help the top management in the organizations for their decision making and provide to them the information’s that are timely and accurate,

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at the same time MCS work to supports the organization strategies to their goals and objectives supported the control system inside the organization and improve it. Furthermore, MCS mechanisms provide to the organization a competitive advantage to compete in their environment encourage the employees to achieve the organization goals. Moreover, MCS tools improve the performance of the organization and help them to produce a new product and enter a new marketing. This paper recommended more studies on MCS in developing countries. Acknowledgements Authors wish to thank Gulf University for funding this research.

References 1. Al-Maamari, Q.A., Al-Absy, M.S., Alkadash, T., Alzgool, M.R., Abdullah, M.A., Bojiah, J.: The moderating effect of organizational culture on the relationship between total quality management practices and individual readiness for TQM implementation at Yemen oil unit. PalArch’s J. Archaeol. Egypt/Egyptol. 17(7), 6204–6230 (2020) 2. Al-Maamari, Q.A., Alkadash, T., Al-Absy, M.S., Nagi, M., Abdullah, M.A.: The mediation impact of organizational commitment on the total quality management practices and individual readiness for TQM implementation within Yemeni oil units. Int. J. Qual. Res. 15(2) (2021) 3. Anthony, R.N.: Planning and control systems: a framework for analysis (1965) 4. Anthony, R.N., Dearden, J., Bedford, N.M.: Management Control Systems. Irwin, Homewood, IL (1980) 5. Anthony, R.N., Govindarajan, V., Hartmann, F.G., Kraus, K., Nilsson, G.: Management Control Systems, vol. 9. Irwin McGraw-Hill, Boston, MA (1998) 6. Bisbe, J., Otley, D.: The effects of the interactive use of management control systems on product innovation. Account. Organ. Soc. 29(8), 709–737 (2004) 7. Chenhall, R.H.: Management control systems design within its organizational context: findings from contingency-based research and directions for the future. Account. Organ. Soc. 28(2), 127–168 (2003) 8. Chenhall, R.H., Langfield-Smith, K.: Adoption and benefits of management accounting practices: an Australian study. Manag. Account. Res. 9(1), 1–19 (1998) 9. Cunningham, G.M.: Management control and accounting systems under a competitive strategy. Account. Audit. Account. J. 5(2) (1992) 10. Davila, T.: An empirical study on the drivers of management control systems’ design in new product development. Account. Organ. Soc. 25(4), 383–409 (2000) 11. DuBrin, A.: Essentials of Management. Nelson Education (2011) 12. Efferin, S., Hartono, M.S.: Management control and leadership styles in family business: an Indonesian case study. J. Account. Organ. Change 11(1), 130–159 (2015) 13. Emmanuel, C., Otley, D., Merchant, K.: Accounting for Management Control Accounting for Management Control, pp. 357–384. Springer (1990) 14. Garrison, R.H., Noreen, E.W., Brewer, P.C.: Managerial Accounting. McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York (2003) 15. Kanthi Herath, S.: A framework for management control research. J. Manag. Dev. 26(9), 895–915 (2007) 16. Kimura, S., Mourdoukoutas, P.: Effective integration of management control systems for competing in global industries. Eur. Bus. Rev. 12(1), 41–45 (2000) 17. Kober, R., Ng, J., Paul, B.J.: The interrelationship between management control mechanisms and strategy. Manag. Account. Res. 18(4), 425–452 (2007)

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18. Langfield-Smith, K.: Management control systems and strategy: a critical review. Account. Organ. Soc. 22(2), 207–232 (1997) 19. Langfield-Smith, K., Smith, D.: Management control systems and trust in outsourcing relationships. Manag. Account. Res. 14(3), 281–307 (2003) 20. Lowe, E.A.: On the idea of a management control system: integrating accounting and management control. J. Manage. Stud. 8(1), 1–12 (1971) 21. Machin, J.L.: Management control systems: whence and whither. In: Readings in Accounting for Management Control, pp. 9–27 (1992) 22. Malmi, T., Brown, D.A.: Management control systems as a package—opportunities, challenges and research directions. J. Manag. Account. Res. 19(4), 287–300 (2008) 23. Merchant, K.A.: Control in Business Organization. Financial Times/Prentice Hall (1985) 24. Merchant, K.A.: Modern Management Control Systems: Text and Cases. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ (1998) 25. Merchant, K.A., Van der Stede, W.A.: Management Control Systems: Performance Measurement, Evaluation and Incentives. Pearson Education (2007) 26. Nandan, R., Vagneur, K., Wilkinson, C., Berry, A.: Management control systems: a ‘structurationist’ perspective. In: Beyond Constraint: Exploring the Management Control Paradox, pp. 345–360. The Management Control Association, London (1996) 27. Otley, D.: Management control and performance management: whence and whither? Br. Account. Rev. 35(4), 309–326 (2003) 28. Otley, D., Soin, K.: Management Control and Uncertainty, pp. 1–13. Springer (2014) 29. Otley, D.: Management control in contemporary organizations: towards a wider framework. Manag. Account. Res. 5(3–4), 289–299 (1994) 30. Porter, M.E.: Competitive Advantage of Nations: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. Simon and Schuster (2011) 31. Simons, R.: Accounting control systems and business strategy: an empirical analysis. Account. Organ. Soc. 12(4), 357–374 (1987) 32. Simons, R.: The role of management control systems in creating competitive advantage: new perspectives. J. Account. Organ. Soc. 15(1–2), 127–143 (1990) 33. Simons, R.: How new top managers use control systems as levers of strategic renewal. Strateg. Manag. J. 15(3), 169–189 (1994) 34. Simons, R.: Levers of Control: How Managers Use Innovative Control Systems to Drive Strategic Renewal. Harvard Business Press (2013)

The Obligation of Corporate Group to Pay Business Zakat in Malaysia: A Legal and Shariah Analysis Nazri Ramli, Zuhairah Ariff Abd Ghadas, and Hartinie Abd Aziz

Abstract The prominence of zakat as a philanthropy instrument in fulfilling economic and social responsibility to zakat beneficiaries has led to the emergence of views on the obligation of group of companies to pay business zakat based on its resemblance to the khultah principle and Islamic business entities alike sharikah. Nevertheless, the application of such views into the corporate group registered under the Malaysian Companies Act 2016 gives rise to both legal and Shariah implications. First, as a body corporate, the company is distinct from its members and exists only by the contemplation of law as a fictitious entity having no religion. This legal attribute contradicts the condition of zakat payer that must be a Muslim. In addition, the theory of al-dhimmah used by contemporary Islamic scholars in recognizing corporation as a juristic person is strictly confined to human beings who become the subject of Shariah rulings. Second, as the company adopts separate legal entity doctrine which makes it different from partnership under the law, khultah as a mingling property is not separated from its partners alike sharikah. A doctrinal analysis is conducted to analyse the obligation of Shariah-compliant group of companies as artificial legal entities to pay business zakat. This paper aims to ascertain whether the obligation to pay zakat based on the khultah principle could be directly applied to the conventional structure of this corporate group which adopt this doctrine and remain as artificially non-religious entities. Keywords Corporate group · Business zakat · Shariah

N. Ramli (B) · Z. A. A. Ghadas · H. A. Aziz University of Sultan Zainal Abidin, 21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] Z. A. A. Ghadas e-mail: [email protected] H. A. Aziz e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_42

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1 Introduction Zakat is a charitable levy obligated upon Muslim believers fundamentally. In addition to its position as a religious obligation, it represents an economic and social duty to combat against poverty by aiding the poor and other zakat beneficiaries. Given this wisdom of zakat, the contemporary Islamic scholars provide views on the obligation of business zakat on Shariah-compliant companies after considering that these companies generate income and profits from their businesses that contribute to the economic growth of a country. In this regard, majority of them view that since company takes the ruling of sharikah (partnership) or as Islamic business entity, the company is subjected to business zakat based on khultah (mingling property) principles. In addition, this view also applies to corporate group whereby the holding company and its subsidiaries are subjected to zakat payment. In Malaysia, corporate group are registered under the Companies Act 2016 (Act). Nevertheless, this view causes a dichotomy between the legal structures of company and other Shariah principles in various aspects. First, as a body corporate, the company is a separate legal entity distinct from its members and only exists by reason of law. This fictitious or artificial personality that makes it having no religion. It is this legal feature that contradicts the condition of zakat payer that must be a Muslim as the mukallaf (subject) of zakat ruling. Secondly, the application of khultah seems to be conflating with the company itself since the former is a mingling property inseparable from its partners alike sharikah while the latter adopts separate legal entity doctrine which always legally separates its assets from its members’. Therefore, this article aims to analyse the dichotomy of legal and Shariah principles arising from the views of contemporary scholars on the obligation of Shariahcompliant group of companies as artificial legal entities to pay business zakat in Malaysia. Such analysis is done by ascertaining whether the obligation to pay zakat based on the khultah principles inseparable from its partners could be directly applied to the conventional structure of this corporate group as artificially non-religious and separate legal entities from one to another. This article adopts a doctrinal analysis for both legal and Shariah discussions.

2 Legal Position of Group of Companies in Malaysian Law 2.1 Doctrine of Corporate Personality The idea of corporate personality doctrine postulates that a company upon registration under the legal statute is an artificial legal or juristic person having its own rights and liabilities separated from its members [18]. As a result of extension of the concept of juristic person to the company, the common law recognizes two kinds of persons; natural person (human being) and legal person (company) [15]. The advent

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of Salomon v Aron Salomon & Co Ltd affirmed the separate legal entity doctrine. The House of Lord held that Mr. Salomon’s company is a separate legal entity distinct from its members. It also underlined two intertwined legal principles; company as a separate legal entity from its members and limited liability protection granted to the latter [24]. The post Salomon case apparently showed the constant application of the principle by the judges into many cases pertaining company law [13]. The Malaysian company law adopts the above common law principle. Section 20 of the Act clearly states that a company is a separate legal entity from its members and continues to exist perpetually.

2.2 Group of Companies and Its Legal Features Under the Act In brief, group of companies is companies that are related through shareholding ownership and board control, usually in the context of parent-subsidiary connection [31]. Although not defined in the Act, the group of companies is governed under Section 4 to Section 7 of the Act which takes the form of company limited by shares. The corporate group is also bestowed with legal features like a company does. In Singham Sulaiman Sdn Bhd v Appraisal Property Management Sdn Bhd & Anor [2018] 1 LNS 277, the court held that the separate legal entity principle enshrined in Section 20 is applicable to all types of group of companies under Section 4 to Section 7 of the Act. By virtue of this application, the corporate group must be treated as separate legal entities distinct from each other although they are related closely. In The Gramophone and Typewriter Ltd v Stanley [1906] 2 KB 856, Walton J held that the judgments in the Salomon case give effect to the relationship of German company with English company as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the latter. The 100% ownership of shares does not regard the German company as a mere alias, agent nor trustee of the English company. Among the effects of the separate legal entity principle within the group is that each company within the group has its own assets and liabilities distinct from it related-entity. This is affirmed in Adams v Cape Industries plc [1991] 1 All ER 929 whereby the UK Court of Appeal held that the law recognizes the creation of subsidiary companies derived from their parent companies as separate legal entities having distinct rights and liabilities. In addition, parent company is not a party to contracts entered into by other subsidiaries with external parties (JH Rayner (Mincing Lane) Ltd & Ors v. Manilal & Sons (M) Sdn Bhd & Anor [1987] 1 MLJ 312).

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2.3 Group of Companies from Shariah Perspective As company concept is the basis of group of companies formulation, the contemporary Shariah scholars discussed the former’s concept (using the term ‘sharikah al-musahamah’ (joint stock company)) from Shariah perspective under the concept of sharikah [6]. Sharikah technically means “a contract between two partners in the capital as well as the profit” [37]. The Muslim scholars argued that its legality is established through Al-Quran, Al-Hadtih and Al-Ijma’ [36]. Sharikah has various types. The most common type discussed by the scholars is sharikah al-amwal (capital partnership). It is further divided into two categories namely sharikah al-‘inan and sharikah al-mufawadhah. The former pertains to two or more partners contributing the capital in different amount and share profit and losses in their respective contribution. The latter by contrary pertains to equal contributions in all aspects of sharikah. Among the essential rules of sharikah al-‘inan are first, they share profit based on their mutual agreement and losses based on capital contribution. Second, a partner is an agent to another partner whereby each has right to do tasarruf (transact) on behalf of his partners. Third, they share equal participation in business management of sharikah [29]. Next, the contemporary Shariah scholars discussed the concept of sharikah almusahamah from Shariah perspective. Sharikah al-musahamah is defined as “a company with its capital divided into equal tradable shares, and the liability of each of its partners is limited to his share in the capital” [20]. Majority of them argue that it is permissible on the basis of sharikah al-‘inan whereby the partners contribute the capital by subscribing the shares issued by the sharikah al-musahamah. In addition, they share profit and losses in the business and they have appointed the board of directors as their wakil (agent) to run business on their behalf [6]. Crucially, for group of companies, the contemporary Shariah scholars similarly discuss the concept under the term sharikah al-qabidhah [11]. It means “a company that owns stocks or shares in other independent companies’ capital at a ratio that enables it to dominate its management and control its business plans” [20]. Similarly, many of them such as Al-Khayyat [8], Abu Ghuddah [1] and Al-Soifi argue that sharikah al-qabidhah is permissible based on sharikah al’inan as it is built upon sharikah al-musahamah. Al-Khayyat further argued that the concept of sharikah al-qabidhah is equivalent to sharikah al-‘inan between a partner and the third party subjected to the co-partner’s consent. In the context of sharikah al-qabidhah, a parent invests capital into the subsidiary with the consent of other subsidiary’s shareholders. Similar to sharikah al’inan, the subsidiary acts as the wakil of sharikah al-qabidhah that is restricted to follow the latter’s directions and control. However, several scholars have different views on this. Sano [38] articulated that sharikah al-qabidhah can only be viewed as sharikah al’inan when all the requirements of sharikah al’inan are met. This is because, the modern companies like sharikah al-qabidhah are identical to what the classical scholars discussed about sharikah in the fiqh literatures. El-Gari [16] highlighted that the status of separate personhood of entities within the group demonstrates its peculiarity with sharikah concept.

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3 Essence of Zakat Under Shariah Al-Zuhaili defined zakat as “an act of monetary worship according to which any Muslim who possesses a mal (wealth) equal to or exceeding a laid down nisab (limit) has to give away (in person or through) (proxy), at the prescribed rate, a portion of it to specifically designated categories of people” [25]. Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam which connotes a divine command from Allah as the act of ‘ibadat (worship) upon Muslim believers [39]. Its legitimacy is supported by various Quranic verses, among others are: Muhammad; take out of their possessions sadqat so that you may cleans and purify them thereby, and pray for them. (Surah al-Tawbah (9): 103)

Zakat as an established tax is a combination between a worship and a defined right of the poor. It demonstrates an ingredient of the social, and economic system of the society [9].

3.1 Conditions of Zakat Payer and Property Bouheraoua [14] recorded the Shariah scholars’ agreement on the obligatory of zakat on a Muslim payer (free, sane, adult Muslim having knowledge of its religious zakat obligation, male or female) and on his/her wealth (reaching the minimum nisab, if the owner has ability to pay) and if the necessary conditions are met. Jamjum [22] recorded that among the essential conditions of a zakat payer are first, the zakat payer must be a Muslim. Ibn Rushd recorded the Muslim scholars’ consensus on the obligation of zakat upon an individual Muslim who is puberty, sane, free, owners of its nisab and fulfils certain conditions. The reason of Islam being the condition for the zakat payer is that it is the foundation and pillar of the religion itself that is an ‘ibadat. As such, the act of paying zakat by a non-Muslim defeats this fundamental condition [22]. Second, al-milk al-tam (complete ownership) of property is also among the conditions of property subjected to zakat. It means a property is owned by a mukallaf by way of roqbah (possession of property) and yad (ability to do tasarruf (transact)). Such property falls under a person’s hand not attached to others’ right, who is able to transact it with at his liberty by which its benefits will revert to himself [4]. Jamjum [22] further added that this right of ownerships is bestowed by Allah to the human being alone to appreciate the property by way of control. Thus, complete ownership enables a person to benefit his owned property and its growth as well as to pay zakat as a sign of gratitude to Allah for His sustenance [22].

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3.2 Zakat on Khultah Al-Mashiyah (Mingling Property of Livestocks) Khultah in the context of zakat technically means “two properties that are subject to the ruling of zakat owned by two people (or more) which are mingled, with purposes for sharing or its equivalent” [27]. According to this definition, mingling or mixed assets owned by several individuals are collectively subjected to zakat alike a zakat obligated on a property that is owned by one person which reaches nisab. The four madhabs (Islamic school of thoughts) have different opinions on zakat of khultah al-mashiyah [12]. According to Hanafi scholars, the zakat obligation is not affected by the mingling of capital as the ownership of each partner does not reach nisab and it is not mingled with other partners. Even their nisabs are co-mingled, each partner must pay zakat of one goat individually and separately. However, majority of scholars view that khultah gives effect to zakat obligation [12]. This is based on the hadith of the Prophet Peace Be Upon Him (PBUH): What is separated is not mixed and what is mixed is not separated for fear of paying zakat.

4 Views of Contemporary Shariah Scholars on Obligation of Group of Companies to Pay Business Zakat 4.1 Views of Contemporary Shariah Scholars Bouheraoua [14] significantly articulated the contemporary scholars’ agreement on corporate business assets that are subjected to zakat. They differed on who is the right party to pay it, either the company itself as a juristic person or its individual shareholders into three groups. The first group argue that the company pays zakat within its own capacity as a legal entity. Among the arguments contended by this group are that the company has the complete legal capacity (both ahliyyah al-wujub (capacity to acquire rights) and ahliyyah al-ada’ (capacity to perform duties)). Second, unlike physical ‘ibadat, zakat as a financial form of ‘ibadat does not require intention. Third, the company is analogized with the khultah principle as an aggregate property distinct from its partners [14]. The second view that the shareholders pay zakat on their respective shares and the company pays it on their behalf. Their view is premised on several reasons. First, since the company has no religion, the shareholders are the one who are obligated to pay zakat. Yet, they may delegate the company to pay on their behalf. Second, the khitab (communication) from Allah for the performance of hukm taklifi (Shariah ruling) is addressed to the mukallaf . The shareholders are the mukallaf who understand it, particularly the Shariah ruling of zakat but not the company as a legal entity [14]. Third, shares in the company owned by the shareholders represents an undivided share in the company’s assets. As such, such assets subjected to zakat are obligated upon them collectively not the company itself.

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The third group strictly views that the company is not obligated to pay zakat at all and only the Muslim shareholders must pay their zakat on shares. Their main arguments are that first, al-shakhsiyyah al-‘itibariyyah is a non-natural person based on fiction. It has no body nor soul and requires an ‘aql (intellect) to administer it on behalf of the entity. Since the company does not have both ahliyyah al-wujub and al-ada’, it does not need to pay it [34]. Furthermore, in the context of zakat obligation of corporate group, Al-Shubaili [10] stressed that it depends on the Shariah perspective on the concept of shares and the effect of al-shakhsiyyah al-‘itibariyyah (legal personality) into the subsidiary. He recorded the contemporary scholars’ discussions on the zakat obligation on corporate group into two views as follows: According to the first view, zakat is obligated on the parent company based on its shares in the subsidiary’s assets. The status of legal personality of the subsidiary does not affect such obligation, either the parent owns the majority shares or control in the latter. In other words, zakat is at first place obligated on the parent and other shareholders who own the subsidiary. If the subsidiary pays zakat, it pays on their behalf. On the other hand, if it does not pay, the other shareholders of the subsidiary will pay it in accordance with their shareholding ownership. The justification is that the parent owns its interest in in the subsidiary’s assets and thus zakat is obligatory upon the parent as the owner. Two consequences of applying this view are first, the if the subsidiary pays zakat on its assets, the parent is exempted from such payment because the subsidiary’s payment of zakat is considered as of the parent since the subsidiary acts as its representative. Second, if the subsidiary does not pay zakat on all or some assets, the parent is compelled pay it [10]. According to the second view, the parent company must pay zakat al-mustaghallat (income) i.e. on its portion of the declared dividend only based on its shares regardless the subsidiary pays its own business zakat or not. There is no link of zakat obligation between these two companies due to their separate legal entities, regardless of whether the parent owns majority shares or control in the subsidiary or not. Among the justifications of this view are first, the parent’s ownership over the subsidiary’s assets is partial/indirect as it cannot transact it as the subsidiary does. Second, the subsidiary is a separate legal entity having a separate al-dhimmah. Thus, zakat is obligated on it initially not the shareholders. If it chooses not to pay, shareholders are not liable to pay zakat on their personal property [10].

5 Observation and Analysis It is observed that the direct application of business zakat into the group of companies based on the khultah concept creates clashes between the fundamental legal frameworks of group of companies under the Act and Shariah principles of zakat and sharikah as follows:

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5.1 Company as Non-religious Legal Entity Based on Fiction v Shariah Principles Relating to Zakat The views that “a company as a legal entity pays zakat” and “the shareholders pay zakat on shares and may delegate the company to pay it on behalf” contradict the status of company as a non-religious legal entity based on fiction. Rutledge [35] highlighted that a company cannot be said to have religion alike natural persons. Having aware of this reason, many contemporary scholars take the moderate view that it is the company’s individual shareholders who are subjected to zakat but may delegate the former to pay on behalf. It is observed that this argument implies the imputation of their religions to the company [26]. Nevertheless, such argument is against the judgment in ZI Publications Sdn Bhd & Anor v. Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor & Ors [2020] 9 CLJ 774 which the Court of Appeal held that: We would like to emphasize here that a company, unlike a natural person, is incapable of practicing a religion or at the very least, incapable of professing a religion…Thus, a company cannot profess a religion, it cannot assume the religion of its shareholders…

In addition, the direct application of zakat into the company also contradicts several Shariah principles relating to zakat. First, it contradicts the Shariah condition of zakat payer that must be a Muslim. As the third pillar of Islam and the form of financial ‘ibadat, such a spiritual element can only be manifested by Muslims alone not the company. Second, the condition of al-milk al-tam is different from the legal concept of ownership of a company that is based on fiction. Al-milk al-tam is derived from the concept of milkiyyah (ownership) that is bestowed by Allah exclusively to the human beings. This concept creates a relationship between human being as an owner and as a property being owned [2]. In fact, milk al-roqbah and al-yad are not separated from the owner. This is opposed to the company as a separate legal entity where the company legally owns its assets not the shareholders who only own shares in the company. This implies that not only the shareholders do not have milk al-yad but milk al-roqbah as well. Third, the zakat obligation on the company or holding company based on khultah principle is contentious as the latter concept is rather a co-mingling property owned by and inseparable from the respective partners. In fact, the zakat payment based on a single entity simply means a combination or calculation of nisab not implies separate entity [3]. Affirmatively, Hassan [19] articulated that Islam is among the essential conditions to operate the khultah concept. Majority scholars unanimously agree that khultah is not applicable between the partners of different religions as zakat is only confined to Muslim partners. As such, the acceptance of legal entity concept under the khultah concept could not totally be made since the latter does not disregard the individuality of partners in the khultah property. This is clearly seen from the scholars’ view that the property of a non-Muslim in the khultah is excluded for the purpose of zakat obligation [19].

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5.2 Separate Legal Entity of Each Company Within the Group v Sharikah Between Partners The contentions of “companies within the group are obligated to pay their respective zakat” and “the subsidiary pays zakat on behalf of its parent or the parent is under obligation to pay zakat on the subsidiary’s assets” contradict the legal structure of corporate group. Each company is a separate legal entity within the group and has its own rights and liabilities distinct each other [28]. The Court of Appeal in Theta Edge Bhd v. Infornential Sdn Bhd & Another Appeal [2017] 7 CLJ 53 affirmed this bedrock principle that a parent or holding company and its subsidiary are having separate existence. In Pioneer Concrete Services Limited v Yelnah Pty Ltd (1986) 11 ACLR 108 at 119, it was held that the court would lift the veil if it is found that there is in fact or in law a partnership between companies in a group. This implies that the default rule of legal structure of corporate group is that it is not a partnership between the related entities. In addition, the direct application of zakat obligation on the corporate group based on the conception of sharikah al’inan between the parent and its subsidiaries where the latter represents the former as the wakil contradicts the separate legal entity of company as explained above. By virtue of this principle derived from the Salomon case, the relationship between the company and its shareholders is not built upon agency contract [23]. This is different from the concept of sharikah al’inan from Shariah perspective. According to Al-Khayyat [7], Al-Khafif [5] and other contemporary scholars, sharikah under the Islamic fiqh does not have a al-dhimmah (legal personality) separated from the dhimmah of the partners. Furthermore, their underlying relationship between the partners is wakalah contract where they act as an agent from one to another as a single entity. It is this inseparable al-dhimmah causes the partners be liable for the debts of the sharikah in accordance with their capital contribution [30]. In other words, their liabilities are unlimited compared to the concept of limited liability within the group [17]. Similarly, a sharikah between two partners may be associated with another sharikah with a new partner subject to the first two partners’ consent. Consequently, their relationship remains similar, where their relationship is still based on the wakalah. Moreover, such direct application of zakat obligation on the corporate group based on the concept of khultah as well as the conception that a parent’s shares represent an undivided share or interest in the subsidiary’s assets contradicts two legal principles of company law. First, by virtue of separate legal entity principle, their ownership of assets and liabilities are already separated. In addition, the parent does not legally nor equitably own the subsidiary’s assets (Kang Choon Leu @ Kang Chee Sim v Wintoni Group Berhad & Ors [2016] 2 AMCR 257). Second, under common law, shares is an intangible property isolated from the company’s assets [21]. By virtue of separate legal entity principle, the company law differentiates both the ownership of shares and the ownership of assets that are owned by different entities [32]. Contrastingly, under sharikah, the partners have joint ownership in the sharikah business based on musha’. Although majority of classical scholars other than Shafi’e scholars do not

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stipulate a joint mingling of property as a condition of valid sharikah between the partners, they agree that it is a consequence of sharikah itself [29]. It is this basis that they own the capital and the assets including profit based on musha’.

6 Conclusion To conclude, zakat based on the concept of khultah cannot be directly applied to corporate group incorporated under the Act because of the dichotomy between the legal principles relating to company and Shariah principles relating to zakat and sharikah as highlighted above. Nevertheless, the authors view that it may be directly applied to the corporate group if the latter’s legal structures are modified to be in line with the Shariah principles relating to zakat, and sharikah [33] by treating subsidiaries as a quasi-entity inseparable from the parent as a sharikah-holding entity. This recommendation is consonant with the current view of most of the Shariah scholars on this issue. Yet, the application of such view is criticized as it is applied directly to the current legal structure of corporate group which is by default, not based upon partnership contract alike sharikah. All in all, the authors highlight that this recommendation is significant to embark further research studies by introducing a suitable business model for Shariah-compliant corporate group that is premised on the concept of sharikah for body corporate which is not separately detached from its natural partners. This model would facilitate the zakat obligation within the group.

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Green Human Resources Management, Corporate Social Responsibility and Organisational Citizenship Behavior: A Conceptual Model Mahdi Ziyadeh, Mohammed Othman, and Ahmed Zaid

Abstract This research aims to review several works of literature on the relationship between green human resources management (GHRM), corporate social responsibilities (CSR), organisational citizenship behaviour for the environment (OCBE) and organisational sustainability (OS). Furthermore, this study aims to propose a reasonable conceptual model to clarify the relationship between these variables in the context of the Palestinian healthcare sector. The research findings will be specifically imperative for healthcare organisations to improve their OS. Keywords Green human resources management · Organisational citizenship behaviour for the environment · Organisational sustainability · Corporate social responsibility

1 Introduction The healthcare industry is a well-known source of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes that contribute to numerous types of environmental contamination. In the Palestinian context, it has been projected that the governorate healthcare facilities created medical waste [16]. Any business that wants to succeed financially should

M. Ziyadeh Engineering Management Program, An-Najah National University, P.O. Box 7, Nablus, West Bank, Palestine M. Othman Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, An-Najah National University, P.O. Box 7, Nablus, West Bank, Palestine Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 50, Muscat 123, Oman A. Zaid (B) Department of Logistic Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie, Tulkarm, Palestine e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_43

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also act responsibly toward society and the environment. This encourages the organization’s people resources to pursue environmentally sustainable aims. Therefore, there is a growing need for the healthcare industry to uphold its obligations to its workers, the environment, and society. The responsibility of green human resource management (GHRM) to promote ethical employee behavior at work has emerged as a solution to the mentioned challenges [8]. The GHRM incorporates awareness of environmental issues into the HRM processes of hiring, coaching, awarding rewards, and creating sustainable employees that understand and value environmentally friendly ideals, activities, and operations. The conduct of employees toward the environment has also received attention from modern scholars who advocate the responsibility of human resources in organizational sustainability (OS), as it is a crucial component of the successful adoption of green regulations at the business [12]. Workers’ pro-environmental conducts are referred to as organizational citizenship behavior toward the environment (OCBE). They represent individual voluntary actions that result in good ecological performance in a firm [5]. The relevance of employees’ environmental responsibility to businesses is rising across all industries, including healthcare. When behaviors like OCBE are encouraged, there may be several unintended advantages. OCBE is crucial to obtaining appropriateness and indirectly impacts the organization’s profitability [6]. The lack of research on social responsibility in the health sector in Palestine was also discovered by analyzing earlier studies [16]. This circumstance was particularly prevalent in the public sector, which should form a managerial standpoint to consider corporate social responsibility (CSR) operations’ financial and social results [24]. The allocation of additional money to support the components of social responsibility programs in health facilities, and increased education and awareness about the idea, are insufficient [3]. A previous study laid out the foundation for using CSR and OCBE as mediators for healthcare facilities. For this reason, a unique framework was developed by establishing CSR and OCBE as mediating elements between GHRM operations and OS by combining a study on OS, GHRM practices, OCBE, and CSR [1]. Palestine currently has serious pollution issues primarily brought on by the healthcare sector [16]. Because of this, the GHRM, OCBE, and CSR domains would benefit significantly from the development of this research.

2 Literature Review and Hypotheses Development The successful implementation of environmental legislation at work depends on environmentally conscious employee behavior, according to recent studies stressing the role of human resources in environmental performance [12]. According to earlier studies, employee involvement is a crucial tool that subtly raises OCBE [18]. Other research indicated a strong correlation between GHRM and OCBE [14]. Green building competency practices, green performance management practices, and green

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employee engagement were found to be advantageous to collective OCBE based on the study carried out in the United Kingdom that applied a methodology to examine the influence of green HRM practices on OCBE [19]. To significantly enhance, managers must simultaneously engage in all three GHRM processes. GHRM, when properly implemented, can improve environmental sustainability [27], which is critical to CSR efficiency. Despite the importance of GHRM and the advancement of the study, there are significant gaps in the literature, particularly the study that investigates the relationship between GHRM and CSR processes [9], green programs, and strategies that assist human resources in establishing social responsibility principles among employees. As a result, green human resource management is critical for improving organizational social performance and promoting sustainable HRM practices in developing employee involvement/engagement in CSR agendas [26]. These practices include sustainability-related training, CSR agenda integration in performance management and incentive systems, and communication. CSR participation/engagement also includes excellent leadership development and communication skills [13]. According to Roy et al. [21], OCBE is critical to successfully developing an environmental management system and integrating environmental policy into workplace practices. Eco-helping, eco-civic participation, and eco-initiatives are three components of pro-environmental behavior. First, environmental efforts are made by employees to reduce adverse environmental effects at work, including recycling paper and reducing the wastage of resources [2]. Second, environmental encompasses employee participation in organizations and volunteer involvement in environmental actions [25]. Third, eco-helping demonstrates work engagement to be environmentally conscious [11]. Notably, OCBE is more concerned with assisting organizations in achieving long-term growth by reducing individual and organizational resource consumption. Its goal is to assist the company while enhancing the environment and resource conservation [28]. CSR has become critical to organizational expansion [23]. Sustainability is a term that includes social, economic, and environmental responsibilities. Research into it is critical for a couple of reasons: (1) that would save each company resource, and (2) business owners should start operating responsibly and safely with a focus on the health and safety of their staff [10]. Furthermore, CSR is any responsible, long-term activity that allows a company to gain a long-term competitive edge, regardless of the motive [15]. Ren et al. [20] argued that appropriate GHRM regulation must consider workers’ ecological behaviors and attitudes. OCBE refers to activities employees are willing to take that go beyond the coverage of their stipulated and crucial job descriptions [18]. Green hiring and selection, as well as green training and evolution initiatives, are methods for increasing workers’ ecological skills and knowledge [4]. Paillé et al. [17] examined the connection between OCBE, strategic human resource management, and environmental performance. As a result, it was discovered that strategic HRM improved an organization’s environmental performance, while OCBE was identified as the link between environmental performance and strategic HRM.

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In recent years, the GHRM has had an impact on the performance of researchers and academics all over the world [27]. Employee participation at the organizational and individual levels may improve sustainability and competitiveness. As a result, the advancement of corporate ethics, responsible business, stakeholder engagement, and sustainability play a part in the organization’s strategies for long-term development. It also allows for beneficial and significant performance [7] and is associated with the protection of environmental endeavours [22]. We propose the following propositions based on the above literature review: P1: GHRM bundle practices positively affect OS. P2: GHRM bundle practices positively affect OCBE. P3: GHRM bundle practices positively affect CSR. P4: OCBE positively affects OS. P5: CSR positively affects OS. P6: The OCBE mediates between the GHRM bundle practices and OS. P7: The CSR mediates between the GHRM bundle practices and OS. The proposed conceptual model connected the study variable, namely the GHRM practices, CSR, OCBE, and OS, as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 Proposed conceptual model

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3 Discussion and Conclusion This research contributed to a better understanding of GHRM, a new study area in human resource management. Despite the recent literature’s emphasis on implementing CSR, GHRM, and OCBE in the healthcare sector, there was a study gap in the literature on the connections between these concepts, especially those in Palestine. This study also has added to the literature on sustainable healthcare organisations by giving insight into ecological initiatives undertaken to enhance CSR and ecologic actions by focusing on human resource mechanisms, which is an unexplored area. In the context of Palestinian healthcare organisations, neither previous research had used OCBE nor CSR as mediators between GHRM practices and OS. The current study’s conceptual framework is regarded as a viable framework that helps directors in the healthcare sector in the adoption and implementation of an eco-friendly culture in their organizations, which would be represented by a favourable and sustainable performance in the future, as well as how healthcare organisations connect their plans and strategies with GHRM practices while ignoring CSR and OCBE. Acknowledgements The authors thank An-Najah National University and Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie for funding this research.

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Gap Analysis by Readiness Review Including Online Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic Period for Engineering Programs at the College of Engineering—University of Baghdad Iman Q. Al Saffar, Suhair G. Hussein, Altaie, Meervat, and Ihsan Y. Hussain Abstract The present research focuses on the definition, identification, and analysis of the main performance indicators for national accreditation standards that meet the accreditation mechanism in self-assessment procedures. The Readiness Review (RR) helps in assessing the readiness of the program to prepare for the accreditation process through an initial gap analysis for exploration, verification, and documentation of all elements and requirements to support each criterion dealt with. The proposed study is a Gap Analysis (GA) obtained by applying the Readiness Review (RR) program launched by the Iraqi Council of Accreditation for Engineering Education, the program aims to assess the gap between the current status of engineering programs and the ideal situation that it is required to attain according to the National Accreditation, which is a step in preparation for obtaining international accreditation by joining the Washington Accord (WA) within the Engineering International Alliance (EIA). The research aims to identify the strengths and gaps that can be achieved through the investigation of the requirements of the nine standards included in the document (National Standards for Accreditation of Engineering Education in Iraq) for the engineering departments at the College of Engineering at the University of Baghdad in preparation for writing a Self-Assessment Report (SAR) and to provide continuous support for the improvement of quality assurance procedures at its various stages. This program was implemented through a field survey of the reviewing procedures that were conducted for 12 engineering departments distributed over 49 study stages for the 4 stages of each department, with a fifth stage for the architecture department. Based on the articles contained within the nine approved national standards in the Readiness Review Worksheet (RRW), the gaps were identified, diagnosed, classified, and appropriate strategies, methods, and solutions were proposed to address them. Statistical methods were used to analyze the data contained in the readiness Worksheet, where the three Evaluation Judgments were applied: Deficiencies as (D), Weakness as (W), or Concern as (C), and if none of the defects is identified, it will be considered as fulfillment Yes as (Y) and the program complies with criteria. Special attention was made to online learning adopted during the COVID-19 epidemic period. I. Q. Al Saffar (B) · S. G. Hussein · Altaie · Meervat · I. Y. Hussain University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_44

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The gap analysis of the review program and the adaption of the COVID-19 environment makes it compatible with the government program that aims in the future to obtain accreditation for various higher education programs. Keywords Engineering programs · College of Engineering · University of Baghdad · GA · RRW · Iraqi national criteria

1 Introduction The world witnessed a distinguished interest in the quality of higher education and ensuring the quality of its outputs, and amid the knowledge revolution, this was considered an indicator of change and a binding necessity for developing the requirements of the labor market and facing economic, technological, and cultural challenges [1]. In this context, contemporary colleges have sought to develop their systems at the educational level and adopt modern patterns and systems to ensure quality and achieve their strategic goals [2]. Quality in education today has become an urgent requirement to achieve effectiveness and efficiency in dealing with the variables of the era, which is characterized by acceleration and the predominance of technology, and the escalating pace of competition at the level of individuals and institutions. While the current literature outlines the various benefits of online education, such as flexibility and improved space for active learning and student engagement, several challenges are also identified, including increased faculty workload, student resistance, lack of opportunities for immediate questions, technical issues, and lack of materials [2]. GA was used to examine the difference between student expectations and levels of satisfaction with the elements of teaching and learning. The two most important aspects that students rate relates to the faculty’s knowledge of their fields of specialization and the student’s sense of importance and satisfaction in his or her field of study, in addition to facilities, services, and administrative and financial support [3]. Furthermore, GA is used as an appropriate approach to examine the similarities and differences in university service expectations as a basis for research into the concept of university service quality and its evaluation from the perspective of the university and students [4]. ABET criteria have been accredited to be the infrastructures for establishing Iraqi national criteria for accrediting undergraduate programs in engineering with two objectives; The first is to ensure consistency and the second is to ensure acceptance of the Washington Agreement. In addition, the characteristics of engineering education in Iraq were taken into account by deleting the aspects that are not locally valid and adding aspects related to the realistic local needs [5]. A study examined the initial readiness of engineering students to transition to online learning in the context of developments and transitions of COVID-19. A theoretical approach has been proposed to find out the factors affecting the readiness of students to adapt and the conditions of change [2]. The gap analysis method was used to assess the current conditions in the industrial engineering program for master’s students, then

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assess the readiness of the program to implement the ISO 9001: 2015 certification [6]. A RR is a non-assessment screening process intended to determine programs’ understanding of the accreditation process and its requirements before submitting a formal Request for Evaluation (RFE). Formal accreditation review requires a commitment of time, resources, funding, and staff from both ABET and the program institution. Thus, an ABET RR is seen as supportive of the program’s accreditation journey [7]. Impact assessment in the process of analyzing the gap between academically taught capabilities and the labor market needs for required outputs helps in assessing and quantifying the effects of preparing students before studying an embedded system design course. The review aimed to collect and evaluate all practical and effective studies that addressed problems and solutions for student learning readiness in embedded system design courses [1].

1.1 The Problem The outputs of any system are the main purpose of its existence, and the outputs of higher education reflect the strength of the educational system and the extent of development or delay in society. The gap is defined as the gap between the current state of performance and the target position [8]. The gap analysis aims to assess the differences between the current status of the engineering program and the quest to reach the ideal situation [3], that can be achieved by fulfilling the requirements of the nine standards included in the document (National Criteria for Accreditation of Engineering Education in Iraq) [9, 10]. The research problem is illustrated by the following: • The extent to which the requirements of the national criteria for the accreditation of Engineering Education (EE) and its various requirements are compatible with the current reality and the gaps that are diagnosed. • The quality components of education outputs with indicators (weak knowledge, ability in diagnosis, analysis, and application) qualify them to meet the requirements for accreditation in engineering education. • Low efficiency in applying quality standards in educational institutions is often based on the institution’s administrative instructions. • Limited facilities for online learning systems during the COVID-19 pandemic period. These reasons lead to different methods of analysis to determine the possibility of improving the EE approach. Accordingly, it must be based on all the components of the analysis, and one of its tools is Gap Analysis (GA). Besides, a great ongoing research effort is made by many faculty members to evaluate the online process adopted by the college during the COVID-19 period.

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1.2 Objectives The research goals are summarized as defining, describing, analyzing, and diagnosing the problem of the gap and methods and strategies for its treatment, for 12 Engineering Programs at the College of Engineering—University of Baghdad. In addition, a statement of the ability to investigate the level of the gap in the engineering programs by monitoring the strengths and weaknesses in the education system at the College of Engineering from the perspective of continuity of review, and providing proposals that enhance the strengths and overcome the weaknesses. The setting of professional criteria and defining the competencies, skills, and knowledge through adjusting the set of outputs and the maximum expectations after the implementation of the program.

2 Status Analysis The research derives its importance in shedding light on the mechanism of work of the Readiness Review of Engineering Departments in the College of Engineering program launched by the Iraqi Council of Accreditation for Engineering Education (ICAEE) in the Gap Analysis (GA) in preparation for writing the Self Assessment Report (SAR) with its various stages leading to academic accreditation. It is possible to highlight the most important facts of the characteristics of EE in Iraq through the analytical view of the study, which can be summarized through the challenges and problematics, as shown in Table 1.

3 Hypothesis The present research was based on: • Consider the criteria in the RRW in Table 2 as the initial evaluation judgments for each program being studied for accreditation and/or accreditation extension. • Consider determinants of deficiencies for those criteria. Deficiencies as (D), Weakness as (W), or Concern as (C). • If no defects are identified, the program will be deemed compliant (fulfillment) with the criteria Yes (Y). • Considering the shortcomings and compatibility in the program are the three provisions to which the GA is subject, as shown in Table 2.

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Table 1 Challenges and problems of the current situation and the reality of EE Status

Description

The problematic reality [6], of EE

• The slowdown in the horizontal expansion of educational programs affected their quality and weakened the labor market’s confidence in their outputs • The weakness of the vertical expansion of the programs has led to a lack of educational opportunities on the pretext that the labor market does not require academic levels • The suspension of scholarship, qualification, and development opportunities for the teaching staff led to the emigration of competencies from universities • The lack of openness to the institutions of society led to the deepening of the gap between theory and experience, and between the competencies and skills acquired

Problematic of achieving quality in Iraqi • Lack of sufficient conviction in the culture of EE quality and academic accreditation among those involved in the educational process • The limited physical capabilities affected the change procedures required to achieve the requirements of quality assurance • Centralization of administrative work with the absence of institutional work for the requirements of achieving a quality assurance program Transformations in the educational environment [4]

• Expansion of education and training projects • The development in educational technologies and the emergence of new educational systems “Distance Education” • Achieving graduate specifications through: requirements of development and reconstruction locally, requirements of the labor market, and alignment with contemporary global issues • A leap in information in terms of abundance, diversity, and the development of scientific research capabilities and capabilities • The conditions that result from some epidemics and diseases, such as COVID-19, and their effects on public life in general and education in particular, especially with the limited facilities and support of online learning

Table 2 The three judgments (Y, W, and D) Judgment Status Y

If no defects are identified, the program will be deemed to comply with the reference criteria

W

Weakness in achieving a criterion or sub-criterion, or several criteria

D

Shortage (deficiency and failure) in achieving a criterion or sub-criterion, or several criteria

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4 Methodology The work presents a summary of the GA of the current reality when applying the criteria of the RR Program and the status required to obtain the National Criteria for Accreditation of Engineering Education in Iraq for Accrediting Engineering Programs [9]. Thus, the gaps were identified and diagnosed from the current reality, which was reflected in the direct application of the nine criteria in the RRW. To complete the comprehensive GA, the gaps were identified according to the items included in each criterion separately, whereby solutions and strategies are proposed against each gap to eliminate them or reduce their effects. Tables 3 and 4 reviews those gaps and ways to address them based on the numbering and approved headings of the items corresponding to each gap and each of the 9 criteria included in the document, which are shown in the RRW [7].

4.1 Data Methodology This program was implemented through field interviews with stakeholders in the educational process (department heads, faculty, staff, students, graduates, and a coordinator of quality assurance committees) for (12) engineering programs that were included in the audit program according to RRW. The data recorded through the interviews were represented in the RRW model for the first criteria, Program Educational Objectives (PEO), and the second Graduate Outcomes (GO) (see Fig. 1). The three judgments were recorded: Y compatible, weak W, deficiency D, which are shown in Table 2 for each of the items, and the gaps corresponding to the nine criteria that express in detail the extent of the readiness of each program. Then the statistical analysis of these data (the gap data) is conducted through those judgments about each item in the form (see Fig. 1).

5 Application Results The study was conducted to review the readiness RR of the programs presented by the twelve engineering departments, where the data were collected, tabulated, and classified in the Readiness Review Worksheet RRW shown in Tables 3 and 4 and according to the three provisions (compatible to Y, weak W, deficiency D). After that, statistical analysis was applied, and the results contained in the frequency distribution charts of the nine national criteria were as follows (see Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11).

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Table 3 RRW results of 3 judgments of 9 criteria for 12 eng. program Criterion No.

Judgments

Criterion 1

Y

D

1.1.1

10

0

Criterion No.

Judgments

W

Criterion 5

Y

D

2

5.1.1

9

3

Criterion No.

Judgments

W

Criterion 7

Y

D

W

0

7.2.3

4

2

6

1.1.2

10

1

1

5.1.2

5

4

3

7.3.1

4

2

6

1.2.1

8

1

3

5.1.3

8

4

0

7.3.2

3

4

5

1.3.1

10

0

2

5.2.1

8

2

2

7.3.3

7

3

2

1.4.1

2

3

7

5.2.2

5

4

3

Criterion 8

Y

D

W

1.4.2

5

3

7

5.2.3

5

3

4

8.1.1

1

3

8

1.5.1

4

2

6

5.2.4

5

3

4

8.2.1

3

4

5

1.5.2

6

0

7

5.3.1

11

0

1

8.2.2

2

2

8

1.5.3

3

0

9

5.3.2

9

1

2

8.2.3

1

6

5

Criterion 2

Y

D

W

5.3.3

9

1

2

8.2.4

1

7

4

2.1.1

3

3

6

5.3.4

8

4

0

Criterion 9

Y

D

W

2.1.2i

3

2

7

5.4.1

4

4

4

9.1.1

5

1

6

2.1.2ii

5

2

5

5.4.2

6

2

4

9.1.2

3

1

8

2.1.2iii

5

3

4

5.4.3

4

3

5

9.1.3

3

3

6

2.1.2iv

5

3

4

5.5.1

7

2

3

9.1.4

1

4

7

2.1.2v

6

4

2

5.5.2

7

4

1

9.2.1

3

2

7

2.1.2vi

4

6

2

5.5.3

9

2

1

9.2.2

0

6

6

2.1.2vii

3

5

4

Criterion 6

Y

D

W

9.2.3

1

3

8

2.2.1

3

6

3

6.1.1

9

0

3

9.3.1

8

0

4

Criterion 3

Y

D

W

6.1.2

8

0

4

9.3.2

5

4

3

3.1.1

9

2

1

6.1.3

9

1

2

9.4.1

3

2

7

3.1.2

5

5

2

6.2.1

9

0

3

9.5.1

2

3

7

3.1.3

5

3

4

6.3.1

6

2

4

9.5.2

4

7

1

3.1.4

4

4

4

6.3.2

5

2

5

9.5.3

0

8

4

3.1.5

6

2

4

6.3.3

3

4

5

Criterion 10

Y

D

W

3.1.6

5

1

8

6.3.4

5

3

4

10.1

5

4

3

3.1.7

2

0

10

6.4.1

4

1

7

10.2

7

3

2

10.3

2

8

2

3.2.1

9

2

1

6.4.2

8

2

2

3.2.2

4

6

2

6.4.3

8

1

3 (continued)

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Table 3 (continued) Criterion No.

Judgments

Criterion 4

Y

D

4.1.1

1

2

Criterion No.

Judgments

Criterion No.

W

6.5.1

9

0

3

9

6.5.2

6

1

5

4.1.2

4

5

3

6.5.3

9

1

2

4.1.3

3

7

2

Criterion 7

Y

D

W

4.1.4

3

6

3

7.1.1

6

2

4

4.1.5

1

3

8

7.1.2

7

3

2

4.2.1

0

8

4

7.1.3

7

4

1

4.2.2

1

8

3

7.1.4

6

4

2

4.2.3

1

8

3

7.1.5

4

5

3

4.2.4

1

10

1

7.1.6

2

6

4

4.2.5.1

1

9

2

7.2.1

5

2

5

4.2.5.2

1

7

4

7.2.2

8

0

4

Judgments

6 Conclusions and Recommendations • There is a good percentage of fulfillment (Y) for many paragraphs, items, and criteria, and the bulk of this fulfillment relates to the three main elements of the educational process (curricula, students, and faculty), and this is a good indicator that reflects the great efforts made in developing these elements. • Most of the weaknesses (W) and deficiencies (D) relate to the criteria for financial support, administrative support, the process of evaluation and continuous improvement, and admission systems that are centrally linked to the ministry, university, and other higher agencies. The gaps in these standards require quantitative and qualitative efforts to bridge and address them. • A decision was taken to adopt the current study as a roadmap for reforming and rehabilitating education programs and engineering departments. • Develop a central strategic plan, in coordination with ICAEE, to implement the strategies, methods of treatment, and effective solutions mentioned in the study for the reform and rehabilitation of education programs and engineering departments, provided that the plan includes specific timelines and defines the responsibilities for implementation, follow-up, and auditing, and the capabilities and human and material resources required to implement the plan. • Following the same procedure as the present work, an evaluation of the online education process adopted by the college during the COVID-19 pandemic period is recommended and is ongoing through much research in this field.

W

1.5.3

Y

3.1.3

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

3.1.1

3.1.2

Criterion 3: CLOs

Y

Y

Y

Y

2.1.2vii

2.2.1

Y

Y

W

Y

2.1.2v

Y

Y

Y

Y

2.1.2iii

2.1.2iv

2.1.2vi

Y

Y

Y

Y

2.1.2i

Y

D

D

Y

D

D

D

Y

Y

D

D

D

D

Y

W

Y

Y

Y

D

D

Y

Y

Y

Y

Elect.

W

W

W

W

Y

Y

Y

Y

Mech.

2.1.2ii

2.1.1

Criterion 2: GOs

W

W

1.5.1

D

1.4.2

1.5.2

Y

D

1.3.1

1.4.1

Y

Y

1.1.2

1.2.1

Y

1.1.1

Criterion 1: PEOs

Comp.

W

D

D

D

D

D

D

D

W

W

W

W

W

Y

W

Y

W

Y

W

Y

W

Civ.

W

D

D

D

D

D

D

D

W

W

W

W

W

Y

W

Y

W

Y

W

Y

Y

Surv.

D

D

W

W

D

D

D

D

D

W

W

D

W

W

D

D

D

W

D

D

Y

Energy

Table 4 RRW statistics of 3 judgments of 9 criteria for 12 eng. program

Y

Y

Y

D

Y

D

D

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Water

Y

Y

Y

W

W

Y

Y

W

Y

Y

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

Y

Y

Y

Y

Petr.

Y

Y

Y

Y

W

Y

Y

W

Y

Y

W

W

W

W

Y

Y

W

Y

Y

Y

W

Envi.

D

D

Y

D

D

D

Y

Y

D

D

D

D

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Arch.

W

W

Y

D

W

W

Y

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

D

W

W

Y

Y

Y

Y

Chem.

W

W

Y

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

W

Y

Elect.

5

5

9

3

3

4

6

5

5

5

3

3

3

6

4

5

2

10

8

10

10

Y

3

5

2

6

5

6

4

3

3

2

2

3

0

0

2

3

3

0

1

1

0

D

4

2

1

3

4

2

2

4

4

5

7

6

9

7

6

7

7

2

3

1

2

W

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Fig. 1 Truncated form for RRW for the two criteria: PEOs (exp.)

Fig. 2 Criterion 1 (PEOs)

Fig. 3 Criterion 2 (GOs)

I. Q. Al Saffar et al.

Gap Analysis by Readiness Review Including Online Learning During … Fig. 4 Criterion 3 (curriculum)

Fig. 5 Criterion 4 (continuous improvement)

Fig. 6 Criterion 5 (students)

Fig. 7 Criterion 6 (faculty)

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Fig. 8 Criterion 7 (administrative support)

Fig. 9 Criterion 8 (financial support)

Fig. 10 Criterion 9 (facilities)

Fig. 11 Criterion 10 special program requirement

References 1. Nazar, E., Intisar, I.: Embedded system design student’s learning readiness instruments: systematic literature review. Front. Educ. 7, 799683 (2022) 2. Khalid, K., Xiangyun, D., Faris, T.: Engineering students’ readiness to transition to emergency

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online learning in response to COVID-19: case of Qatar. EURASIA J. Math. Sci. Technol. Educ. 16(10) (2020) Halimah, A., Noor, A.: Undergraduate education: a gap analysis of students’ expectations and satisfaction. In: Problems of Education in the 21st Century, vol. 21 (2010) Ayooth, Y., Mohammed, P., Bahaudin, G.: Expectations versus realities of higher education: gap analysis and university service examination. Contemp. Issues Educ. Res. 4(10) (2011) Iraqi Council of Accreditation for Engineering Education ICAEE: Readiness Review Guidelines Assessment Rubrics (2018–2019 Review Cycle). Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research, Apparatus of Supervision & Scientific Evaluation (2019) Sadi, A.R., Hidayat, S.: Readiness analysis of the ISO 9001:2015 certification in the magister program of industrial engineering UPN “veteran” Yogyakarta using gap analysis. Tech. Soc. Sci. J. 12, 22–40 (2020) ABET Homepage: Template for a Readiness Review Report (2021). http://www.abet.org PKF O’Connor Davies Homepage: https://www.pkfod.com/insights/gap-analysis-for-highereducation-institutions-without-internal-investment-professionals/ Quality Improvement Council of Engineering Education in Iraq: Iraqi Accreditation Council, Criteria, Policies and Procedures for BSc Degrees in Engineering. Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research, Apparatus of Supervision & Scientific Evaluation (2017) ABET Homepage: Information for Programs Requesting Readiness Review (Rev) for the 2022– 23 Review Cycle, A039 3-30 (2021). http://www.abet.org

The Study on Technology Acceptance in Baby and Mother Product Business Operation Siti Afiqah Zainuddin , Suzana Basaruddin , Tahirah Abdullah , Roslizawati Binti Che Aziz , Siti Salwani Abdullah , Najihah Mahmud , Noor Raihani Binti Zainol , Nur A’mirah Mohd Yaziz , Alia Nadhirah Ahmad Kamal, and Nor Amira Mohd Razali Abstract Rapid technology advancement and global pandemic indicates that consumers are more concerned about to get fast and quality products, especially for mother and baby products. To get the mother and baby needs, it must be convenient to purchase and comply with certain level of quality standards. Previous studies have placed too much emphasis on businesses other than those associated to the infant and mother. Because of the movement control order issued during the last three years, society, particularly housewives and mothers, prefers to buy for mother and baby products online. This expanding phenomenon has compelled businesses involved in the manufacture and sale of baby and mother products to incorporate digital technology into their operations. This research intends to investigate how digital technology is accepted and used by businesses in this field. The goal of this investigation is to explore extensively into the phenomena. Its purpose is to study actors’ interactions in commercial operations that offer mother and infant items. This phenomenon is being investigated using Actor Network Theory (ANT), which is used to connect actors throughout the process. The use of theory in the context of this study investigates and establishes the nature of the interaction between human and non-human actors. The researcher completes the fieldwork utilizing an ethnographic case study S. A. Zainuddin Department Accounting, Economics and Finance, School of Business Administration, European University Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus Department of Business and Accounting, Faculty of Entrepreneurship and Business, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia S. Basaruddin (B) Malaysian Institute of Information Technology, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] T. Abdullah · S. S. Abdullah · N. R. B. Zainol · N. A. M. Yaziz Faculty of Entrepreneurship and Business, UMK, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia R. B. C. Aziz · N. A. M. Razali Fakulti Hospitaliti, Pelancongan Dan Kesejahteraan, UMK, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia N. Mahmud · A. N. A. Kamal Faculty of Language Studies and Human Development, UMK, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_45

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technique in this study, which adopts a qualitative methodology. For roughly six months, the researcher worked in the sector. The methods and networks that connect one actor to another are observed. The data from the observations are organized into themes, which are presented in this paper. This research contributes to the use of ANT in the sale and marketing of baby and mother products to customers. According to the study’s findings, digital learning is definitely necessary to aid employees in this company with the firm’s day-to-day operations. Keywords ANT · Baby and mother industry · Digital technology · Entrepreneurship · Retail · Case study

1 Introduction As a mother and baby products company growing in Malaysia, we are aware of the market’s particular characteristics [9]. The Malaysian government has been working hard to encourage family-oriented programs, which has led in an increase in demand for infant supplies [10]. Simultaneously, competition is severe, and brands must differentiate themselves in order to compete. In this competitive environment, the baby and mother products industry, like any other business, must leverage technology to stay ahead of the competition. Adopting technology or digitalization can be defined as a method of conducting existing business utilizing a digital tool such as an online platform or software application that helps firms or individuals to complete tasks that would otherwise take a very long time [15]. In an organization, the use of digital technologies has increasingly evolved [5]. From the act of executing work using traditional methods to the incorporation of technology for very simple jobs that new hires can readily complete to more difficult tasks that are normally handled by senior engineers and management. This evolution has significantly improved and preserved production, productivity, and output, minimizing the requirement for busywork in the workplace. In addition to surfing the wave of digital transformation, businesses must select the appropriate digital technologies [20]. For example, an emerging fashion company would employ tools like Zendesk to quickly improve its operational procedures digitally, whereas logistics businesses will prioritize the usage of numerous management systems. Furthermore, by effectively utilizing digital tools, a company’s running costs might be reduced [4]. This is because entrepreneurs are all too familiar with budgets, let alone the time and effort required to develop their ideal firm. As a result, it is often important to take a step back and consider how to reduce business expenses by leveraging digital tools. Digital tools can help organizations save money, especially because office culture isn’t exactly improving [19]. Because of cloud computing and storage technology, businesses can conduct operations without the requirement for office space, resulting in zero electricity expenditures. The use of this technology has extended rapidly through adoption in a variety of businesses, including those that specialize in selling baby and mother products.

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Digital tools are widely used at GBY Pvt. Ltd. (also referred as the case company throughout this paper) to assist in carrying out each function, including to facilitate the ‘work from home’ policy. Adoption of technology in the case company entails a network of human and non-human elements. According to the ANT, these aspects are also known as network actors. The instance company promotes the use of technology by exposing its staff to digital learning experiences. Employees, AutoCount accounting software, AutoCount payroll, shopee seller center, lazada seller center, unicart (sitegaint), and Skynet page are some of the players in digital learning. These players are exposed to the researcher during the six-month observation and experience working in the case company.

2 The Case Study: The Baby and Mother Products Business and Digitalization The case company has a store and a warehouse in Penang, Malaysia. It is now one of the largest online retailers selling baby and mother products, and it is owned by a husband-and-wife partnership. The company was started in early 2013, shortly after the couple’s baby was born. They noticed as parents that they spent a significant amount of time looking for and shopping for baby supplies that were suitable for both their son and them. That was the catalyst for the pair to start their online business. The ultimate goal is to allow new parents to save time by shopping for the baby and mother’s requirements online at any time and from any location where it is more convenient, rather than physically and tiresomely going from baby store to baby store. The case company has now been providing its services to customers for about ten years. The primary business is the online and offline sale of baby and mother products. Breast pumps, milk warmers, breast milk storage, napkins, pillows, baby car seats, and other items are among the most common items purchased online. Chicco, Quinton, Alzipmat, Joie, Shapee, and other brands are available at the Case Company online store. Because of the variety of brands and items available, the case firm has become one of the most popular online marketplaces for its clients. It also has a large number of devoted customers. Furthermore, the case company emphasizes the necessity of delivering safe and high-quality products for both baby and mother. This guarantee makes the buyer feel satisfied, at ease, and secure when purchasing things from the site. Another important factor that the case company will constantly emphasize is the use of digital tools in their daily activities. AutoCount Accounting software, AutoCount payroll, the Shopee seller platform, and many other digital tools are employed by the case company. The example company feels that digital applications can make a significant impact in the business’s success.

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The case company is divided into five major departments: e-commerce, warehouse, customer support, human resources, and accounting. Each department typically has four to five administrative workers. The researcher is given the opportunity to work in each department to get experience with business operations. In the example company, the researcher was assigned three major tasks. First, there is the ‘ongoing process’ task. The ongoing process focuses on receiving stock, calculating stock, inspecting stock, and other stock-related tasks. The second activity is an incoming procedure. Outgoing processes include order sync, invoice printing, quality control, packing, and waiting for courier services to pick up the items, among other things. Finally, the case company assigned the researcher roles that involved dealing with numbers and documentation, such as issuing credit notes for cancelled and returned orders, closing quantities at unicart (sitegaint), stock taking, sorting invoices based on serial number of the month, and maintaining the electric wrapper. The purpose of the electric wrapper is to ensure that easily damaged products are handled with care and warp carefully with bubble wrap.

3 Actor Network Theory: The Actors in Baby and Mother Products Business Operation According to Michael [12], actor-network theory (ANT) is a theoretical and methodological approach to social theory in which everything in the social and natural worlds happens in ever-changing networks of interactions. This worldview applies to both the social and natural worlds. This way of seeing the world is based on the assumption that networks are naturally dynamic and interconnected. When someone or something interacts with a business, they perform the position of a “actor” [7]. Workers, consumers, suppliers, partners, potential customers (the “marketplace”), local governments, and colleagues in non-modeled portions of the firm are all possible business players [14]. It could also be tools, systems, software, and applications all at once. For example, in the baby and mother product industry, the following are the actors.

3.1 Workers A worker in the context of a company business process is someone who performs a specific type of labor in a business process. The worker’s function here is to obtain closed orders from the site giant (in this case, the corporate marketplace), arrange the order, and prepare the goods depending on the order. When it comes to keeping the information, they access discreet, the worker plays a larger role. The employee must follow the guidelines established by the company. Workers must protect the privacy

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of any sensitive information with which they come into contact while doing their duties. Aside from this, each employee may be subject to other contractual duties.

3.2 The Site Giant (Marketplace) The marketplace is where case companies list and display their products to potential clients. Customers are presented with a wide choice of product alternatives, as well as product details such as price and quantity, allowing them to make an online purchase.

3.3 AutoCount Accounting When the worker receives the order from the site giant, they will enter it into AutoCount Accounting. It is a fully integrated business software that incorporates accounting, inventory control, invoicing, payroll, and point of sale (POS) systems into a single business application to simplify business operations. Although most people believe it is “Accounting only” software, it is much more to the case company. It is adaptable to all business structures and has several applications. It is, in essence, a comprehensive software solution that aids in the settlement of a wide range of business difficulties. Other capabilities of auto count accounting include the automatic creation of stock adjustments. After taking stock, the system will detect the difference between the physical quantity and the book quantity. Based on the mismatch, the corporation must decide whether to generate stock adjustment entries automatically or not. This can assist the company’s activities move more swiftly and prevent the risk of buying too much stock or forgetting to replenish the stock sufficiently. It also assists the case company in planning recurring corporate participation. Most organizations find repeating transactions and accounting participation to be a boring and time-consuming amount of work. As a result, the organization may plan all future transactions and select whether to automatically generate entries or receive a reminder. It also aids in the utilization of document templates. The system generates templates for frequently used documents (such as Cash Sales) and benefits from a quick process in subsequent billing. Finally, it assists the case firm with record keeping and processing accounts due and receivable.

3.4 Shopee and Lazada After entering the transactions into the autocount accounting software, the worker will update two other platforms that the case company uses to display its items, shopee and Lazada. Both are Malaysia’s largest internet marketplaces. Both platforms, like the case corporation, offer various games and strategies for sellers. It also has a

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Fig. 1 The network of actors in online selling process for baby’s and mother’s products

variety of customers. However, the bot platform is user-friendly, particularly for sellers. They offer a good seller center to ensure that online sellers have a positive experience selling their products on the marketplace. Figure 1 depicts the relationship between one actor and another. According to the researcher’s observations, workers use the Autocount accounting system for outgoing operations. To sync orders, they employ autocount accounting. This is due to the fact that orders from Shopee and Lazada Seller Center will be automatically entered into the autocount accounting software. This can make collecting orders from the platform easier for the case company. At the same time, the worker’s responsibility is to eliminate the shipping fee listed in the platform’s invoice. The worker will then print the invoice and return to the Shopee and Lazada seller centers to ensure that the customer’s order is correct and similar to the order produced by the invoice. Following that, the worker will write on the side of the invoice which courier service will deliver the products to the consumers, as well as the time and date. The employee then prints the airway bill for each order from the Shopee and Lazada seller centers. On occasion, the employee will generate credit notes for canceled orders and returned merchandise and re-enter the transaction into the autocount accounting program. Following that, there is a link between the autocount accounting system and the unicart. It demonstrates the worker’s necessity to close quantity at Unicart (sitegaint). Closed quantity at Unicart (sitegaint) must be completed if there are cash sales on that day. The employee should first check the autocount accounting software to see if any cash sales were made for the day. The worker will go to unicart (sitegaint) and close amount products for products that have been sold in cash sale based on cash sales in autocount accounting software. This is due to the fact that the autocount accounting system does not connect with Shopee and Lazada to determine the number of a product. By closing the quantity in unicart (sitegaint), the product quantity in shopee and lazada seller center changed as well. This simplifies things by simply closing on one platform. In the case of a firm, this involves the entire process of procuring and marketing baby and mother items. Furthermore, another component of the process is the usage

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of technology on the case company. For example, the researcher may have the opportunity to work with the case company payroll system, which is known as autocount payroll. AutoCount Payroll is payroll data management software. It assists businesses in maintaining payroll data and managing employee profiles. The employee can use autocount payroll to view pay stubs and request leave. These vast networks clearly show the connections between players such as worker, autocount accounting, autocount payroll, shopee seller center, lazada seller center, and unicart (sitegaint).

4 Discussion and Recommendation Using digitalization will help organizations achieve their goals and improve their performance. This may be demonstrated when businesses use digitalization to better data collection and record keeping. Because most firms have mountains of customer data, having digital technology to manage that data is essential. Not only can digital technology help to store and manage data, but it also helps to provide analysis to aid in business decision-making. Digitalisation creates a method for acquiring the appropriate data and fully integrating it for higher-level business analytics. It enables different functional divisions within an organization to translate raw data into insights across many touchpoints. As a result, a unified perspective of the customer journey, operations, production, finance, and business prospects is created. Unicart, for example, provides existing data analysis to its clients, allowing the case firm to examine existing data to make adjustments such as when and how to increase sales. Furthermore, technology adoption might increase a company’s productivity [6]. This is due to the fact that incorporating the appropriate technical tools can streamline procedures and increase production [16]. It improves team productivity by automating many manual operations and integrating data from many parts of the organization. Using autocount accounting software, for example, allows organizations to manage inventories more effectively. As a result, the workflow will be simplified, and staff will be able to focus on other activities more effectively. While doing so, improve the company’s performance. Last but not least, adopting technology allows businesses to boost their profits. Companies that undergo digital transformation will increase their efficiency and profitability. For example, selling products on the Shopee and Lazada platforms might attract a significant number of buyers. At the same time, can obtain the desired target audience.

5 Conclusion In this age of globalization, the use of digital tools in corporate management is critical for improving performance and meeting organizational goals. There are numerous advantages to using digital tools in a company’s day-to-day operations. This is evident

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from the data collecting field activities in the case company. Using digital technologies such as Autocount accounting software, for example, can improve managerial efficiency. This is due to the fact that digital tools serve to improve the efficiency of systems, products, and services. It aids in the tracking and streamlining of processes, the maintenance of data flow, and the management of staff interactions and records. In reality, it boosted productivity in key activities while lowering expenses and allowing the business to develop significantly. Furthermore, the usage of digital tools can assist employees in their regular operations. Most employees believe that using the latest technology in executing their responsibilities will help them achieve the greatest results. To increase income, businesses must evaluate the cost-output connection and deploy adequate technology. Moreover, technology is one of determinants to the modern customers’ satisfaction. Customers’ decisions are influenced by both internal and external factors [1, 2]. Customer behavior and business-controllable factors like as price and product or service quality are examples of internal factors [17]. However, studies place a premium on external factors such as increasing digitalisation, technological advancement in the sector, switching flexibility, and increased service demand [13, 18, 24, 25]. Responding to a competitor’s marketing is no longer sufficient. Customers’ expectations and demands are shaped by actors outside the market or business. Recognizing this enables businesses to better adapt to customer behavior and improve their offerings in order to please customers. It takes time to understand how to integrate technology and digital tools. According to studies, young people and future entrepreneurs were exposed to technology and digital methods in school [1–3, 8, 23]. Early digitization and exposure to technology results in a more aware populace capable of optimizing technology utilization [11]. They will also have a better understanding of organizational and environmental risk [21, 22]. Acknowledgements Authors would like to acknowledge Malaysian Institute of Information Technology, Universiti Kuala Lumpur and Universiti Malaysia Kelantan for funding this publication.

References 1. Abdullah, T., Zainuddin, S.A., Azmi, N.F., Anuar, N.I.M., Mohamad, S.R., Said, N.M.: Capitals investment decision of Malaysian family business: from traditional into neoliberal business entity. In: The Implementation of Smart Technologies for Business Success and Sustainability, pp. 181–189. Springer, Cham (2023) 2. Abdullah, T., Zainuddin, S.A., Md Nasir, N.A., Said, N.M., Yasoa, M.R., Muhamad, S.F., Yusoff, M.N.H.: Delivering future-ready financial management course for non-finance students using internet of things (IoT). In: International Conference on Business and Technology, pp. 73– 87. Springer, Cham (2023) 3. Aziz, R.C., Hashim, N.A.A.N., Omar, R.N.R., Yusoff, A.M., Muhammad, N.H., Simpong, D.B., Abdullah, T., Zainuddin, S.A., Safri, F.H.M.: Teaching and learning in higher education: E-learning as a tool. Int. J. Innov. Technol. Explor. Eng. (IJITEE) 9(1), 458–463 (2019) 4. Bala, M., Verma, D.: A critical review of digital marketing. Int. J. Manag. IT Eng. 8(10), 321–339 (2018)

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The Role of Customer Knowledge in CRM-Customer’s Satisfaction Link: A Study on Hotels in Indonesia Ahmad Rafiki, Muhammad Dharma Tuah Putra Nasution, and Yossie Rossanty

Abstract This study will examine the relationship between operational CRM technologies, human CRM resources and organizational CRM resources on customer satisfaction of hotels located in North Sumatera. The role of customer knowledge will be examined as the moderating variable in each relationship, intertwining both independent and dependent variables. This study will adopt a quantitative, deductive approach. Descriptive and other statistical analyses, like confirmatory factor analysis and the structural equation model (SEM) of Smart PLS, will be adopted. The distribution of questionnaires will be made to employees in several hotels located in North Sumatera, and we will select the sample with the help of a purposive sampling technique. We assume that this study will have the results that we predict. Keywords CRM resources · Customer satisfaction · Customer knowledge · Hotels

1 Introduction The introduction of CRM leads to advancements in information processing, making the process more complex and difficult but helpful. CRM is applied in various sectors and industries and the tourism industry which is currently badly affected by the pandemic Covid-19 is of no exception. The incomes and developments that mark themselves as the epitome of good business for these travels, hotels, resorts, and restaurants are deteriorating rapidly at an alarming rate, even though some countries are locked down and no tourist was able to visit. Years ago, there was an increase in the usage of CRM in tourist and hospitality organizations, with hotels following the trend at the time that sector of the service industry heavily used CRM tactics to reap higher profits [1]. The role of CRM is crucial and helpful especially as it diversifies A. Rafiki (B) Universitas Medan Area, Medan, Indonesia e-mail: [email protected] M. D. T. P. Nasution · Y. Rossanty Universitas Pembangunan Panca Budi, Medan, Indonesia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_46

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its services and retains its customers. In fact, the hotel industry still survives in a difficult situation or in extreme competition such as an economic recession that hit in 2008. In those days, the profit margin was narrow and pressures came along to create creative packages and services, generating to costs rise, customer loyalty declines, and occupancy rates fall [2]. Again, CRM was one way out for these problems. Tourists from around the world have flocked into Indonesia and most are fascinated by the country’s natural beauty. One of the fascinating destinations in Indonesia is the Lake Toba or Dana Toba. It is well known as the largest lake in Indonesia and the largest volcanic lake in the world, and one of the UNESCO Global Geoparks in July 2020. Thus, this should be a tourism spot that potentially contributes to the regional economic development. Despite a pandemic that is supposed to badly affect the tourism sector, the development of tourism in Lake Toba was still considered impressive. As the number of foreign tourists visiting this place reached the highest point in 2017 which are 270,292 people, to compare with the figures in the following year (2018) it had dropped to 14% or to 231,465 people. On the other hand, the domestic tourist visits to the largest volcanic lake in the world had increased with an average of 25%. It can be seen that the local tourists reached 9.71 million people in 2015 then increased to 14.04 million people in 2017. However, a year later, it fell to 14% to 12.14 million people. One of the factors could be that the hotels or resorts are not playing any significant role in attracting potential customers to come and visit the place. This could be linked to the customer services and relations, marketing efforts and promotion activities. CRM strategies have been widely used in the service sectors with the goal of boosting customer happiness and retention [3]. Managers in the tourist business are urged to experiment with various efficient marketing methods in order to appeal to new clients while also retaining existing ones. CRM has received a lot of attention from both academics and practitioners in order to make this a reality [4, 5]. Practically, tourism and travel firms tend to use varying CRM practices to name one, hotel loyalty programs [6]. Based on the existing literature, various studies have adopted many elements of CRM concepts in multiple levels. In this study, the assumption that can be made is that the CRM application affects the customer satisfaction with a moderating factor of customer knowledge. Customer satisfaction has a tremendous impact on a company’s economic performance [7]. There is evidence that customer satisfaction would appear to be a significant factor in every firm. Meanwhile, customer knowledge has been used as the moderating factor in this current work. The following are some of the benefits of gathering customer knowledge: the company can obtain valuable information, recognize their customers’ needs and purchase behavior and develop more customer-centric products and services, and predict what the customers might need in the future [8, 9] and work hard to stay relevant [10]. According to Jayachandran et al. [11], customer knowledge procedures can improve the efficacy of a company’s customer response. Tseng and Wu [9] agreed that greater understanding of customer behavior might help enterprises better manage and target consumers based on dynamic service experiences rather than relying on stable demographic parameters. In other words, improved customer information enabled by CRM should pave the path for a company

The Role of Customer Knowledge in CRM-Customer’s Satisfaction … Table 1 CRM articles indexed by scopus in 2016–2020

529

Variables relationship

Total articles

CRM and customer and knowledge

177

CRM and customer and satisfaction

199

CRM and customer knowledge and customer and satisfaction

35

CRM and technological resources

28

CRM and human resources CRM and organizational resources

169 61

to increase its customer happiness. As a result, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of CRM components on customer satisfaction with the moderating effect of customer knowledge.

2 Literature Review 2.1 Customer Relationship Management Research in Tourism CRM was hailed as a new marketing technique in the early 1990s due to its fundamental goal of acquiring customer information and enhancing customer happiness and retention [12]. Since then, other hotels have aggressively used CRM to better their client relationships and maximize the revenues that come with the business [12]. CRM solutions in hotels seek to collect and maintain accurate guest information resulting in the initiative to improve service quality [5]. What is shown below (Tabel 1) is the total number of articles on CRM and its related terms in Scopus since 2016:

2.2 CRM and Customer Satisfaction. The studies on firms’ performance have introduced in many approaches which has multi-dimensional construct which include customer satisfaction. Some studies on CRM impact on the performance were done in travel agencies. For example, Álvarez et al. [13] studied the impact of the internet on managing the contacts and relationship with customers and its function in predicting opportunities to be offered to customers, not to mention examining the effect of trust as a striking variable in relationship marketing. All of these factors that contribute to the customer satisfaction or loyalty

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were used together in the CRM system and application. Thus in fact, CRM may serve as a tool that can be used beyond satisfaction or loyalty such as efficiency and profits. CRM’s journey would come to a finish with customer satisfaction. As it is, gauging customer happiness is difficult since it is difficult to quantify the amount of satisfaction among customers. The concept reflects a new approach to quality control in businesses and organizations. In reality, enterprises may assess customer satisfaction by identifying how offered services and goods match or exceed consumers’ expectations. Various studies on CRM and customer satisfaction in hotels and tourism industry have been conducted such as in United Kingdom by Rahimi and Kozak [5], in Korea by Kim et al. [14] and in other countries by Scanlan and McPhail [15]; Tideswell and Fredline [16]; Sui and Baloglu [17]; Rezghi et al. [18]; Rahimi and Kozak [5]; Iriqat and Daqar [19]. The relationship include the impact on customer retention, quality products and services and marketing methods, differentiating offers, positive behavioral outcomes, customer order processing, a greater scope of customer account management, and contributing towards an effective management of customer relationships. Furthermore, Piccoli and Applegate [20] confirmed the significance of IT tools in helping and creating consistent services to the customers.

2.3 Technology CRM Resources Keramati et al. [21] mentioned that the technological CRM resources consist of three measures of collaborative, operational and analytical technologies, but because of the limited infrastructures in the districts where the hotels are located, this research’s main highlight is the operational technologies with few items adapted from other measures. After three decades, computer reservation and worldwide distribution networks have advanced and revolutionized the tourist industry’s operational and strategic practices at a rapid pace [22]. Multiple studies have found that CRM technology has a considerable beneficial influence on customer satisfaction [10, 23] includes on hotel performance [24]. The reality is that a customer-focused strategy, aided by technology-based service solutions will improve customer satisfaction and larger profit margins [25–27]. Sofi et al. [28] proved the existence of a substantial relationship between CRM technology and customer satisfaction. The customer knowledge serves as a moderating factor, and is assumed to moderate the relationship of the two variables namely CRM technologies and customer satisfaction. Thus the proposed hypotheses are established below: H1a CRM technologies is positively related to the Customer Satisfaction H1b Customer Knowledge positively moderates the relationship of CRM technologies and Customer Satisfaction

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2.4 Human CRM Resources The human CRM resources could be referred to as the people component in the CRM system. They concern with the organizational readiness and collaboration with staff as these are seen to be the two aspects that can lead to a successful CRM implementation [12]. Potential customers preferred to be contacted by the people than technologydriven systems. This highlights how important the human CRM resources are. A study in UK by Karakostas et al. [29] asserted that 57% of the respondents stated that their CRM system users lack training, while 24% informed that their training could have been better. These statistics can merely justify why many CRM technology deployments fail to live up to the expectations. An organization’s human resources typically consist of all aspects that concern with the employees [8]. It would be the same case in the tourism industry or hotels, whereby the human factor must be considered to excel in order to capitalize the CRM application adoption. Moreover, both elements of technical skills and attitude could be shaped or started via routine drives or a push factor called culture. Thus, the customer knowledge would be a moderating factor on the relationship formed between human CRM resources and organizational performance. The proposed hypotheses are: H2a Human CRM resources are positively related to the Customer Satisfaction H2b Customer Knowledge positively moderates the relationship of Human CRM resources and Customer Satisfaction

2.5 Organizational CRM Resources The organizational CRM resources to lead the firm to take a new direction. CRM was known as software and no one had paid any attention to the role of organizational factors. Thus, an organizational structure needs to be changed through CRM [10, 30]. To ensure its success, some organizational elements are required. Organization resources have a link with the management of CRM processes in which the goal is to create a good structure of works and procedures as well as improve the decision making concerning the resource allocation, new product or service development [21]. A recent study has exposed a significant relationship between organizational CRM resources and customer satisfaction [28]. Thus the organizational CRM resources are assumed to be able to predict the organization performance. Thus the proposed hypothesis is: H3a Organizational CRM resources are positively related to the Customer Satisfaction

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2.6 The Moderating Role of Customer Knowledge Enterprises often gain customer knowledge through conversations and some type of communication as they watch how consumers use their goods or experience their services. According to Mithas et al. [31], effective contacts with consumers allow a firm to get customer knowledge; in terms of new requests, this will be useful references for the company’s progress. As a result, companies who can solve this issue and take this strategy will be the most successful [32]. Liao et al. [33] went on to say that businesses may utilize data warehousing and data-mining technologies to combine product and marketing expertise and extract consumer knowledge, respectively. Then, businesses should make do with current or projected consumer information to get greater customer understanding and, as a result, increase customer value. Furthermore, customer knowledge applications are expected to create a competitive advantage [29], which then may provide operational flexibility to promote corporate agility and improve customer value [11]. The customer knowledge relates to the knowledge on customers, received from customers and provided for customers which create two-way interactions [34]. Through CRM, detailed customer information could be communicated within different areas of the business [35], because only in this way can current consumers’ requirements and requests be addressed. Knowledge management may help to improve customer interactions and has a beneficial influence on success [23]. A study by Mithas et al. [31] has used customer knowledge as a mediating variable, so this makes this study distinguishable from others. Based on the function of CRM application, the customer knowledge will then lead to customer satisfaction because firms can learn about customers’ requirements and cater according to these requirements. Numerous researchers have found a link between knowledge management and customer satisfaction [24]. While the benefits have been recognised, the function of knowledge management in hospitality or tourism has received little attention [36]. It is found that customer knowledge as a crucial asset and organizational resource which may be transformed into an irreplaceable advantage [34]. Customer knowledge has a vital role in CRM as well and forms a good relationship with customer satisfaction [28], but in this study the customer knowledge stands as the moderating variable. Thus the proposed hypothesis is: (Fig. 1). H3b Customer Knowledge positively moderates the relationship of Organizational CRM resources and Customer Satisfaction

3 Research Methodology This study used a content analysis which derived from various articles and past researches in order to develop a framework. A number of referred articles justify drawing and proposing the above concept.

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Customer Knowledge Technological Resources of CRM

H1a

Human Resources of CRM

H2a

Organizational Resources of CRM

H3a

H1b

H2b

H3bb

Customer Satisfaction

Fig. 1 Theoretical framework

4 Conclusion This study sheds light on newly adopted customer knowledge as a moderating factor in the relationship of operational CRM technologies, human CRM resources, and organizational CRM resources on customer satisfaction. Each relationship, however, will include an explanation of its effects and theoretical and practical implications. This research anticipates broadening the scope of knowledge in specific sectors, such as the hotel industry. Likewise, the empirical results will contribute to the positive development of particular destinations such as Danau Toba or other places of attraction.

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33. Liao, S.H., Chen, Y.J., Deng, M.Y.: Mining customer knowledge for tourism new product development and customer relationship management. Expert Syst. Appl. 37(6), 4212–4223 (2010) 34. Khodakarami, F., Chan, Y.E.: Exploring the role of customer relationship management (CRM) systems in customer knowledge creation. Inf. Manage. 51(1), 27–42 (2014) 35. Ryals, L., Knox, S.: Cross-functional issues in the implementation of relationship marketing through customer relationship management. Eur. Manag. J. 19(5), 534–542 (2001) 36. Shaw, G., Williams, A.: Knowledge transfer and management in tourism organisations: an emerging research agenda. Tour. Manage. 30(3), 325–335 (2009)

Examination of the Relationship Between People with Disabilities (PWDs) and Employment Factors in Malaysia: Employer’s Perspectives Muhd Khaizer Omar, Fadhilah Jamaluddin, Mohammad Yaakub, M. Iqbal Saripan, Mohd Hazwan Mohd Puad, Irwan Mahazir Ismail, and Mohd Azlan Mohammad Hussain Abstract This paper briefly explores employers’ perspectives on hiring people with disabilities (PWDs) in their organizations. Precisely, the relationship between Employability Skills, Recruitment Efforts, Factors in Hiring, Challenges & Barriers, Concerns and Perceptions, Career Development Barrier and Strategies and Incentives for Employers concerning hiring PWDs were examined in this research. A questionnaire, adopted from the viewpoint of U.S. employees, was developed and implemented as the key data collection instrument. Relevant information from employers was gathered using an online survey. The Pearson correlation was chosen to perform the analysis. A total of 200 employers were selected as participants. The results identified a strong relationship between Challenges & Barriers in Hiring PWDs and Career Development Barrier for PWDs. The discussion of the results centred on the profiles of the employers and the seven employment factors/constructs relative to the employer’s perspectives. The implications of the findings for employers and the organizations are further discussed. Keywords People with disability · Employment · Industry acceptance

M. K. Omar (B) · M. Yaakub · M. H. M. Puad Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] F. Jamaluddin Malaysian Institute of Economic Research, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia M. I. Saripan Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia I. M. Ismail Centre for Instructional Technology and Multimedia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, George Town, Malaysia M. A. M. Hussain Faculty of Technical and Vocational Education, Sultan Idris Education University, Malaysia, Malaysia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_47

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1 Introduction In recent days, the World Bank, as well as World Health Organization (WHO), reported that one billion people, or 15% of the world’s population, experience some form of disability, and the prevalence of disability in developing countries is higher. One-fifth of the total global population, or between 110 and 190 million people, has severe disabilities [1]. Three years back, the Department of Social Welfare revealed a total of 453,258 registered Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Malaysia. PWDs in the physical category recorded the highest number which was 35.2%, followed by the Learning disability category (34.8%) and the Visually impaired category (8.9%). The speech category recorded the lowest registration of 0.5 percent [2]. There are strong and pervasive negative stereotypes and biases toward people with some disabilities and differences in most parts of the world [3]. PWDs are highly likely to encounter adverse socio-economic effects, such as reduced schooling, poor health outcomes, lower employment levels, and higher poverty rates [4]. In terms of employment and involvement in the labor market, people with disabilities are an under-employed category of employees [5]. The presence of PWDs in the labor market is notoriously poor and is largely excluded [6]. In fact, 80 to 90 percent of people with disabilities of working age are unemployed in developing countries, while in developed countries the figure is between 50 and 70% [7]. Based on the statistics presented by the Human Resources Management Information System Database, only 3615 PWDs are operating in the public sector by June 2020 [8]. Job issues among PWDs remain unresolved, although they have been discussed for a long time [6, 9–17]. A study conducted by Kaye et al. [12] found that employers often lack an awareness of how to deal with and accommodate workers with disabilities. Hence, they may consider that hiring such a worker would add to the pressure on managers, superiors, and human resources workers of having to learn about the employer’s legal obligations, study suitable accommodation, determine their costs and benefits and deal with unexpected issues that arise. Myriad articles have been analyzed and the results showed that the acceptance of employees with disabilities is influenced by three main variable groups comprising characteristics of co-workers, of the persons with disabilities, and the employers/organizations [15]. Meanwhile, a study has been conducted from the perspective of managers in Japanese companies based in Malaysia towards the employment of persons with disabilities (PWDs) proposed the main concern of the majority of the managers about was the belief that disabled workers were not able to perform at work. Another top concern was related to the type of work that is suitable for PWDs [14]. Despite the numerous initiatives and mandates implemented by the Malaysian Government, the impact on improving the livelihoods of PWDs in Malaysia, especially those relating to jobs, is still questionable. Therefore, this study deals with seven key issues regarded to the employers’ perspectives towards PWDs. The issues were identified by the authors are of high importance in the field of disability employment

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research. First, a discussion of the relevant PWDs trend on employment from global perspectives and specifically in Malaysia was made. This was accompanied by literature on the concept of people with disabilities (PWDs) as well as employment, with several definitions are available. Next, the constructs examined in this research which include Employability Skills concerning hiring PWDs, PWDs Recruitment Efforts, Factors in Hiring PWDs, Challenges and Barriers in Hiring PWDs, Concerns and Perceptions in Hiring PWDs, Career Development Barrier for PWDs and Strategies and Incentives for Employers Hiring PWDs were addressed in this research.

2 Literature Review A job can be considered one of the most significant activities in people’s lives. It is not only required to earn a living, but it also meets some of the basic human needs, including those of a time structure, shared purpose, social contact, activity, and status, which help to sustain mental health and well-being [15]. Employment is a major aspect of social integration. Research on the well-being of PWDs has revealed that employment is positively related to various dimensions of quality of life, including economic resources, job satisfaction, positive self-perception, active social network, recreational activities, and preferred living arrangements [18]. Unfortunately, PWDs generally achieve poorer employment outcomes than the rest of the population. As a group, they encounter issues such as unemployment or underemployment, low wages, and a lack of support in the workplace. The issue of high unemployment among PWDs has become a global crisis without a clear solution in sight [19]. In fact, like many PWDs in other parts of the world, Malaysians with disabilities have substantially higher unemployment rates than their non-disabled peers [14]. Therefore, the decisions taken by employers are essential to raising job rates for working-age adults with disabilities [12]. There are several issues pertaining to the employer’s feedback on the employment of PWDs [20]. Employers seek an employee who fulfils the needs of certain skills [18]. Employability skills refer to the general and non-technical competencies needed for the success of all workers, regardless of the type or level of employment. They are not unique positions but are considered characteristics of workers that make them an advantage for employers and are abilities that cut horizontally through all sectors and vertically across all jobs, from the entry-level to the Chief Executive Officer. They are well-described as the skills needed not only to obtain jobs but also to make progress within an enterprise to achieve one’s potential and effectively contribute to the strategic direction of the enterprise [21]. When it comes to the employability skills of PWDs, employers tend to put the same benchmark for both PWDs and non-disabled persons. Many employers doubt that PWDs have the necessary work-related skills and work-related personality attributes. A study by Domzal et al. [22] revealed that employers who self-reported as not actively recruiting employees with disabilities cited a lack of employability skills and experience as the second major reason for not hiring them. Indeed, inadequate

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work skills, poor attendance, abusive behaviours, refusing to accept instructions, punctuality, appearance, and safety have been associated with job loss for PWDs [23, 24]. At the same time, the employers are concerned about the challenges they faced following hiring PWDs [7, 12, 14, 15, 18, 25–30; Gasper et al. 2020]. Research has been carried out to explore the challenges relating to the employment of persons with disabilities (PWDs) from the perspective of managers in Japanese companies based in Malaysia stressed out four main challenges faced by them. The stated challenges were the attitudes of employers/co-workers, type of work, best practices, and workplace accommodations [14]. Managers felt that it is harder to get other managers and coworkers to buy into the idea of hiring PWDs [14]. In that matter, co-workers were not very familiar with PWDs [27]. The managers were portrayed as not wanting to accommodate, perceiving additional training time being needed, or some lack of productivity on the part of workers with disabilities. Besides, there was a consistent perception that co-workers might be resentful of special benefits being extended to qualified workers with disabilities such as flex time, and shift modifications [26]. While many employers have concerns and myths regarding obstacles to recruiting and retaining people with disabilities, there is a growing literature on the causes and benefits of hiring people with disabilities [13, 14, 31, 25, 26, 17]. The inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce is essential for other reasons. It is believed to optimize human capital, foster human dignity and social stability, and accommodate a growing number of people with disabilities in the working-age population [25]. The commitment of employers and businesses is crucial to support the inclusion of people with disabilities. Therefore, a recent study conducted by Chan et al. [6] proposed several incentives including an accommodations budget line item to cover costs of accommodations for employees, participation in job fairs for PWDs, annual targets, and assessment performance to achieve application and employment goals of PWDs, in-house (or contractual) disability management personnel that are responsible for handling issues related to the ADA and job accommodations, hiring manager or senior executive with a disability, commitment of senior leadership in clear communication with PWDs, posting a statement of commitment to hiring people with disabilities on the company website, providing disability inclusion training for company’s HR recruiters, and mechanism of assessing the number of people with disabilities in the company [32].

3 Research Methodology 3.1 Research Design The study employed a survey research design using a questionnaire as a tool for data collection. The instrument used for this study was adopted from the perspectives of U.S. employers, which was also published online [10] The questionnaire remained in

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English based on the perception that the meaning and transferability of the terms used in the instrument were easily understandable. The ethics approval was acquired from Universiti Putra Malaysia, Research Management Centre under Ethics Committee for Research Involving Human Division, followed by the instrument modification, which was performed twice based on the panel’s comments. After minor correction, the instrument was then distributed to the companies using Qualtrics, an online survey database system. Qualtrics also developed this instrument as the monitoring method, tracker of the progress, and a strategy for data collection [18]. Part 1 of the questionnaire was on the demographic trend of the respondents. Part 2 of the questionnaire looked into the “Employability Skills” concerning hiring PWDs. Part 3 of the questionnaire analysed the respondents’ “PWDs Recruitment Efforts”. Part 4 of the questionnaire focused on the “Factors” in hiring PWDs. Part 5 of the questionnaire highlighted “Challenges and Barriers” in hiring PWDs” whereas Part 6 of the questionnaire looked into the “Concerns and Perceptions” in Hiring PWDs. Next, Part 7 ventured into the “Career Development Barrier for PWDs” at the workplace. Lastly, Part 8 gauge the knowledge of respondents about “Strategies and Incentives” for Employers Hiring PWDs. Items in the questionnaire were measured either using Binary or Dichotomous Scale (1—Yes, 0—No), 3-point Likert Scale, or 5-point Likert Scale. Items measured using a dichotomous scale was Part 7. Different types of 3-point Likert Scale and 5-point Likert Scale were used to measure the remaining items in the questionnaire.

3.2 Sampling Procedure and Data Collection A descriptive quantitative survey was implemented by selecting 200 out of 1500 employers registered under MATRADE for the study. A random sampling technique was utilized to select 200 companies based on the accessible online database provided by MATRADE. Although the company names were initially disorganized, the profile of the company was randomly selected based on an alphabetical order of the company’s name using the ascending function in Microsoft Word, which consists of myriad types of businesses. A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed and 148 respondents (74%) completed the survey which was valid with information and utilized in this research. The process of distribution and collection of questionnaires took almost a month to be completed.

3.3 Data Analysis In this research, a descriptive analysis method was used to analyse obtained data that were mostly categorical. Other than frequencies and percentages (to understand the general trend of answers for all parts of the questionnaire), the mean and standard deviation of each variable were generated by applying descriptive statistics. Pearson

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correlation generally addresses the degree to which two continuous variables are associated or related [16]. The Pearson correlation coefficient is typically used for jointly normally distributed data (data that follow a bivariate normal distribution) [33]. Therefore, Pearson correlation analysis was utilized in this study to extract the relationship between the 7 variables. The results were tested using the two-tailed where a P value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant [34, 16]). Data analysis was conducted using the statistical program IBM SPSS® Statistics (version 22). A reliability test was applied by examining the Cronbach’s alpha to make sure whether the items for each concept were homogeneous, measuring the concept of interest. Cronbach’s alpha is a measure of reliability that ranges from 0 to 1, with values of 0.60 to 0.70 deemed the lower limit of acceptability [34, 35]. It is noticed that the reliability of the research concept lies between 0.864 and 0.963. Therefore, no item was deleted. The items were transferred to form meaningful concepts for further analysis.

4 Results and Discussion 4.1 Descriptive Analysis This study precisely focused on the employer’s feedback on the employment of PWDs. It comprised of seven employment factors. Table 1 described the descriptive analysis of each factor. In 148 questionnaires that were filled out and returned, Employability Skills stand out to have the highest overall mean, with (MO = 3.38, SDO = 0.753). This was followed by Factors in Hiring PWDs (MO = 3.10, SDO = 0.807), PWDs Recruitment Efforts (MO = 1.36, SDO = 0.592), Career Development Barrier for PWDs (MO = 2.00, SDO = 0.36), Concerns and Perceptions in Hiring PWDs (MO = 1.97, SDO = 0.391), and Challenges and Barriers in Hiring PWDs (MO = 1.97, SDO = 0.319). The lowest mean referred to the Strategies and Incentives for Employers Hiring PWDs, with (MO = 0.87, SDO = 0.258). Part 1 (Employability Skills) indicated the eight most employable skills required by employers. This is in line with the World Economic Forum on skills among employers in the twenty-first century. A particular question was asked, which was “Please indicate your company preferences for employability skills requirement concerning the employment of people with disability (PWD)”. The highest mean was found to be present in “time management” with (M = 3.73, SD = 0.923), while the mean for leadership skills was (M = 3.03, SD = 1.023). It was, therefore, noted that leadership abilities were the least important among the PWDs. Consequently, on average, all the employers preferred “time management” as the most favourable employability skill in hiring PWDs. This is following Ju et al. [11] study. They revealed that “time management” as the top five skills prioritized by the employers.

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Table 1 Descriptive analysis of constructs/variables Construct/variable

Item

Mean (M)

Overall mean (M O )

Std. dev. (SD)

Overall std. dev (S D O )

Employment skill

Leadership skill

3.03

3.38

1.023

0.753

Communication skill

3.51

0.929

Collaborative skill

3.47

0.907

Role specific skill 3.38

0.876

Creative skill

3.35

0.954

Persuasive skill

3.07

1.001

Adaptability skill

3.49

0.869

Time management skill

3.73

0.923

Postings at job service or workforce employment centre

1.6

Contacting college and university career centres

1.52

0.9

Partnerships with disability-related advocacy organizations

1.3

0.656

Including people with disabilities in diversity recruitment goals

1.4

0.745

Postings at disability-related publications

1.28

0.648

Postings at disability-related websites

1.24

0.59

PWDs recruitment efforts

Postings or tables 1.26 at disability-related job fairs

1.36

0.981

0.592

0.607

(continued)

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Table 1 (continued) Construct/variable

Factors in hiring PWDs

Item

Mean (M)

Overall mean (M O )

Postings at department of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) rehabilitation

1.28

0.648

Establishing summer internship and mentoring programs

1.43

0.858

Postings at 1.29 independent living centres and NGOs

0.642

Satisfactory job performance, attendance and retention

3.34

Increases to your company’s productivity

3.32

0.977

Benefits to your company’s bottom line

3.26

0.927

Benefits other companies in your industry

3.14

0.959

Supported by statistics or research

2.97

0.943

Testimonials from 2.98 human resources managers

0.922

Testimonials from 2.99 senior executives

0.911

Testimonials from 2.98 line managers

0.884

Benefitted nationally recognized companies

0.929

2.99

3.1

Std. dev. (SD)

0.974

Overall std. dev (S D O )

0.807

(continued)

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Table 1 (continued) Construct/variable

Challenges and barriers in hiring PWDs

Concerns and perceptions in hiring PWDs

Item

Mean (M)

Addresses concerns about costs

3.07

Nature of the work

2.02

Overall mean (M O )

Std. dev. (SD)

Overall std. dev (S D O )

0.897

1.97

0.473

Not knowing how 1.93 much accommodation will cost

0.496

Cannot find qualified people with disabilities

2.15

0.486

Actual cost of accommodating disability

1.97

0.458

Concern about cost of workers compensation premiums

1.98

0.395

Concern about the 2.01 cost of health care coverage

0.481

Fear of litigation

1.95

0.486

Lack of knowledge or information

2.09

0.466

Attitudes of customers

1.88

0.48

Discomfort or unfamiliarity

1.92

0.459

Attitudes of co-workers

1.88

0.507

Attitudes of supervisors

1.88

0.507

It costs more to employ workers with disabilities

1.94

Workers with disabilities lack the skills and experience to do our jobs

2.06

1.97

0.47

0.319

0.391

0.498

(continued)

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M. K. Omar et al.

Table 1 (continued) Construct/variable

Career development barrier forPWDs

Item

Mean (M)

Overall mean (M O )

Std. dev. (SD)

People with 2.04 disabilities may not be as safe and productive as other workers

0.507

Supervisors are not sure how to take disciplinary action

1.93

0.51

Supervisors are not sure how to evaluate

1.93

0.53

Supervisors are not comfortable with managing

1.93

0.523

Nature of the work

2.01

2

0.515

Not knowing how 1.95 much accommodation will cost

0.478

Cannot find qualified people with disabilities

2.06

0.484

Actual cost of accommodating disability

2.01

0.474

Concern about cost of workers compensation premiums

2.03

0.427

Concern about 2.08 the cost of health care coverage

0.444

Fear of litigation

2.01

0.452

Lack of knowledge or information

2.05

0.486

Attitudes of customers

1.97

0.508

Discomfort or unfamiliarity

2.01

0.508

Overall std. dev (S D O )

0.36

(continued)

Examination of the Relationship Between People with Disabilities …

547

Table 1 (continued) Construct/variable

Strategies and incentives for Employers hiring PWDs

Item

Mean (M)

Overall mean (M O )

Attitudes of co-workers

1.93

0.468

Attitudes of supervisors

1.91

0.499

Employer tax credits and incentives

0.93

Disability awareness training

0.89

0.312

Visible top management commitment

0.88

0.328

Mentoring

0.89

0.312

Assistive technology

0.91

0.284

Using a specialized recruiting source

0.86

0.343

Flexible work schedule

0.83

0.376

Training existing staff

0.89

0.312

On-site consultation or technical assistance

0.87

0.336

Disability targeted internship program

0.84

0.364

Short-term on the 0.86 job assistance with job coach

0.343

Developing a targeted recruitment program

0.86

0.35

Centralized accommodations fund

0.87

0.336

Reassignment

0.82

0.382

0.87

Std. dev. (SD)

0.252

Overall std. dev (S D O )

0.258

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M. K. Omar et al.

The research evaluated the employer’s intention to recruit PWDs (Part 2). The question raised in this section was “How do you proactively recruit job applicants who are people with disabilities?”. It was found that the highest mean was “posting at the job service or employment centre” with (M = 1.6, SD = 0.981) while posts on disability-related websites were reported with mean values of (M = 1.24, SD = 0.59). These recruiting activities were the least important among employers when they employed PWDs. Accordingly, on average, all the employers preferred “posting at the job service or employment centre” as the best intention to recruit PWDs. A total of 148 responses were received on factors related to the hiring of PWDs (Part 3). A particular question was asked, “Would any category of information encourages the recruitment of disabled people?”. As shown in Table 1, “Satisfactory job performance, attendance, and retention” was the key factor of employer consideration when hiring PWDs (M = 3.34, SD = 0.974), while the least important factor was proof from “supported by statistics or research” with a mean value of (M = 2.97, SD = 0.943). Thus, on average, all the employers preferred “Satisfactory job performance, attendance, and retention” as the most crucial hiring factor of PWDs. This is aligned with the research carried out by Baumgartner et al. [36]. They declared the relationship between having a disability and job satisfaction is that employees with disabilities demonstrate higher levels of job satisfaction. Table 1 also displayed the highest and lowest mean values that reflect the challenges and barriers faced by employers to the employment of PWDs (Part 4). A particular question was asked to access the challenges and barriers in the employment of PWDs, which was “How much of a challenge is present in the following factors of your company employment of people with disabilities?” Precisely, the highest mean value (M = 2.09, SD = 0.466) was attributed to the “lack of knowledge or information” of each company responding to the survey, while three other variables reported with the lowest mean values were “customer attitudes,” “co-worker attitudes” and “supervisor attitudes” (M = 1.88, SD = 0.48), (M = 1.88, SD = 0.507), and (M = 1.88, SD = 0.507), respectively. Precisely, on average, all the employers preferred “lack of knowledge or information” about PWDs as the most challenging factor in hiring PWDs. This is in line with a study conducted by Coffey et al. [7], where a general lack of knowledge of their disability is the main challenge faced by employers in hiring the PWDs. The next dimension was the evaluation of the concerns and perceptions of employers (Part 5). “Here are some of the concerns we often hear from employers. A precise question was asked, “For each, please indicate how much of a concern it is for your company”. Consequently, this study established a major problem among employers about the employment of PWDs, which was “workers with disabilities lack the skills and experience to do our jobs” (M = 2.06, SD = 0.498). On the other hand, there were three least concerns among employers regarding the employability of PWDs; “supervisors are not sure how to take disciplinary action,” “supervisors are not sure how to evaluate” and “supervisors are not comfortable with managing.“ These issues were reported with mean values (M = 1.93, SD = 0.51), (M = 1.93, SD = 0.53) and (M = 1.93, SD = 0.523) respectively. Subsequently, on average, all the employers preferred “workers with disabilities lack the skills and experience to

Examination of the Relationship Between People with Disabilities …

549

do our jobs” as the main concern of employers towards PWDs. This is in line with the findings reported by Anuaruddin et al. [37], Domzal et al. [10, 38]. They stated that the actual lack of skills, knowledge, and experience will restrict the PWDs’ job opportunities. 12 items were discussed, explicitly on the career development barrier for PWDs (Part 6) set out in Table 1. A specific was posed, which was “In your opinion, how much of a challenge are the following factors to your company is giving a promotion to a people with disability?” As a result, the most significant problem affecting the promotion of career advancement among PWDs was “the cost of health care coverage”, which viewed PWDs as other workers in the company, as indicated (M = 2.08, SD = 0.444). Meanwhile, “supervisor attitudes” was the lowest element, with a mean value of (M = 1.91, SD = 0.499). Consequently, on average, all the employers preferred “the cost of health care coverage” as the main barrier for the career development of PWDs. This is in accordance with a survey conducted by Gasper et al. (2020) and Mitra et al. [39] where costs of health care coverage matter in the career development of PWDs. The final construction of the instrument was the identification of the employer strategy and incentive factors for the employment of PWDs in the company (Part 7). A particular question was asked, “For each of the following, please tell me if these strategies would help give a promotion to people with disabilities within your company”. On average, all employers claimed that “employer tax credits and incentives” were the strongest tactic and motivation for them to hire PWDs (M = 0.93, SD = 0.252) while reassignment was the worst strategy for recruiting PWDs (M = 0.82, SD = 0.382). This is aligned with Henry et al. [28] study where the employers discussed the important role of government in promoting incentives for employers to hire people with disabilities, particularly the work opportunity tax credit.

4.2 Pearson Correlation The analysis of Pearson’s correlation was conducted to examine the correlation between the seven variables. The results were tested using the two-tailed where a P value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant ([16, 34]. Pearson correlation coefficients are used to assess the strength and direction of the linear relationships between pairs of variables [40]. Table 2 showed the result of the Pearson correlation analysis of this study. Significant evidence of a strong and positive relationship was found between Challenges and Barriers in Hiring PWDs and Career Development Barrier for PWDs (r = 0.624, n = 148, p = 0.000). Accordingly, increases in Challenges and Barriers in hiring PWDs were correlated with increases in Career Development Barriers for PWDs. The result is strongly supported by previous studies ([4, 41–43]. Shier and Graham 43 reported a strong and positive correlation between the level of knowledge and concern of healthcare cost. The higher the lack of knowledge leads to the increases in the concern of healthcare cost. In the meantime, Nevala et al. [41, 42], and Blanck

Employability skills

PWDs recruitment efforts

Factors in hiring PWDs

Challenges and barriers in hiring PWDs

Concerns and perceptions in hiring PWDs

Career development barrier for PWDs

Strategies and incentives for employers hiring PWDs

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

0.005

0.189* 0.021

P-value, p

0

P-value, p Pearson correlation, r

0.624**

Pearson correlation, r

0

1

4

0.555**

1

3

P-value, p

0.024

0.186*

1

2

Pearson correlation, r

P-value, p

Pearson correlation, r

0.228**

P-value, p

0

Pearson correlation, r

0.300**

P-value, p

1

1

Pearson correlation, r

P-value, p

Pearson correlation, r

Correlations

Note N = 148 ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (P-value). * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (P-value)

Construct

Part

Table 2 Pearson correlation analysis

0

0.439**

1

5

1

6

1

7

550 M. K. Omar et al.

Examination of the Relationship Between People with Disabilities …

551

[4]; revealed a strong relationship between a lack of knowledge about PWDs and concern about accommodation cost. Increases in the lack of knowledge increase the concern of accommodation cost of PWDs. Besides, a moderate relationship has resulted between Challenges and Barriers in Hiring PWDs and Concerns and Perceptions in Hiring PWDs were found, which was, (r = 0.555, p = 0.00). There was also the existence of a moderate relationship between Concerns and Perceptions in Hiring PWDs and the Career Development Barrier for PWDs (r = 0.439, p = 0.000). Conversely, a weak relationship was found between Employability Skills and PWDs Recruitment Efforts (r = 0.300, p = 0.000) and Factors in Hiring PWDs (r = 0.228, p = 0.005). In the meantime, PWDs Recruitment Efforts was weakly related to Factors in Hiring PWDs (r = 0.186, p = 0.024). There was also evidence of a relationship between Factors in Hiring PWDs and Strategies and Incentives for Employers Hiring PWDs (r = 0.189, p = 0.021) which is weak.

5 Conclusion PWDs deserve that same chance to prove themselves but, too often, only their disability is seen at first glance. Indeed, based on employer profiles, it can be seen that most employers are unfavourable to hire people with disabilities (PWDs). Employers should have a better understanding of hiring PWDs. Hence, this study underscores the value of understanding employers’ feedbacks in employing persons with disabilities (PWDs) in organizations. Seven employment factors were proposed and the relationship between them was examined using Pearson correlation analysis. Consequently, Challenges & Barriers in Hiring PWDs and Career Development Barrier for PWDs are revealed to be strongly and positively related. Thus, increases in Challenges & Barriers in hiring PWDs were correlated with increases in Career Development Barriers for PWDs. Precisely, increases in challenges & barriers in hiring PWDs will increase the barriers of career development for PWDs. The findings would have a variety of consequences for employers. The number of workers with disabilities in companies should be increased. Organizations are advised to increase the number of workers with disabilities by offering resources and opportunities for people with disabilities, as many of them are unemployed, and to help them improve their standard of jobs. This study attempted to collect data using an online survey to ensure that the study was rigorous and generalizable. It is not without limits, however. We have no way to know for sure if the information reported by our respondents is correct. For future studies, it would be useful to approach the population of employees with disabilities from various sectors so that their perceptions of employment could emerge. This will be accomplished using a qualitative case study approach. Acknowledgements This study was funded by the Malaysian Ministry of Education (FRGS/1/2019/SSI09/UPM/02/3) from the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS). Appreciation also goes to Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Research Management Centre (RMC),

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and the Innovative Learning Sciences Research Centre of Excellence (INNOVATE), UPM for the coordination and distribution of financial support for this study.

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Education Management, Technology, Smart Universities, and COVID-19 Impact

Technology Enhanced Learning Through Learning Management System and Virtual Reality Googles: A Critical Review Ahmed Al Mansoori, Sana Ali , Saadia Anwar Pasha , Mahmoud Alghizzawi , Mokthar Elareshi , Ab-dulkrim Ziani , and Hatem Alsridi Abstract Learning Management System (LMS) is not a new concept, yet it has gained much more focus during the fast technological advancement. Especially the development of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), students enhance their educational experiences in LMS. This article also highlights and addresses the LMS facilitated by the further integration of VR, specifically Goggles, that provide a 3D and 4D classroom environment. The researchers adopted an applied descriptive approach to review and discuss the relevant phenomenon. From the epistemological perspective, a current chapter is a pragmatic approach leading researchers to realistic conclusions. Thus, it is found that incorporating VR Goggles in eLearning positively influences the students’ expectations to improve learning experiences. Consequently, they feel motivated, leading to the wider acceptance of the LMS. This article further concludes that VR Goggles in the LMS lead the students to visualize their creativity, attain emphatic experiences, and enjoy arenas offering visualization of abstract concepts, leading to even positive impacts on their critical thinking abilities and boosting their morale in a ritual learning environment. Further, the study limitations are discussed accordingly.

A. Al Mansoori Media and Creative Industries Department, UAE University, Al Ain, UAE S. Ali · S. A. Pasha Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan M. Alghizzawi Faculty of Business, Marketing Department, Amman Arab University, Amman, Jordan M. Elareshi (B) College of Communication & Media, Al Ain University, Al Ain, UAE e-mail: [email protected] A. Ziani College of Mass Communication, Umm Al Quwain University, Umm Al Quwain, UAE H. Alsridi Department of Media, Tourism and Arts, Bahrain University, Manama, Bahrain © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_48

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Keywords Communication · Education · LMS · Virtual reality · Motivation · Expectation confirmation

1 Introduction Mass media cover many aspects of life today, as they fulfill most important purposes by incorporating different disciplines in one place: education, information, communication, and entertainment. In this regard, learning through new media platforms, also known as eLearning, is a significant addition to the functions of media, particularly new media in our life [1, 2]. Unlike traditional media watching and educational patterns, today’s technology is even more enhanced, gaining every fruitful outcome from the globalized patterns of communication and information [3]. eLearning is an important pathway to creating and sustaining communication, information, education, and learning for students and instructors. One of the primary reasons behind an increased dependence on eLearning is the growing internet usage, primarily accompanied by prominent features providing certain facilities to potential users [4]. Particularly, students in higher education-based institutions significantly benefit from internet usage as besides providing a convenient pathway to education, it is also developing and polishing their critical learning abilities. As a result, exciting studies on the students’ perception of eLearning witness positive attitudes and improved learning capabilities. Especially after the rise of the Covid-19 pandemic, the traditional learning patterns have greatly changed, leading to the incorporation and merge of media into education to create and sustain a better learning environment for the students [5]. As noted by [6], the pandemic has given a lesson to consider crisis management as a part of our daily activities. In other words, an uncertain and prolonging crisis led us to adopt new and improved ways to ensure education and lifelong sustainability for the new generation. For example, LMS emerged as an online “education hub that provides a large and indispensable set of features to support educational activities such as classroom learning, distance education, and continuing education”. Thus, considering the ever-increasing popularity of the internet for educational purposes, the research highlighting the role and importance of the LMS in several institutions is an underrepresented phenomenon. It is also notable that modern educational technology adoption is rapidly taking place worldwide, and educational institutions utilize online educational and management systems [7]. Moreover, when education has considerably switched from conventional to modern technology, additional accessories and features such as VR-based equipment, e.g., headsets, are also considered part of the enhanced learning environment. Overall, the concept of VR first originated back in the 1960s, as the intrepidly evolving internet technology was further leading the researchers and experts to think of proposing more improved technological experiences. However, VR was initially limited to the public sector, yet the liberalization of media and the rise of social media further accelerated its adoption in the private sector [8, 9].

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Thus, this article also aims to focus on the LMS facilitated by the further integration of VR, specifically Goggles, that provide a 3D and 4D classroom environment. Earlier, VR Googles were confined to the concept of entertainment and better TV watching experiences. However, the Covid-19 pandemic also led to their incorporation and usage in the educational field. The article is based on a brief review by keeping in mind the topic and problem of this study. Formally divided into four different sections, the researchers will provide step-by-step evidence to highlight and address the VR Goggles in the LMS worldwide.

2 Methods This study is based on a set of methods and structures to provide systematic results and a conclusion. More specifically, it adopted an applied descriptive approach as the main aim is to highlight the VR Goggles in the LMS as a significant addition [10, 11]. It has briefly discussed the peculiar features and impacts of VR Goggles in terms of LMS acceptance and usage among students across the globe. On the other hand, from the epistemological perspective, [12] considers the current research as a pragmatic approach leading researchers to realistic conclusions.

3 Review and Findings 3.1 VR Googles and Students’ Expectations Improving the quality of education through LMS enhances the users’ experiences and indicates a direct and active intention to adopt technology for different purposes, including education [13]. For example, education and communication are the most commonly recorded purposes that motivate students to adopt both the internet and VR. As a result, these students gain useful experiences that further help them use them for the r relevant purposes (education and entertainment). Particularly, portable VR headsets are equipped with technological sensors that provide the users with improved experiences, including education [14]. To further validate the importance and usability of VR Goggles in education, [15] cited an example of English language students. Learning a new language can be difficult initially, however, incorporating VR Goggles helps the students experience a descriptive, visionary, narrative, and accessible learning environment. A study by. [16] further examined students’ LMS acceptance, which is highly accompanied by the self-learning process. The study applied the case study approach and selected participants from Spanish universities. Results indicated that students strongly intrinsic and extrinsic motivation toward online learning. Teachers appraise the students and give rewards that help them adopt a positive behavior towards eLearning.

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3.2 VR Googles and Students’ Motivation According to Hu Au and Lee [17], technological developments e.g., laptops, mobile phones, LMS-based applications, and others, are part of their knowledge-gaining and sharing journey. On the other hand, instructors also prefer LMS as an important source of education, as witnessed by [18]. Existing research on internet usage and users’ intention indicates that LMS can fulfill the students’ expectations. Notably, LMS provides students with easy access to the educational platforms, including logging into the facility with just a single click, direct contact with the teachers and institutional members, and also free access to educational libraries that are designed for the student’s convenience [19] Incorporating VR Goggles in the LMS-based environment further helps the students nullify the perceived barriers regarding distance education today; many individuals consider distance learning less considerable and compatible with the formal learning patterns. One of the prominent characteristics of VR Goggles in education is virtual classrooms, which help the students see their teachers, understand their non-verbal language, and perform confidently through a real-time, face-to-face learning environment [20]. Today, advanced information and education technologies, including LMS, provide wider education access without geographical barriers. This access also indicates the utmost concern of educational institutions in Pakistan to adopt online learning as an essential part of the existing educational system across the country [21]. However, incorporating VR technology, particularly goggles, further appealed to students to adopt online learning as a pathway to sustain their educational activities in the best possible manner. Figure 1 graphically illustrates the proposed impacts of VR Goggles incorporating leading to LMS acceptance:

Fig. 1 Graphical representation of the study propositions

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3.3 LMS Acceptance and Usage Among Students Social, economic, and in the current era, healthcare situations are imposing several obligations on the territory education expand and flourish. Especially when it is about keeping pace with modern technology and aiming a maximum benefit, it is important to keep pace with modern educational trends [22]. Flexible approaches, such as incorporating education with media and communication resources, provide young learners with great choices regarding when and how they start their learning process with learning flexibility and an equally accessible educational opportunity for everyone [23, 24] study conducted by [25] also examined the impacts of VR Goggles adoption on students’ online learning behavior in the Faculty of Media studies in Hawaiian institutions. Findings showed a strong relationship between VR goggles and students’ enhanced learning experiences. Moreover, participants also expressed their trust in VR Goggles as they provide a learning environment similar to the formal classroom environment [26]. According to [14], digital technology that is widely accompanied by communication and education opportunities is revolutionizing the learning practice at almost every level. The emergency o idea regarding merging education with the internet further proposed innovative ideas for the territory’s education resources. One of the most notable ideas was providing education at every doorstep without any geographical, cultural, or even ethnic barriers. Today, institutions are making significant efforts in developing and accelerating eLearning among stunts by introducing new strategies and incorporating technology such as designing LMS. According to [27], these improved eLearning experiences are widely accompanied by ease of use and innovative technology that motivate potential students to adopt online education. On the other hand, the role of instructors is also of greater importance, determining the students’ attitudes and opinions about LMS and technology incorporation. In this regard, [28] consider incorporating VR Googles in eLearning, particularly LMS, as an important factor that is equally appealing to teachers and students. As a strong innovation, youngsters instantly adopt VR Goggles for entertainment purposes, including Social TV watching. On the other hand, they equally acknowledge and use these technological devices to experience the real-time, face-toface classroom learning environment. As noted by [29], the overall VR industry is creating a great revolution and is aimed to rule the technological arenas by the end of 2035. Already, the developers have introduced its best, so far, version for the entertainment world. However, it is still getting rooted in the educational field, heralding improved learning experiences for the future generation. Thus, VR Googles in the LMS promised to provide endless opportunities to young learners. Domains like entertainment and shopping are already benefitting, but education, on the other hand, is enjoying major benefits that will be expanded in the future [11, 22]. As [30] states, today, VR Goggles are considered an evolving technology that facilitates education and communication among students and instructors. Consequently, positive perception toward VR technology is an inevitable phenomenon that internet usage has increased after the rise of the World Wide Web 2. This increased

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usage is comparatively more visible among the young generation as it ensures an easy knowledge-sharing process and opportunities for teamwork and collaboration. Therefore, the young generation considers VR technology an integral part of their educational journey. When technology facilitates them regarding other functions, i.e., entertainment, information, and communication, its incorporation in education is also the need of the day [31].

4 Conclusion Incorporating technology in learning has already witnessed tremendous growth in students’ positive attitudes towards new approaches in education. Existing literature witnessed the students’ positive response to technology enhancing learning, particularly after the Covid-19 break. This article also addressed the technology incorporation, especially the LMS, in the existing educational institutions that further accelerated the students’ attraction and desire to gain improved learning experiences. However, adding VR technology, particularly VR Goggles, further motivates the students to accept eLearning as it provides them with face-to-face interaction, communication, and education opportunities. As a result, students visualize their creativity, attain emphatic experiences, and enjoy an arena that visualizes abstract concepts, leading to even positive impacts on their critical thinking abilities and boosting their morale in a ritual learning environment.

5 Limitations and Future Research Despite providing a potential review of the literature witnessing the impact of VR Goggles on the acceptance of the LMS, it also contains some primary limitations. First, this study does not focus on any particular geographical region or territory educational institution(s). Second, the authors did not gather data directly from the respondents, limiting its scope. Finally, this study only addressed VR Goggles, whereas other technological devices are also improving the learning experiences, narrowing down the scope of this study.

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Technological Acceleration in Business Education—Study of Educator’s Attitude and Behavior Towards Usage of Technology: UTAUT Framework Nidhi Shukla and S. K. Prasad

Abstract The abrupt and unannounced change due to COVID 19 generated anxiety and tremendous shock among educators as well as students this also boosted the concept of smart universities, which are centred around delivering educational outcomes through the use of developing technologies. The study attempts to understand the attitude and behaviour of educators towards usage of technology in teaching learning process of business education using Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework. Using questionnaire survey method the perception of educators (n = 221) was recorded and statistical techniques were used to study the identified relationships. The finding of the study suggests that effort expectancy, performance expectancy, facilitating conditions and social influence have a significant relationship with the attitude and behaviour of educators towards the acceptance and usage of technology in the teaching learning process. The findings of the study will open new avenues for the smart universities to create courses that integrate technology into the business education process and produce leaders on a global scale and managers with a strong sense of social responsibility. Keywords COVID 19 · Smart universities · Technology in business education · Educators · UTAUT framework

1 Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has affected education in dimensions that academic institutions, administrators, scholars, educators, and students would try to fathom for decades. Early in the year 2020, the global spread of SARSCoV2 necessitated social isolation as the primary form of defense against contracting and transmitting the novel coronavirus. In response to the state of emergency declared to combat the spread of Coronavirus, there was a shift from face-to-face to remote teaching. According to a recent report from UNESCO (2020), more than 1.9 billion students (children and N. Shukla (B) · S. K. Prasad REVA Business School, REVA University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_49

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youth) from 190 countries were compelled to switch to online education. Consequently, academic communities worldwide were forced to implement emergency remote teaching (ERT) to preserve educational consistency [1]. However with respect to course design and assessment tools, it differs from online education prior to the COVID-19 outbreak [2]. For maintaining academic standing and continuity education institutions searched for digital platforms, thereby necessitating the concept smart universities. Utilizing and integrating technology into all facets of institutional management is the guiding premise of the smart university concept. In addition to administrative labor, smart universities facilitate education and growth by utilizing cutting-edge technologies and computerized administrative processes. However, the adoption rate is lower than anticipated due to widespread apprehension caused by a lack of understanding of information management and cognitive technology. It is vital to assess the levels and their relationship to the processes in which they are involved, i.e., how IT technologies are utilized and how the stakeholders react to it. The objective of this study is to investigate the attitude and behavior of the educators towards usage of technology in teaching learning process of business education on the paradigms of Formulation of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework.

2 Review of Literature 2.1 COVID 19 and Smart Universities All the stakeholders’ i.e. academic institutions, students, administrators, scholars and educators, and students will endeavor to understand the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on education. To maintain educational continuity the academic communities worldwide were forced to implement emergency remote teaching (ERT) [1]. It became necessary for universities to test and implement novel approaches to teaching and learning, make extensive use of cutting-edge technological infrastructure, and develop novel means of sustainability. As a direct result of COVID-19, there has been a dramatic increase in the need for student success analytics as well [3]. Sectors of smart education, smart universities, and online learning are emerging and fast growing. They can completely revolutionize current instructional methodologies, learning settings, educational activities, and classroom technology. In order to help students make the most of their potential, e-learning and smart education are centered on empowering educators with cutting-edge technical tools of smart universities to innovate their own teaching practices and create innovative learning environments. A “smart” education is one that incorporates the latest teaching and learning techniques [4]; smart universities include the advent of technologies such

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as smart screens, smart boards, and ubiquitous wireless internet connection. It incorporates smart classrooms, students, pedagogy, teachers, and technological integration not just in engineering disciplines, but also in social, artistic, and a number of interdisciplinary fields [5]. They stay aware of scientific and technical advancements and are inventive [6]. University leaders from all around the world are considering the significance of technology in the classroom, the curriculum, teaching learning process and the students’ overall growth and development. A smart university incorporates advanced software platforms and hardware that make use of big data, social media, sensors, and machine learning in a creative manner. A smart university is the future of academic institutions, with a concentration on current technologies, intellectual growth, and innovation [7, 8]. Academic institutions need to think about making big changes to make them sustainable and inclusive, these changes must be made towards building a smart campus. A smart campus of the university is similar to the idea of a smart city because it combines services, social and cultural aspects of the community [9]. Extending the significance of interactive digital learning, a smart university employs smart technology that enables educators to inspire students to contribute to improving education on campus [10]. Whether on-campus, in a hybrid format, or entirely online, the usage of cutting-edge technologies has a profound effect on the classroom experience [11]. These tools and technologies improve student–teacher communication in both real-time and asynchronous settings, which has a profound impact on how students engage with their own education [12].

2.2 Usage of Technology in Academia The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated an immediate move to distance learning for the majority of higher education students in the beginning of 2020. Educators utilized technologies that offered greater interactivity and hybrid models to engage students in the virtual classroom. These instruments altered learning, instruction, and evaluation in ways that may endure beyond the pandemic. New technologies have had a profound impact on both academic administration and the educational process. According to a study conducted by McKinsey in 2021 [13], higher education institutions may engage students most successfully by focusing on following eight components in the learning experience: connectivity and community, classroom interactions, group work, machine learning –powered teaching assistance, classroom exercises, augmented reality/ virtual reality, AI adaptive course delivery, and student progress monitoring. Experimental teaching learning environment include the augmentation of traditional instruction with use of technologies, such as online quizzes or online offline videos [14]; flipped classroom formats in which students read up on fundamentals before class and then debate them once in the class [15]; and primarily online programs, such as massive open online courses (MOOCs) [16, 17]. Students’ spatial

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cognitive abilities have been enhanced through the use of virtual reality and other novel immersive technologies [18]. Scholars in the fields of business education and allied disciplines have studied the effectiveness of technology-enhanced classrooms over the past two decades [19, 20]. How comfortable one is with technology, how often one uses various technologies (e-mails, personal blog, smartphones, tablets, electronic books/readers, massive open online courses, online surveys, etc.), how much technology is used in the classroom and how often different kinds of technology are used in the classroom (e.g. lecture capture, PowerPoint presentations, audio casts, VR enabled gaming or simulations) add up to the technology users’ perspectives in academia. These technology-enhanced programs “may be tailored to the recipient’s needs and interests rather than the provider’s scheduling and resource requirements”. The utilization of technology in education allows for the creation of flexible course components that students can mix and match to meet their specific academic and career needs. Because of its flexibility to accommodate students’ unique interests and needs, technologymediated learning has made obsolete fixed school schedules and curriculum models [21]. Use of technology in teaching learning process could help connect the two worlds of academia and business and COVID-19 has certainly accelerated this trends in higher education perspective [22]. Due to technological advancements, classrooms are now more interactive and collaborative. Student communication and collaboration is facilitated by email, course-specific websites, and chat rooms. Working together enhances brain’s capacity for learning, memory, and solving problems. Many analysts have observed a change in teacher responsibilities as a result of the widespread adoption of technological applications in higher education. Technology questions the educator’s function as a knowledge transmitter, educators become “designers of learning experiences, processes, and settings” [23]. Users’ intent to use technology is associated with their perceptions of the technology’s usefulness, relevance, and challenge, and these factors play a role in the planning and execution of technology-enhanced learning environments [24]. Technology users are learners and educators in a learning environment. To effectively implement technological changes in the classroom, educators in higher education must be adequately prepared [25]. Hence the attitude and behavior of educators towards the acceptance and usage of technology in teaching learning process is of prime importance.

3 Theoretical Framework—UTAUT Framework The level of satisfaction of delivery partners towards any method or intervention is a crucial indicator of its efficacy. The current study uses Formulation of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework to comprehend the attitude and behavior of educators towards the acceptance and usage of technology in teaching learning process of business education. UTAUT framework has been

UTAUT Framework

Technological Acceleration in Business Education—Study …

Performance expectancy

H1

Effort expectancy

H2

Social Influence

Facilitating Conditions

H3

H4

Attitude of educators towards usage of technology in teaching learning process of business education

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Educator’s behavior towards use of technology in teaching learning process of business education

Fig. 1 Conceptual framework

utilised extensively by researchers to examine the attitudes and acceptability of technologies in various situations like hybrid and online learning in higher education [26]. Since its proposal and empirical validation [27], the framework has demonstrated its explanatory power. Direct predictors of user acceptance and usage behaviour are included in the model across four dimensions: social influence, performance expectancy, facilitating conditions and effort expectancy [28]. Performance expectancy: The user’s performance expectation is the degree to which the user anticipates that the use of technology will lead to enhanced performance on the job (perceived usefulness). Effort Expectancy: the ease with which the technology can be utilized (perceived ease of use). Social influence: user’s belief that influential people think they must adopt a new technology (social factors). Facilitating Conditions: is the degree to which a user believes a technological and organizational framework exists to facilitate their use of that framework (perceived behavioral control) [29]. The current study employs all four dimensions (Fig. 1) to understand the attitude and behavior intention of educators towards usage of technology in teaching learning process of business education, by testing four hypotheses:

4 Method and Measurement The study employed an empirical research design to understand the perceptions of educators working in the selected smart institutions offering business education exposed to online technologies during and post COVID period in the teaching– learning process. The study sampled for heterogeneity across technology usage, departments, and nature of the use to ensure that the results would apply to various scenarios. In addition, the survey documented educator’s perceptions as their familiarity with the technology grew. The study coordinated data collection with training

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programs related to introducing the new technology. Training and individual’s acceptance studies that looked at their reactions to new technologies are analogous to this method. [30]. Questionnaire comprising of items that have been validated in past studies and tailored to the technology and institutions under study was developed. The UTAUT scale [28] and behavioral intention to utilize technology was calculated with a threeitem scale [31] and widely used in the majority of previous individual acceptance studies. The structures, as mentioned earlier, were measured using five-point scales (likert), the scale runs from a negative value of 1 to a positive value of 5.

5 Data Analysis A measurement model of the six direct determinants of intention (including all items linked to each construct) was estimated using the data (N = 221). Modeling all constructs using reflecting indicators. All internal consistency reliabilities (ICRs) exceeded.70. Except for seven loadings, all others were larger than.70, the level regarded as usually acceptable [32] see Table 2. Inter-item correlation matrices demonstrated that intra-construct item correlations were quite high, whereas inter-item correlations were modest. Despite the structural model being evaluated on each item, the sample size is insufficient due to the number of latent variables and connected items. The UTAUT was derived using pooled data from 221 separate investigations. The reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, means, standard deviations, and correlations of the measurement model derived from the analysis are reported in Tables 1 and 2. The regression paths were tested, and all the paths were significant at 0.05, as shown in Fig. 2. Due to space constraints, the estimations of the measurement model (with fewer components) are not shown here. Table 1 Reliability and correlation analysis CR

Mean

SD

PE

EE

FC

SI

ATUT

0.158a

0.538b

0.268b

BTUT 0.052 0.611b

PE

0.79

3.2006

0.86674

1

0.253b

EE

0.84

3.7210

0.85003

0.253b

1

0.065

0.262b

0.259b

FC

0.83

3.5792

0.81671

0.158a

0.065

1

0.241b

0.180b

−0.049

0.262b

0.241b

1

0.250b

0.134a

0.180b

0.250b

1

0.055

0.134b

0.055

1

SI

0.82

3.2760

0.99038

0.538b

ATUT

0.74

3.9378

0.90756

0.268b

0.259b

0.052

0.611b

BI

0.88

a Correlation

3.7466

0.89965

− 0.049

is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).b Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) PE Performance expectancy, EE Effort expectancy, FC Facility coordination, SI Social Influence, ATUT Attitude towards usage of technology and BTUT Behavior towards usage of technology

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Table 2 Factor loadings 1

2

3

4

PE1

0.725

PE2

0.505

PE3

0.774

PE4

0.561

PE5

0.749

5

6

0.799

PE6 EE1

0.608

EE2

0.725

EE3

0.701

EE4

0.613

EE5

0.676

EE6

0.715

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0.856

SI2

0.837

SI3

0.703

SI4

0.747

FC1

0.822

FC2

0.876

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FC5 ATUT1

0.800

ATUT2

0.635

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0.841

BI2

0.821

BI3

0.736 0.725

BI4 AVE KMO

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36.8

45.2

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Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis Rotation Method: Promax with Kaiser Normalization

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0.55 EE

0.68

ATUT

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0.72 FC

0.68 SI Fig. 2 UTAUT model

6 Discussions and Conclusion The purpose of this research was to synthesize the existing literature on technological adoption at the individual level into a cohesive theoretical model that reflects the essential features of the variables that have been previously discovered. The study began by probing of Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework among educators at smart business schools. These experiments provided strong empirical evidence for the UTAUT framework that proposes four direct determinants of intention to use the technology (performance expectation, effort expectation, social impact, and facilitating factors) and a direct driver of using behavior (intention). In most circumstances, performance expectations appear to be a driver of intention. Additionally, the influence of effort expectation on intention is important. Social influence and facilitating conditions have a conditional impact on intent of use of technology. Theoretically, UTAUT offers a sophisticated understanding of evolution of the intention and behavior determinants. Future studies should follow the UTAUT framework described here by unearthing determinants that can contribute to prediction of intent and behavior beyond current understanding. UTAUT explains up to 62% of the diversity in intention; the study may be approaching its practical limits in explaining educator’s acceptance and usage decisions in teaching learning process of business education. Numerous competing models of educator’s adoption towards technology in business education have been proposed. Using regression analysis, this study unifies the most prominent theoretical stances in the literature on educator acceptability, making a significant contribution to the field. The focus of the paper is on how smart universities can effectively deliver the desired outcomes of business education program with technological interventions in the teaching learning process.

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References 1. Stewart, W.H.: A global crash-course in teaching and learning online: a thematic review of empirical emergency remote teaching (ERT) studies in higher education during Year 1 of COVID-19. Open praxis 13(1), 89–102 (2021) 2. Affouneh, S., Salha, S., Khlaif, Z.N.: Designing quality e-learning environments for emergency remote teaching in coronavirus crisis. Interdisc. J. Virtual Learn. Med. Sci. 11(2), 135–137 (2020) 3. Uskov, V.L, et al.: A smart university taxonomy: features, components, systems. In: Smart Education and e-Learning, pp. 3–14, 643p. Springer (2016) 4. Tikhomirov, V., Dneprovskaya, N., Yankovskaya, E.: Three dimensions of smart education. In:Smart Education and Smart e-Learning, pp. 47–56. Springer, Cham (2015) 5. CSIC (Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction).: Smart Infrastructure:Getting More from Strategic Assets. CSIC, Cambridge, UK: http://www-smartinfrastruc ture.eng.cam.ac.uk/files/the-smart-infrastructure-paper (2016) 6. Spector, J.M.: Conceptualizing the emerging field of smart learning environments. Smart Learn. Environ. 1, 2 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-014-0002-7 7. Uskov, V.L., et al.: Smart pedagogy for Smart Universities. In: Uskov VL, Howlett RJ, Jain LC (eds.) Smart Education and e-Learning 2017, pp. 3–16. Springer https://doi.org/10.1007/9783-319-59451-4. ISBN 978-3-319-59450-7(2017). 8. Gudkova, S.A., Emelina,M.V.: Psychological and pedagogical methods of formation of positive motivation of foreign language learning. Baltic Humanitarian J. 1(26), 209–212. https://elibra ryru/download/elibrary_37146801_52394540.pdf. (referred: 03 Nov 2020) (2019) 9. Méndez, J.I., Ponce, P., Peffer, T., Meier, A., Molina, A.: A Gamified HMI as a Response for Implementing a Smart-Sustainable University Campus. In: Camarinha-Matos LM, Boucher X, Afsarmanesh H (eds) Smart and Sustainable Collaborative Networks 4.0. PRO-VE 2021. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 629. Springer, Cham. https:// doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85969-5_64 (2021) 10. Eric, E.: The Art of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization—O’Reilly Media,Inc. Online Document: file:///C:/Users/V3670/Downloads/11849-ArticleText-14753-1-1020191127.pdf (2017) 11. Czerkawski, B., Lyman, B.: An instructional design framework for fostering student engagement in online learning environments. Tech Trends 60, 532–539 (2016) 12. Bergdahl, N., Nouri, J., Fors, U., Knutsson, O.: Engagement, disengagement and performance when learning with technologies in upper secondary school. Comput. Educ. 149, 103783 (2020) 13. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/how-technology-is-shaping-lea rning-in-higher-education (2021). 14. Ghosh, K., Nangi, S.R., Kanchugantla, Y., Rayapati, P.G., Bhowmick, P.K., Goyal, P.: Augmenting video lectures: Identifying off-topic concepts and linking to relevant video lecture segments. Int. J. Artif. Intell. Educ. 32(2), 382–412 (2022) 15. Cho, H.J., Zhao, K., Lee, C.R., Runshe, D., Krousgrill, C.: Active learning through flipped classroom in mechanical engineering: improving students’ perception of learning and performance. Int. J. STEM Educ. 8(1), 1–13 (2021) 16. Liu, C., Zou, D., Chen, X., Xie, H., Chan, W.H.: A bibliometric review on latent topics and trends of the empirical MOOC literature (2008–2019). Asia Pac. Educ. Rev. 22(3), 515–534 (2021) 17. Zhu, M., Sari, A. R., Lee, M.M.: Trends and issues in MOOC learning analytics empirical research: a systematic literature review (2011–2021). Educ. Inf. Technol., 1–26 (2022) 18. Shojaei, A., Rokooei, S., Mahdavian, A., Carson, L., Ford, G.: Using immersive video technology for construction management content delivery: a pilot study. J. Inf. Technol. Constr. 26, 886–901 (2021) 19. Arbaugh, J.B et al. What are the 100 most cited articles in business and management education research, and what do they tell us? Organ. Manage. J. (2015)

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Exploring E-Learning During and Post Covid-19 Pandemic Maryam Shaaban, Manal Alfayez, Allam Hamdan, and Ali Bakir

Abstract This study explored the subject of e-learning and its effectiveness in facing the challenges posed by the Covid-19 Pandemic. It reviewed relevant literature focusing on social distancing period as a trigger of the sudden acceleration of e-learning, radically affecting the education, forcing educational institutions to close schools and rely on distance education strategies. The findings suggest that there is an urgent need to reconsider educational processes, systems, and procedures to ensure that the educational process runs well during social distancing and post Pandemic periods. Among these measures are adherence to social distancing by adopting distance learning strategies that provide material resources for schools and financially vulnerable families, and restructuring study time, curricula and delivery, as well as re-designing assessment and standards. Keywords Covid19 pandemic · Social distance · E-learning · Virtual learning · Distance learning · Education · Internet

1 Introduction Schools of pre-university education in the Kingdom of Bahrain are given great care by the Ministry of Education. Students are motivated to attend these schools for the general scientific knowledge and practical skills they offer, which ensure that on graduation students are ready to join engineering colleges or enter the labor market. The Covid-19 pandemic triggered unprecedented changes in all areas of life around the world. In the field of education, distance learning was quickly adopted with its synchronous and asynchronous dimensions.

M. Shaaban · M. Alfayez · A. Hamdan (B) Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain A. Bakir University of Business and Technology, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_50

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The Ministry of Education in the Kingdom took it upon itself to ensure the continuity of the education process at all schooling levels and in all universities. Ministry’s employees, including teachers, administrators, and students had to switch to remote elearning, adopting the same path for Bahraini students to receive appropriate standard education. However, the shift of teachers towards e-learning was uneven due to their different abilities in employing electronic tools and strategies, whether in the field of teaching, assessment, or administration. It was thus imperative for school leaders to initiate programs to improve teachers’ electronic skills to ensure that they provide interactive lessons that lead to students’ acquisition of the appropriate knowledge. The process of electronic empowerment in the Kingdom’s schools began after the success of His Majesty King Hamad’s project “Schools of the future”, which was organized by the Ministry of Education in December 2014 and implemented in 2015–2016 school year. Benefiting from national and international experiences, this project helped to veer the process of employing information and communication technology in education in a direction commensurate with the advanced level of the schools’ e-learning culture; offering exemplary education at the level of the GCC countries and the Arab region.

1.1 Research Problem The restrictions on the ability to meet during a pandemic limit students’ opportunity to learn. It is well known that time spent on learning is one of the most reliable indicators of opportunity to learn. Studies indicate that the dropout not only leads to the suspension of the learning time, but also to the loss of acquired knowledge and skills. They also found that free vacation classroom is equivalent to one month of learning in the school year, mathematics skill decreases more than reading skill, the severity of the decrease in skill increases with the stage of study, and that students of low income are most affected. The research problem for this study is therefore, exploring e-learning as an alternative to traditional education, particularly during Covid-19 social distancing period, and examining the impact of the Pandemic on e-learning’s development.

2 Literature Review 2.1 E-Learning Concept E-learning can be understood as education that is based on achieving communication between students and teachers in an instant, electronically through a group of webs so that the school becomes a networked institution. Effective e-learning requires website

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and strategies to achieve immediate communication between students, teacher, and the educational institution to which they belong. It requires achieving an effective IT environment so that all parties can work through, exchanging information and knowledge, using website techniques and a set of procedures.

2.2 Setting up a Website Setting up a website and tutorials requires finding effective, immediate, and rapid support for students; preparing an educational network for educational institutions; unifying the models that are used in all educational programs; providing a set of tools for coordination, cooperation, and integration to exchange information and knowledge, and prototyping data designs. This process is underpinned by a set of basic facts about e-learning. E-learning is a well-planned and designed system based on a systemic approach, with its inputs, processes, outputs, and feedback. E-learning is done synchronously asynchronously; its concern is with all the elements and components of the educational program, including objectives, content, methods of providing information, activities and various learning resources, and appropriate evaluation methods. It embodies the educational process and the delivery of educational courses, as well as the provision of in-service training programs for teachers. Operationalizing Elearning depends on the use of interactive electronic media to communicate between the learner and the teacher and the content of the learning, employing information and communication technology in the educational process. E-learning has also changed the image of the traditional classroom to an interactive learning environment based on the interaction between the learners and the various learning sources. Furthermore, not all e-learning must take place from a distance; e-learning is only one of the forms of distance education, and it can take place within the walls of the classroom with the presence of the teacher. It may be an aid to classroom education, mixed with classroom instruction, or an alternative to classroom education, such as (a virtual school or university). Moreover, e-learning supports the principle of self-learning and lifelong learning, and is compatible with public and private education, pre-university, and university, and with education and training.

2.2.1

E-Learning Aims and Objectives

The aim of e-learning is to support the process of interaction between students, teachers, and assistants through the exchange of educational experiences, opinions, discussions, and dialogues using various communication channels such as e-mail, chatting/talking, and virtual classrooms. Among its students’ objectives are raising students’ higher thinking abilities, providing them with the necessary communication and information technology skills, expanding their circle of communication through

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global and local networks, linking educational sites, and using them as sources of knowledge. E-learning’s objectives for the teachers include providing teachers with technical skills to use modern educational technologies, developing their role in the educational process to keep pace with scientific and technical developments. For the community and educational institutions, the objectives are creating educational networks to organize and manage the work of educational institutions, providing education that suits different age groups, considering the individual differences between them, as well as strengthening the relationship between parents and schools and between schools and the external environment.

2.2.2

E-Learning Styles

E-learning offers two modes of education. The first mode, synchronous learning, is education on the air that requires the presence of learners at the same time in front of computers to conduct discussion and conversation between the students themselves and with the teacher through chatting rooms or receiving lessons through virtual classes. The synchronous e-learning tools consist of virtual classroom, videoconferencing, and chat rooms. The second mode, asynchronous education, is indirect education that does not require the presence of learners at the same time or in the same place and is done through e-learning techniques such as e-mail, where information is exchanged between the students themselves and with the teacher at successive times, and the learners choose the times and places that suit them. Asynchronous e-learning tool include e-mail, World Wide Web, mailing lists, discussion groups, file transfer, and CDs. The World Wide Web (www) has combined synchronous and asynchronous learning; where learning always takes place and can be stored for reference.

2.2.3

Forms of Using E-Learning in the Educational Process

There are three forms or models for using e-learning in the education system, partial e-learning, full e-learning, and blended e-learning. Partial e-learning. In this form, some e-learning techniques are used with the usual classroom instructions, and it may take place during the school day in the first semester or outside the school day hours. Examples are directing students to conduct a search by using the Internet, or the school administration placing school schedules on a website, or teachers using the Internet in preparing their lessons and reinforcing the teaching situations that they will present in the traditional classroom. Full e-learning. This form is used as an alternative to classroom education. Learning occurs by the learner in virtual classrooms, round the clock, anywhere and at any time; it is also referred to as virtual learning and a form of distance education. The role of the learner here is the primary role where learners teach themselves

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in an individual way or in small groups, exchanging experiences in a synchronous or asynchronous way via chat rooms, video conferencing, whiteboard, email, and discussion groups. Blended E-learning. Blended learning is a controversial form of education; some researchers see it as an old term that has been reformulated in a new way and that all practices that take place in educational and training institutions are originally a type of blended learning. Others consider it as a justification of traditional education methods, and there are those who use it to partly replace traditional classroom education. Yet a fourth group sees it as one of the approaches that focus on the learner, and that it is more compatible with the actual needs of both the learner and the environment where the learning takes place. Attempts were made that dealt with broader and deeper perspectives than just integrating traditional teaching and modern learning methods. The results of these attempts led to the application of blended learning in a narrow and restricted way through traditional teaching techniques and the usual classroom, and virtual classrooms. However, it is clear that blended learning does not adhere to the limits of both traditional education and e-learning. Rather, it is a system that expands and develops the use of educational technology in the educational process, and it also provides broader and more areas for integrating modern theories in teaching and learning [1]. In implementing e-learning, educational institutions may need to consider exploring the views of teachers and students regarding the ease of sharing knowledge and information, building a vision for the integration of all the electronic components that make up the educational system, encouraging and motivating students to accept e-learning, and changing the educational system to a digital education one [2].

2.3 Covid-19 Challenges to the Educational Process The Corona Pandemic is likely to lead to the greatest disruption to educational opportunities around the world within one generation, affecting individuals and societies. It is imperative that education leaders take immediate steps to develop and implement strategies that mitigate the impact of the pandemic. There is no doubt that the Corona virus has affected all aspects of life, including the educational field, particularly as it coincided with the height of the school year in most countries, which made the task difficult for governments, but mainly for faculty and students. The necessity of staying at home required adopting an alternative way of education so that learning can continue. Technology, distance learning and the Internet emerged as viable alternatives. Although schools and universities remain empty, education must go on, and the virtual classrooms are full of teachers and students. Under preventive measures to combat Corona, using distance education, teachers deliver lessons and homework to their students with audio and video, through online platforms. Schools in the Palestinian Authority areas have adopted the method of distance education. The Jordanian Ministry of Education announced that the “Your Lesson” platform has been activated for distance education, as is the case in Egypt.

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In the UAE, Vice President Mohammed bin Rashid said, “Schools have stopped, but education will not stop… and we are the country most ready for smart learning.” Similarly, the Ministry of Education in Qatar issued a statement on Saturday announcing that “public school students will begin their studies from Sunday through the online distance learning system.” In Lebanon, the Ministries of Education and Information have cooperated in broadcasting educational classes on Lebanon TV. The Ministry of Education in Ankara has completed all preparations for the resumption of studies for all levels, via the Internet and national television [3].

2.4 Expanding the Use of E-Learning and Distance Learning, Alleviating COVID 19’s Impacts The Pandemic has awakened educational systems around the world to espouse elearning with full force, and it is expected that interest in e-learning will expand. The most prominent indicator of this trend is the large increase in investment in technologies in general and in e-education in particular. The crisis period has also marked a steady increase of investment among major and emerging companies as well as countries. The report, “Life after Covid-19: The Future of Education”, by Dubai Future Foundation indicated that the upcoming global investment figures in the field of educational technology will jump from $18.66 billion in 2019 to nearly $350 billion by 2025. It is expected that the size of the educational technology market in the UAE will reach $40 billion by 2022. Educational institutions were at the forefront of the sectors most affected by the Pandemic, and in all countries without exception, leading to the interruption in education of more than 1.6 billion children and young people, prompting the search for alternative methods of learning. In this context, several initiatives emerged to incorporate smart applications into distance learning platforms. Accelerated technological development has contributed to achieving this transformation, creating a new reality where the education system is rethought in terms of its philosophy, objectives, curricula and means. Future and expected scenarios were explored for learning in coexistence with the pandemic and beyond. In fact, distance education is not new, as it has been known for decades in some developed countries. Now it has become an urgent necessity, especially in times of crisis and pandemics that require social distancing. In 1892, the University of Chicago founded the first independent Department of Correspondence Education. In 1956, Chicago Community Colleges introduced television service in teaching through educational channels, and NYSES University is the first open American university established in response to the desires of learners for non-traditional higher education. Thus, the trend towards “digital education” was expected, but the “Covid19” Pandemic has pushed it to the fore.

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3 Findings Despite the many advantages of distance education, such as ease of access to educational content, breaking the educational border barrier, saving time, solving the crisis of student density, and reducing the financial burdens on families, there remain some challenges that face this type of education. Although distance learning has achieved great success in developed countries with a strong technological infrastructure, it is different for developing countries, especially considering the fragility of the digital infrastructure, and the high cost of Internet service compared to income levels. The low level of interaction between the teacher and the student is seen as one of the most important impediment to distance education. Another impediment is social isolation and the consequent poor commitment of students to pursue distance education programs. This is because the school represents an important outlet for getting to know peers and making friends; thus resistance from children to this transformation is highly expected. The stagnation of education systems, particularly in developing countries is considered one of the biggest challenges that prevent changing education methods. These systems suffer from a focus on certificates rather than skills, and from the problem of indoctrination, in addition to the absence of legislation supporting elearning. Difficulty in assessment and examinations; because of the Pandemic led many countries to abolish exams in favor of using research projects to evaluate students performance. As distance education is different from traditional education, the evaluation process would also have to differ in terms of setting controls to ensure that this is done in a correct manner, and to ensure that those exams are performed by the students themselves and not by anyone else. Furthermore, there is lack of awareness and integrated perception of distance education on all sides of the educational process. In the last century, there was a perception that education is the responsibility of the school and the teacher; education is now seen as an extended process that requires the participation of all parties. There is also the issue of inequality and lack of equal opportunities, as distance education has led to an increase in inequality among students because of the variation in the spread and speed of the Internet in each country. In addition, the affordability to own personal computers is another problem which has led to an increase in the digital divide and inequality. Nevertheless, the economic turmoil caused by social distancing created a golden opportunity for Governments in partnerships with the private sector to provide online learning opportunities to develop functional skills for those who have been laid off work and will need support in finding jobs.

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4 Conclusion and Recommendations The restrictions on the ability to meet during the Pandemic limit students’ opportunity to learn. It is evidenced that time spent on learning is one of the most reliable indicators of such an opportunity. The effects of interruption of learning in the classroom causes dropout leading to the suspension of learning and loss of acquired knowledge and skills, where students of low income are more affected. This study points to a complex Pandemic and post-Pandemic environment which is becoming increasingly unpredictable. In education, this environment requires the development of flexible, studentfocused, industry-oriented programs. E-learning and distance learning are destined to become the cornerstones of such programs. The exploration of E-learning in this study invites the following recommendations. Establishing a working team or a steering committee that will be responsible for developing and implementing the educational response to the Pandemic, and ensuring that it covers the school’s diverse aspects of work, should be the starting point. Such aspects may include, for example, curricula; teacher education; information technology; and teacher, parent, student, and industry representatives. An important issue is re-prioritizing curricular objectives since the traditional educational methods may not be available. Identifying alternative means of providing learning, including online learning to offer diversity and opportunities for interaction. This assumes all students have access to electronic devices and Internet connection; ways must, therefore, be found to provide them. Adequate support must also be provided for the most vulnerable students and families during the implementation. Furthermore a mechanism must be designed for immediate professional development for teachers and parents so that they are able to support learners in the new method of teaching. Consequently, establishing methods that enhance the cooperation of teachers and professional communities and increase the independence of the teacher will be required. As for the learners, appropriate mechanisms will be needed for defining, designing innovative evaluation systems. Also, there will be a need to develop alternative means of distributing food and other social services to students and their families who need such a support. For schools and educational institutions, regulatory framework will need to be designed in ways that make education via the Internet and other methods possible, supporting the independence and cooperation of the teacher. Moreover, every school must develop a plan for the continuity of education; here education authorities can provide structured examples of plans in other schools. Schools should also design a system for communicating with all students, and a model to ensure daily attendance of students, provide guidance and counselling to students and families on the safe use of time spent using devices via the Internet. It is further necessary for schools to receive the financial, logistical, and moral support they need to achieve success [3].

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References 1. Abdelkhalek, H.A., Refaie, H.S., Aziz, R.F.: Optimization of time and cost through learning curve analysis. Ain Shams Eng. J. 11(4), 1069–1082 (2020) 2. Saleem, M., Kamarudin, S., Shoaib, H.M., Nasar, A.: Influence of augmented reality app on intention towards e-learning amidst COVID-19 pandemic. Interact. Learn. Environ. pp. 1–15 (2021) 3. Alazzam, M.B., Mansour, H., Alassery, F., Almulihi, A.: Machine learning implementation of a diabetic patient monitoring system using interactive E-app. Comput. Intell. Neurosci. (2021) 4. Al Mubarak, M.: Sustainably developing in a digital world: harnessing artificial intelligence to meet the imperatives of work-based learning in Industry 5.0. Devel. Learning Org. ahead-of-print. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1108/DLO-04-2022-0063 5. Isa, A.A., AlYaqoot, F.J., Ahmed, T.S., AlArabi, Y.T., Hamdan, A., Alareeni, B.: E-Learning and understanding of accounting during covid-19 pandemic: literature review. In: Alareeni, B., Hamdan, A. (eds) Innovation of Businesses, and Digitalization during Covid-19 Pandemic. ICBT 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 488. Springer, Cham (2023). https:// doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08090-6_65

New Efficient Indicators for Placing Qualifications in the Jordanian National Qualifications Framework Belal M. Zaqaibeh, Moham’d M. Al-Dlalah, and Zaid A. Al-Anber

Abstract The guide of the national qualifications framework is the light and pathway for academic institutions to prepare their qualifications to be complied with the international standards. Set of sub-standards and indicators are proposed in this paper to cover the guide shortage. This work is proposed to the accreditation and quality assurance commission for higher education institutions of Jordan to continue developing its national qualifications framework. The proposed sub-standers and their indicators are reviewed by experts in the field and will be approved for the Jordanian national qualifications framework where it is requested by the accreditation and quality assurance commission for higher education institutions. Keywords National qualifications framework · NQF standards · And NQF indicators

1 Introduction The Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission for Higher Education Institutions (AQACHEI) is responsible for managing the Jordanian National Qualifications Framework (JNQF). The current JNQF guide has five pioneer standards but without indicators, in this paper set of indicators are written to satisfy these standards.

B. M. Zaqaibeh (B) Department of Computer Science, Jadara University, Irbid, Jordan e-mail: [email protected] M. M. Al-Dlalah Faculty of Educational Sciences, Isra University, Amman, Jordan e-mail: [email protected] Z. A. Al-Anber AQACHEI, Amman, Jordan © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_51

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The AQACHEI has comprehensive standards that includes Need and justification for offering qualification, Compatibility of qualification with framework’s requirements, Designing the qualification content, Appropriateness of evaluation and examinations, and Appropriateness of the qualification level and the number of credit hours. Institutions need indicators to comply their qualifications, 30 sub-standards are proposed in this paper to cover the JNQF standards. Furthermore, 140 indicators are proposed too to ease measuring and evaluating academic qualifications. Section 2 represents a background where Sect. 3 shows our contribution in introducing substandards and their indicators, in Sect. 4 results and discussion are presented, and the conclusion and future work is presented in Sect. 5.

2 Preliminary The higher education institutes in most counties around the world are looking for standardize the academic qualifications [1]. Valuable works have been published by many counties with slight variations where the author in [1] summarizes the descriptions adopted in some countries such as Jordan, UAE, Bahrain, New Zealand, and Scotland. Achieving learning outcomes is the main focus to the new requirements for both program learning outcomes and course learning outcomes [2, 2]. Learning outcomes can be described as statements of the knowledge, skills and abilities [4]. In Jordan the Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission for Higher Education Institutions (AQACHEI) is the official authorized commission which has developed its own National Qualifications Framework (NQF) [5]. Subsequently, the AQACHEI has published the guide for the Jordanian NQF (JNQF) and classified learning outcomes into three dimensions that are Knowledge, Skills, and Competencies. The JNQF consists of 10 levels for each of the academic and professional tracks, so that, descriptors are defined for each level to define the Knowledge, Skills and Competencies that should be related to the qualification, and this enables ensuring a common quality of all qualifications and setting standards based on learning outcomes to develop educational programs that lead to qualifications that allow the ability to develop, evaluate and improve the quality of education [5, 6]. The NQF for UAE is quite similar to the JNQF where it is based on three descriptors but the third descriptor is divided into three sub descriptors which are: Autonomy and responsibility, Role in context, and Self-development [7]. Furthermore, in the NQF for Bahrain, five descriptors are proposed [8]. The descriptors of the NQF for New Zealand are also similar to the JNQF [9]. In Scottish credit and NQF, 12 levels are defined and five descriptors [10]. The JNQF guide includes five standards that are the Need and justification for offering the qualification, Compatibility of the qualification with the framework’s requirements, Designing the qualification content, Appropriateness of evaluation

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Step1. Submitting the placement application. Step2. Checking the qualification documents. Step3. Field visit. Step4. Verifying the qualification by a verification committee. Step5. Getting the committee report. Step6. The Accreditation Commission Board Decision. Step7. Notification for correction purposes. Step8. Official notification of placement decision. Step9. Publishing the decision. Fig. 1 Qualification placement algorithm

and examinations, and Appropriateness of the qualification level and the number of credit hours [5]. Some objectives of the JNQF as mentioned in the guide are: • Recognizing previous education. • Regulating the qualifications issued by the various education and training institutions in Jordan and ensuring that the standards of qualifications are equivalent to those of the educational and training institutions in other parts of the world. • Ensuring the consistency of the learning outcomes of the educational institutions. • Clear identification of the levels of qualifications and learning outcomes of the educational programs placed in those levels. The AQACHEI has put two phases to apply the JNQF on all institutes which are: 1. Institutions Listing 2. Qualifications Placement In the Institutions Listing, institutes have to provide the organizational reference for their work as being registered legally and the approval decision of the institutional accreditation from AQACHEI. In the Qualifications Placement, the inspection process has to assure that the institute is applying the JNQF standards and achieving its indicators. Figure 1 shows the algorithm of placing a qualification on the JNQF:

3 The Contribution As mentioned early in the literature, the AQACHEI has set five standards in the JNQF guide without listing their indicators which created an ambiguity for academic institutes to implement and apply for placing their academic qualifications in the JNQF. Indicators must be measured as we as learning outcome must be assessed too [4]. Set of sub-standards and their indicators are proposed to satisfy these approved standards. Each standard has its own importance and direction where it is too big to be described or evaluated directly. Therefore, sub-standards are proposed for each standard and also indicators are proposed and evaluated for each sub-standard.

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Fig. 2 Distribution of indicators on their sub-standards

The distribution of standards shows their integrations, where three sub-standards are proposed for the first standard which makes up about 10%, for the second standard seven sub-standards are proposed which makes up about 20%, for the third standard nine sub-standards are proposed which makes up about 30%, for the fourth standard nine sub-standards are proposed which makes up about 30%, and three sub-standards are proposed for the fifth standard which makes up about 10% of the total substandards. Figure 2 shows the distribution of the sub-standards and their indicators. There are 30 sub-standards and 140 indicators that represented the five standards and made them measurable against the JNQF.

3.1 The Need and Justification for Offering the Qualification The needs and justifications for offering the qualification justifies the reason for agreeing on placing the qualification. Figure 3 shows the distribution of indicators on the first standard. Three sub-standards are proposed with 22 indicators for the first standard where they show the standard dimensions. The next sections show each sub-standard and its description:

Fig. 3 Distribution of indicators on the first standard

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The qualification needs The institution shall have a policy and procedures for studying and determining the need for the qualification in the labor market, and proving this through approved studies and reports such as civil service bureau reports and questionnaires. The institution also should have a policy and procedures for documenting the minutes of meetings in the academic department/college, and there are minutes of meetings of the committees concerned with determining the need for the qualification, which shows the discussion of reports, the results of the questionnaires, and minutes of meetings with employers and experts. The institution should have conducted economic feasibility studies for the qualification, and referenced to local, regional, and global databases. Future jobs for alumni of the qualification The institution has to approve mechanisms and procedures to determine the fields of work for alumni of the qualification, and the institution should make questionnaires and studies to determine the areas of work, marketing plans, an employment day for alumni, and their opinions of the syllabi and qualification content. There is also a policy to follow up alumni at their destinations within six months of graduation, and to follow up on the suitability of jobs to the qualifications held by the alumni. The institution also should have databases that show the need for employment and employment institutions, statistics on the numbers of alumni who have been employed and those who have not, and a list of alumni’ names and their destinations after graduation. The institution has to make contributions to help alumni, such as making agreements and partnerships for the employment of its graduates. Feedback from stakeholders The institution has conducted multiple studies to collect the opinion of the stakeholders from students, parents, and experts. Furthermore, there are questionnaires, meetings, interviews, etc. with the stakeholders, and the results were analyzed to show the extent of the need for the qualification. There must be continuous communication and activities with the program’s advisory board.

3.2 Compatibility of the Qualification with the JNQF Requirements The compatibility of the qualification with the JNQF requirements justifies the reason for agreeing on placing the qualification. Figure 4 shows the distribution of indicators on the second standard. Six sub-standards are proposed with 33 indicators for the second standard where they show the standard dimensions. The next sections show the sub-standards and the descriptions for the first three of them:

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Fig. 4 Distribution of indicators on the second standard

Acceptance of students in the qualification The institution has policies, procedures, and criteria for accepting students in the qualification. There is a justification for each of the admission criteria in ensuring of its applicant that they are qualified enough and to complete the qualification requirements, these criteria should be written in the qualification specifications or guide. There is also an admission test for applicants in some qualifications that require it, with samples of student admission forms and samples of admission tests. There is also a policy for applicants to complain about not joining the qualification. Recognition of prior education The institution should have a special policy for admission to the qualification, whether it is a transferred student internally or externally, followed by the presence of forms and samples of applications for admission of students transferred from other institutions. Subsequently, there is a policy for equivalency, accreditation, and transfer of courses, forms and samples of transfer of credit hours, and equivalency of courses. And the existence of a grievance policy regarding enrollment or transfer to the qualification. Requirements for graduation from the qualification Existence of degree-granting instructions and policies for graduating from the qualification, and the existence of clear and announced standards that outline the graduation requirements, and proof of compatibility between the standards of graduation requirements with national and international standards and requirements. There must also be mechanisms and procedures in place to ensure that students meet the requirements and conditions for graduation. Other sub-standards are Benchmarking with local, regional, and international qualifications, Annual review and periodic review of qualification, Mapping committee and conformation committee.

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3.3 Designing the Qualification Content Designing the qualification content justifies the reason for agreeing on placing the qualification. Figure 5 shows the distribution of indicators on the third standard. Nine sub-standards are proposed with 42 indicators for the third standard where they show the standard dimensions. The next sections show the sub-standards and the descriptions for the first three of them: Proposing a new qualification The institution has a policy for proposing qualifications, and there is a clear, documented and applicable mechanism for the sustainability and preservation of the qualification. A review report by the advisory board of the qualification available. Qualification structure The academic department/college has a structure in which the qualification appears. There is evidence that the compulsory and elective courses are distributed according to approved standards and benchmarks. There is a study plan and a qualification guide that is announced and accessible to students and faculty members. There are also documents that show the courses outputs and their suitability and relevance to the outputs of the qualification and the descriptors of the JNQF. Learning Outcomes There are clear and specific objectives for the qualification as well as for all courses. There is a clear mechanism for the process of writing educational outputs, periodically reviewing and approving them. Fig. 5 Distribution of indicators on the third standard

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The institution follows an effective mechanism in writing learning outcomes to match international standards, that is, the number of educational outcomes for the course is from 3 to 6, and the number of learning outcomes for the qualification is from 8 to 12. There is a mechanism to ensure that the number of learning outcomes for graduation projects and field training matches international standards, so that the number of learning outcomes for field training is not less than 60% of the number of qualification outcomes, and the number of learning outcomes for graduation projects is not less than 80% of the number of qualification outcomes. The extent to which the learning outcomes are achieved at the end of each semester are measured regularly and with approved measurement tools. Other sub-standards are Teaching and learning methods, Assessment methods, Course Content and Suitability to the Qualification, Students’ progression, Learning resources, and Facilities for those with special needs.

3.4 Appropriateness of Evaluation and Examinations The appropriateness of evaluation and examinations justifies the reason for agreeing on placing the qualification. Figure 6 shows the distribution of indicators on the fourth standard. Nine sub-standards are proposed with 31 indicators for the fourth standard where they show the standard dimensions. The next sections show the sub-standards and the descriptions for the first three of them:

Fig. 6 Distribution of indicators on the fourth standard

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Assessment and correction criteria The institution has specific criteria for assessment that are detailed and known to the faculty members and students, and there is a clear mechanism and rules for correction and writing feedback for students. Answer keys are also available for all exams and course work. Assessment design and attendance methods The institution has a policy for assessment, and there is a mechanism for how to design the assessment in different ways that suit the type of learning outcomes and where it is held. Assessments must cover all course learning outcomes that are offered during a semester to match the level of each learning output. There is a standardized and followed format for assessment at the qualification level. Feedback from students on the assessment Feedback is available from students on their achievements in assessments (exams and course work) written in approved forms. Students’ feedback is taken into consideration in improving the course and this is followed up by the qualification coordinator to ensure the desired benefit from the feedback. Other sub-standards are Evaluation transparency, Grievance of evaluation results, Internal moderation and external auditing, The extent to achieve courses learning outcomes, The extent to achieve qualification learning outcomes, and The extent to achieve the JNQF descriptors.

3.5 Appropriateness of the Qualification Level and the Number of Credit Hours The appropriateness of the qualification level and the number of credit hours justifies the reason for agreeing on placing the qualification. Figure 7 shows the distribution of indicators on the fifth standard. Three sub-standards are proposed with 12 indicators for the fifth standard where they show the standard dimensions. Next sections show each sub-standard and its indicators:

Fig. 7 Distribution of indicators on the fifth standard

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Level of courses in the JNQF The level of each course is determined based on the levels of the JNQF. The level of learning outcomes for the courses was determined based on a clear and effective mechanism commensurate with the difficulty of learning in them and their suitability to the level specified for the descriptors in the JNQF. The confirmation committee reviews and confirms the reports and forms issued by the mapping committee. Equivalence of course hours in the JNQF There is an accurate and documented distribution of the process of calculating the hours of courses for the qualification according to the hours of the JNQF, and there is agreement on the number of hours calculated and their suitability to achieve the learning outcomes. The hours are calculated by a specialized committee (mapping committee) and confirmed by a different committee (the confirmation committee). The qualification level In the qualification there are more than 25% of the number of compulsory courses bearing the qualification level (7), and there is in the qualification no more than 20% of the compulsory courses at level (4), and the rest of the courses are at levels 5 or 6, and accordingly the level of the qualification is determined. There is evidence that the hours of the JNQF are calculated by adding the notional hours and dividing it by 10 so that the result becomes after rounding 12 h. There is evidence that the number of course hours in the JNQF for level (7) is 12 h/framework.

4 Results and Discussion The JNQF is designed to let all institutions work together to provide better educational and developmental learning outcomes for all students in the 10 levels. The JNQF introduced a new quality standard to improve education and aims to raise quality and drive continuous improvement and consistency in teaching and learning. Figure 8 shows the distribution percentages of indicators over the five standards. The third standard which is Designing the qualification content has 30% of the total indicators, this due to its importance, where second and fourth standards almost have equal number of indicators which are 24% and 22% respectively. Figure 9 shows a summary of all standards and their indicators. Each column in Fig. 9 represents a sub-standard and the number of indicators is represented by the column heights. All indicators were refereed and tested by accredited experts which is made them to be reliable to be used for evaluating any academic qualification.

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Fig. 8 Percentages of indicators in each standard

Fig. 9 The distribution of standards and sub-standards with their indicators

5 Conclusion and Future Work The JNQF standards became ready by including the proposed 30 sub-standards and their efficient 140 indicators, these indicators are smart enough to evaluate qualification and their domain. Subsequently, institutions have to review their qualifications and apply the JNQF requirements through implementing its indicators in their qualification. As a future work, indicators measurement method is needed in an electronic form that eases the evaluating of indicators and provides a full picture about the intended qualification. A smart system is needed to determine the qualification placement level and area of improvements. Acknowledgements This work is partially supported by the Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission for Higher Education Institutions.

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References 1. Zaqaibeh, B.: Assessing and achieving intended learning qutcomes against the NQF case of CS program at Jadara University. Int. J. Adv. Soft Comput. Appl. (IJASCA). 14(2) (2022) 2. Elhassan, A., Jenhani, I., Ben Brahim, G.: Remedial actions recommendation via multi-label classification: a course learning improvement method. Int. J. Mach. Learn. Comput. 8(6) (2018) 3. Jenhani, I., Brahim, G.B., Elhassan, A.: Course learning outcome performance improvement: a remedial action classification based approach. In: 15th IEEE International conference on machine learning and applications (ICMLA), pp. 408–413, (2016) 4. David, M.M., Robert, L.L.: Norman Gronlund, measurement and assessment in teaching. Pearson (2013) 5. The Jordan national qualifications framework Bylaw (9), 2019. http://jnqf.heac.org.jo. Last visit August (2022) 6. Poornima, M.C.: Total quality management. 3rd ed. Pearson, April (2017) 7. The qualifications framework for the Emirates handbook (QFEmirates), approved by the Board of the National Qualifications Authority (NQA), February 2012. http://www.qualifications.ae. Last visit July (2021) 8. The Bahrain national qualifications framework, April 2017. https://www.bqa.gov.bh. Last visit September (2021) 9. The New Zealand qualifications framework, May 2016. https://www.nzqa.govt.nz. Last visit August (2021) 10. The Scottish credit and Qualifications framework. https://scqf.org.uk. Last visit September (2021)

The Role of Senior Management in Disseminating a Culture of Quality in Higher Education Institutions Mohammad Abdul Rahman Alhejoj, Mahmoud Mohammad Almatlaqa, and Hoda Aleslam Mohammad Alhejoj

Abstract Most institutions of higher education in the Arab world strive to spread and apply a culture of quality, and some even strive to be world-class universities of high repute. This study seeks to provide conceptual and theoretical input on both management style and quality culture. It emphasizes the significance of a culture of quality in higher education institutions, analyzes managerial behavior, and considers how technology might help spread and promote a culture of quality. The study used a descriptive approach to identify management patterns in management scientists’ theoretical thoughts, which aids in the dissemination of a culture of quality and describes the theoretical side of a culture of quality. The study came to the conclusion that the democratic governance paradigm is best suited for spreading and putting into practice a culture of quality. It gives members of the institution the chance to take part, contribute, and assume responsibility, provided that the institution’s educational environment is supportive of doing so. The findings demonstrate how the adoption of technology to foster a culture of quality is reflected in educational institutions’ capacity to adapt to changes in their internal and external environments as well as in the productivity and creativity of their employees, thereby assuring their continuation. Keywords Senior management · Quality Education · Institutions of Higher Education · Technology

1 Introduction Change is a cosmic fact. It is an essential component of life that continues to keep pace with astounding technological developments in all spheres of life. Change is done by man as both a purpose and a means. Change and switching are two sides of M. A. Rahman Alhejoj (B) · M. M. Almatlaqa Rabdan Academy, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates e-mail: [email protected] H. A. M. Alhejoj MA Researcher, Amman, Jordan © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_52

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the same coin; that is, every change must be accompanied or followed by a process of change in order to adapt to change (Kuwait, July 21). Higher education institutions have recently shown an interest in applying comprehensive quality standards, and now every educational institution that seeks success and excellence has this as their goal. However, implementing comprehensive quality standards is not an easy task, and it cannot be applied overnight. Instead, it requires a period of time based on the standards and controls that the educational institution must achieve, from fostering a culture of quality to achieving a number of other goals. Each educational institution now has a quality management unit, which may have arms within colleges and academic departments, as a result of higher education institutions’ interest in fostering a culture of quality and the application of quality standards. The ability of the management style to accept change and embrace a new culture is the key to achieving overall quality, and one of the biggest obstacles for educational institutions attempting to implement universal quality is perhaps the cultural handicap. Because every organisation has a culture that is reflected in daily operations at all levels of management, the management style plays an important role in this [1].

2 Objectives of the Study This study seeks to provide a conceptual and theoretical approach to both the administrative style and the culture of quality, and to present the concepts related to senior management in higher education institutions and the concepts related to the culture of quality. Attempt to describe the theoretical aspect of management style’s influence on the dissemination of a quality culture in higher education institutions by answering the following central question: Does the administrative style have a role in spreading a culture of quality? As well as answering the following sub-questions: • What is management? What are the prevailing traditional administrative patterns? • What is the culture of quality? • Which administrative patterns can help in spreading the culture of quality in the educational institution? It also aims to: • Identify the most influential administrative style in spreading and enhancing the culture of quality in higher education institutions. • Illustrating how senior management in higher education institutions plays a part in spreading a culture of quality. • Introducing the culture of quality, its components, dimensions, and its role in the application of total quality in higher education institutions. • Provide recommendations that could assist senior management in promoting the culture of quality.

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3 Problem of the Study It is assumed that higher education institutions will seek out effective leadership practices in order to achieve overall quality and access to a level of outstanding performance. This is because managerial empowerment, which is the responsibility of disseminating and implementing a culture of quality, is important for the development of higher education institutions’ performance.

4 Significance of the Study The importance of the study lies in shedding light on the importance of the culture of quality in higher education institutions, in its research on administrative conduct, and in its role in promoting and disseminating a culture of quality. The researcher concentrated on the concept and varieties of management, the culture of quality, and its influence on the application of comprehensive quality in higher education institutions because they are the most influential and capable of putting the future into practice by the graduate’s quality level and its impact on the labor market and society at large.

5 Methodology The study relied on a descriptive approach to describe management patterns in the theoretical thought of management scientists, which help to spread a culture of quality, through the characteristics and principles of management patterns, and to describe the theoretical aspect of a culture of quality.

6 The Nature of Management, Its Levels, Skills, and Patterns 6.1 The Concept of Management Scholars of administrative thought differ in their definitions of management. According to Taylor, it is “the correct knowledge of what the workers are intended to do,” while Fayol defined it by stating that its responsibilities include “predicting, planning, organizing, issuing orders, coordinating, and monitoring” (citing Batah and Al-Ta’ani [2]: 15). Darra defined it as “the art of conducting business in an effective and efficient manner through the processes of planning, organizing, directing,

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coordinating, controlling, and leading the activities of the members of the organization and optimizing the use of all the resources of the organization to accomplish a specific operation or achieve a desired goal” (Dora [3]: 18). However, it is defined by Attah and Al-Attani as “a structured process that strives to achieve stated goals in the most effective manner” and whose functions are restricted to planning, organizing, hiring, directing, coordinating, reporting, and budgeting (Butah and Al-Mutani [2]: 15). We can define management as a process with numerous dimensions and functions in which the administrative hierarchy’s top level influences the institution’s members individually in order to accomplish its objectives. In its institutional context, management has four dimensions: first, the nature and behaviour of the manager; Second, the nature of the organization he or she directs Third: the nature and behaviour of the organization’s personnel; and finally, the environment in which the organization operates and management interacts.

6.2 Levels of Management There are three levels of management in institutions: high, middle, and low. Each level has a specific responsibility within the institution. First; senior management (the rector and the board of trustees) sets organizational goals, policies, and longterm decisions. Second, middle management (the deans of colleges and department directors) supervises work and the execution of plans. Third; minimum management (the academic and administrative departments) supervises and supports executives, makes short-term operational decisions, and reports to and makes recommendations to middle management in order to achieve the organizational goals of the company. Minimum management also communicates its decisions and recommendations to senior management. • (Top Management): A general manager, president, or chairman typically represents this level of an organization’s organizational hierarchy, and its main responsibilities are to set the direction and goals of the business as well as to make choices that have an impact on everyone who works there. Senior management has a wide range of responsibilities Developing policies and strategies and establishing the institution’s overarching goals came first. Managing the institution’s interactions with the environment around it comes second. Third, create long-term strategies to guarantee the accomplishment of the intended objectives. The institution’s organizational structure, administrative levels, and employment distribution are all last steps.

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6.3 Management Skills Management requires three skills: The first is technical and has to do with understanding the job and how to do it; using any tools or equipment; and being familiar with the terminology and special language that apply. The second is known as humanism, and it is focused on the art of dealing with people and human relations in terms of inspiring employees, leading them, positively influencing their behaviour, and building relationships with them. The latter is intellectual and focused on mental processes including planning, idea generation, analysis, evaluation, problem solving, and prediction.

6.4 Management Styles A style is a method, and administrative style refers to the manager or head of the institution’s style and method for influencing the institution’s employees. Management patterns are numerous and vary from organization to organization depending on the manager’s personality and managerial style, which affect the company’s operations and the accomplishment of its goals. The management style chosen by the president is a key factor in spreading and achieving the culture of quality and, therefore, the success or failure of the organization. This is because factors that affect managerial behavior, such as the thoughts held by a manager or president of an organization, his or her level of trust in his or her employees, experience in management, and the ability to make the right decision at the right time. Shehadeh [4] note that an educational institution’s management style is a significant determinant of its success or failure. Its importance in affecting how staff, instructors, and students behave as well as in fostering a productive scientific environment that effectively supports students’ academic success. Understanding leadership styles is essential. Most management styles in institutions, especially higher education institutions, are restricted to the following because they determine the way and means by which the institution’s head communicates with his or her staff: 1. Democratic Style: Ghaffar and Masoud [5] says that this style of management enables the institution’s personnel (employees, faculty, students, etc.) to take part in the formulation of the institution’s policies and the implementation of its decisions. This has implications for raising morale, accepting responsibility and tasks, delegating powers, coordinating efforts, active participation, and working in team spirit [6]. 2. Dictatorial Style: In this style, the superior relies on the power granted to him by the organization. By making decisions alone, asking those involved in the organization to carry them out and comply with them, and then following up on them himself; he lacks trust in others, attributes his successes to himself, others’ failures to them, and undervalues the contributions of others [5].

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Altai [7] mentions that this pattern might be effective in specific circumstances like corruption and administrative laxity; that is, in urgent situations that call for firmness and non-complacency or where the personnel are unable to do their duties as intended. Al-Rashidi [8] says when it comes to job completion, this approach is preferred over democratic ones, but it has the drawback of making the president very dependent, which lowers morale and discourages initiative and innovation. According to Al-Masry [6], dictatorships frequently conceal their inadequacy and their lack of ability to effectively direct, use intimidation tactics and threats of retribution, avoid accountability, and accuse employees of failing to follow instructions. As a result, cartel failures, a lack of trust, a lack of cooperation and harmony, a lack of motivation, routine work, and a lack of accomplishments result in negative conflict that ultimately causes institution failure. 3. Laissez Faire Style: According to Al-Rashidi [8], this style of administration relies on an open-door policy rather than a totalitarian one and is chaotic and passive. It is founded on the idea that employees should have complete flexibility to choose how to accomplish their goals. According to one theory, this pattern works well if the workers are competent, motivated, and have expertise in performing the tasks. In short, the personnel must be highly knowledgeable, skilled, committed, and problem solving in order for this pattern to be successful. It seems to me that a successful manager combines these patterns according to the circumstance and adjusts their style in light of the working conditions, the character of the staff, the kinds of tasks and goals to be accomplished, and in education, is able to handle the various contexts of the educational process. He is also a thinker, an authority, a planner, a role model, and a factor in both internal and external relationships. Finally yet importantly, modern management systems view error as an opportunity for improvement and development, so deliberate plans must be put in place to avoid these common mistakes. This is because a lack of a thoughtful management approach, the expanding gap between theory and practice, the lack of requirements for quality implementation, such as a lack of interest in spreading culture, and a lack of experience, all result in mistakes in the quality of education, and consequently organizational failure [9].

6.5 Quality Culture 6.5.1

The Concept of Culture and Its Classifications

• Concept of culture: Idiomatically, refers to knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, and acquired habits (Kush [10]: 31). In other words, it includes visible and implicit patterns of behaviour, acquired and transmitted to members of society through symbols representing the achievements of human society. Thus, an organization’s culture consists of physical aspects that represent what humans have artificially

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produced, and moral aspects that represent the beliefs, values, customs, customs, and symbols of an organization’s society that cannot be materialized (2011: 253). • Classifications of culture: There are several classifications for researchers in culture. Therefore, the educational institution must be aware of the many theoretical cultures and select from them what works for them or what might be used. Handy’s classification of culture classifies culture into four sections as cited in Altai [7] as follows: 1. A culture of power, which Altai [7] describes as a spider web; the power of people in positions of influence in an educational institution is correlated with the ability of a culture of influence to adjust since responsibility is restricted to a small number of employees. The top management of an educational institution is responsible for spreading and implementing a quality culture, as well as for involving and persuading the staff in accordance with that type of culture. As such, they must first be persuaded of the value of a quality culture before they can persuade other members of the organization in accordance with their administrative style. 2. Role culture and its resemblance to Greek temples, in which the pillars are the places of decision-making and are bureaucratic, so that, according to this type of culture, the dissemination and application of a culture of quality in the educational institution is limited to the awareness of senior management. Because it represents power and bureaucracy in its decisions, if it believes in a culture of quality, it will impose it firmly on the organization’s people. The top management that believes in this type of culture is dictatorial. 3. The task culture, which resemblance to a network, is an expression of the fact that members of an organization work together as a team and that everyone is accountable. This culture is dynamic and interested in research and development activities, and the educational institution that follows this type of culture is constantly changing to meet the challenges and keep up with developments. It is therefore more akin to implementing a culture of quality. Because they are receptive to changes and are not surprised by them, they are always prepared to adapt to changes. 4. The person culture, cluster-like: This culture is a model of conscious management because members of an organization work together as a single cluster to define how the organization functions and responds to changes. However, it could cause problems for an organization in the future if its members band together and reject any new change. 6.5.2

Culture of Quality

According to Aliwan [11], a culture of quality is “the values, beliefs, and trends that senior management instills in the hearts of employees of all levels and specialities in order to promote behavior”. Another definition provided by [12] is “the experience and quality thinking that is conducive to successful and efficient overall quality

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management”. A culture of quality is a set of values and behavioral patterns that characterize the members of an organization in that a culture of quality is a powerful way of influencing the desired behavior of members of that organization. In other words, a culture of quality is a subjective behavior that emanates from within the organization, it enables people to be convinced of the value of what they are doing and to feel the confidence and satisfaction that comes from their freedom of thought. According to Zidane and Zidane [13], a culture of quality has a conceptual framework with two components: organizational and psychological. The organizational component refers to the structural features of the tasks, standards, and responsibilities of individuals and service units. The psychological component also includes understanding, flexibility, engagement, hopes, and emotions.

6.6 Quality Management According to Saihi et al. [14], quality management is an effective and integrated system for quality development that uses continuous improvement methods for it and as a separate group in any business. To completely satisfy all of the needs of the customers by offering them products and services. The idea presented above is that quality management is a process that is integrated internally and externally; internally through organizational personnel and management alignment; and externally through attention to the customer, in this case, the student. The internal culture of the educational institution’s goal is to achieve external consumer satisfaction of the student first and the community and its institutions second, by giving the student knowledge of high-quality products and services.

6.6.1

Strategies for Establishing a Quality Culture

According to Altai [7], several strategies must be used to establish a quality culture, with the following being the most crucial: First, create a strategy to implement the necessary variables, taking into account the following questions: Who will have an impact on the change process? Who must be a part of the change coin in order for it to succeed? In addition, who opposes and resists this transformation? What tasks need to be completed? What potential negative effects? What steps must be taken to remove them? Second, the transformation process is important from a moral standpoint, and in this instance, the proponents of the change process in the educational institution may play a role in outlining the culture of excellence and persuading people of it at this time (shock, disbelief, perception, truth, acceptance, reconstruction, understanding and recovery). Fifth: Identify influential people in educational institutions who can significantly influence whether the process of change is facilitated or impeded, and deal with them personally in a suitable way to inspire and intimidate them; to convert detractors of change into advocates.

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Influences and Challenges to the Dissemination and Application of a Culture of Quality

Disseminating a culture of quality faces both internal and external challenges. First, there are internal challenges that are unique to how an organization’s members relate to one another in terms of affection, intimacy, love, and everything they have in common, such as common language and concepts, group boundaries, power and status, intimacy and friendship, and rewards and punishments. The second is external challenges, which include those related to mission, strategy, goals, means, measurement, and correction. They here pertain to the recipient of the institutions (the client) service (the student, and the community at all its institutions).

6.7 The Culture of Quality and Senior Management Over the past two decades, higher education institutions have been interested in applying overall quality. The information and technology revolution has necessitated a change in strategies for educational institutions’ infrastructure in order to improve educational processes and develop educational outputs, as well as to promote teamwork by satisfying the needs of all parties in the educational institution in order to ensure the satisfaction of staff, faculty, and students. Spreading a culture of quality is crucial for the success of higher education institutions and improving their performance because it has a significant impact on the educational institution. This relationship between quality culture level and performance improvement within an organization is part of the whole, and it is positive. A quality culture is the cornerstone of an organization’s success, effectiveness, and deployment to the extent that it is adhered to and spread throughout the organization, and is the approach and application of it, the improvement of performance within it, and vice versa. Spreading a quality culture changes traditional culture and the cultural barrier is one of the biggest challenges an organization faces when implementing a quality culture. To increase productive efficiency, which is one of the most advantageous effects of spreading a culture of quality, an organization must modify its traditional organizational culture, remove barriers to the dissemination and application of a culture of quality, and train, raise awareness, and boost staff morale [9]. Because the culture of quality emphasizes the concept of continuous improvement, achieving the satisfaction of the external beneficiary—one of the parties to the educational institution—is important. The origin of the external party must take part in the planning and policy-making processes of the institution in addition to receiving the institution’s outputs. Prajogo and Sohal [15] says that the implementation of a quality culture leads to enterprises introducing technology and focusing on human resource development, which influences worker productivity and creativity.

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The Most Important Means and Methods For Spreading and Consolidating a Culture of Quality: (Shaaban, 2020: 58–59)

A. Training: An organization’s pre-planned training program aims to develop in its personnel the information, abilities, and behaviors necessary for successful performance. When a culture of excellence is spread and put into practice, training helps to create the organizational climate for the next shift. Senior management provides the required funding, materials, and human resources. B. Empowerment: Empowerment is viewed as a cultural practice that encourages an organization’s members to take responsibility by increasing their sense of independence and giving them the authority to make decisions. As a result, empowerment is crucial to an organization’s success. The ability of corporate members to accept responsibility and the level of senior management’s belief in empowerment are the two main determinants of empowerment. C. Communication: A culture of quality can be spread through communication. It gives individuals in an organization clarity; opens the door for innovative ideas; improves information sharing; aids senior management in developing stronger relationships. In addition, allows for the greatest possible participation of individuals in an organization; strengthens the ability to influence others. Shehada [4] says that the senior management of higher education institutions must be careful to communicate with the staff of the institution. Effective communication is one of the most crucial ways to accomplish an organization’s goals, and modern communication channels must be used to guarantee simple, unambiguous, and quick access to data and information. D. Teamwork: A strong organizational structure that supports the demands of a quality culture and its application to achieve excellence is built on teamwork. As a result, for cooperation to be successful, the team must be given the proper skills, mutual respect, and motivation that is collective rather than individual. Work must also be done to satisfy the service recipients. E. Stimulation: Encourage employees to contribute to growth and continuous improvement processes, offer recommendations and thoughts that assist development, show appreciation for their efforts, and financially and morally reward them because this fosters greater altruism, creativity, and a sense of belonging. 6.7.2

Proposed Steps to Promote a Culture of Quality in Higher Education Institutions

(1) Before a culture of quality can be implemented in educational institutions, it is necessary for those institutions to have a trained and competent quality assurance cadre as their core. (2) Establishing a unit within the institution dedicated to ensuring instructional quality, with divisions in various colleges, departments, and departments. (3) Forming committees to spread quality culture and its application, and delegating duties to its members. (4) Offering workshops and courses with the goal of promoting and establishing a culture of quality. (5) To spread a culture of quality

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as broadly as possible, brochures are created and given to the institution’s members, including students. (6) Installing high-quality billboards in the organization’s many universities, divisions, and departments.

6.8 Conclusion If the environment of the educational institution is supportive of this, such as the members of the institution being qualified and open to new changes, working as a team, belonging to their organization, etc., then a democratic, apex management style in an institution is the most appropriate education for the dissemination and application of a culture of quality. Otherwise, a democratic style is inappropriate, and senior management may combine all management styles. To spread and apply a culture of quality, senior management then utilizes situation management, based on the makeup of the organization’s workforce and working environment. A sustainable educational organization needs to be able to adapt to both internal and external environmental factors. A quality culture facilitates decision-making and problem-solving, increases harmony between the organization and desired behaviors, and builds employee trust by involving them in the planning, decision-making, and accountability processes. According to The Times’ requirements, the higher education sector has undergone rapid change and reform, and management now recognizes the urgent need to instill a culture of quality. The perspective on educational quality in higher education institutions has evolved into a comprehensive one that satisfies the needs of the relevant students, professors, staff, and society. In order to build on strengths and correct shortcomings, the seniors in the educational institution must give the topic of a quality culture a lot of consideration in its organization, plans, follow-up, and evaluation.

References 1. Shaaban, I.A.: The impact of leadership patterns in promoting quality culture, a field study at the King Abdullah II Award recipient institutions. Al-Balqa Magaz. Res. Studies 3(1) (2021) 2. Batah, A., Al Ta’ani, H.: Educational department. Vision Contemporain, Dar Alfeker, Amman, Jordan, 1st ed. (2016) 3. Dora, O.M.: Introduction to management. Ebla for Tourism and Hotel Sciences, Aleppo. https:// www.researchgate.net/publication/304350138_mdkhl_aly_aladart (2009) 4. Shehadeh, R.S.N.: The relationship between leadership behavior patterns and communication patterns among academic administrators from the point of view of faculty members in Palestinian universities. Master’s thesis, An-Najah National University (2008) 5. Ghaffar, A., Masoud, N.: Management styles and their relationship to thinking methods of Murat high schools in Jeddah, unpublished Master’s thesis. King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (2010)

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6. Al-Masri, A.M.: Modern administration. Cairo, University Youth Foundation, Information– Decisions (2000) 7. Al-Watai, Y.H.S.: Measuring quality culture using the Rockeye scale. J. Centre Kufa Studies. 1, 249–287 (2011) 8. Al-Rashidi, E.H.: administrative patterns practiced by high school principals in the State of Kuwait and their relationship to the level of student violence from the point of view of teachers, unpublished Master’s thesis, Middle East University, Amman, Jordan (2012) 9. Al-Kuwaiti, A.: Published several articles related to quality in the Saudi newspaper Al-Youm (2021) 10. Koush, D.: The concept of culture in social sciences, translated by Munir Saaidani, Review of Taher Labib., p1, Arabic Organization for Translation, Beirut (2007) 11. Aliwan, S.M., Al-Fakki, A.K.A.: Assessment of quality culture at the University of Misrata, case study: Faculty of Education—University of Misrata, Libya. Compreh. Quality Manage. Rev. 16(2) (2015) 12. Zakaria, F.: Quality control and consumer protection. Osama Publishing and Distribution House, Amman, Jordan (2005) 13. Zidane, A.H., Zidane, M.A.: Degree representing quality culture among graduate students in education-Al-Quds University. Int. J. Quality Assur. 2(2) (2019) 14. Saihi, A., Awad, M., & Ben-Daya, M. (2023). Quality 4.0: Leveraging industry 4.0 technologies to improve quality management practices–a systematic review. Int. J. Qual. Reliab. Manage. 40(2), 628–650. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-09-2021-0305 15. Prajogo, D., Sohol, A.: The integration of total quality management and technology-RandD management in determining quality and innovation performance. Int. J. M. Sci. 34(1), 901–918 (2006)

A Suggested Educational Guide for Applying International Quality Assurance Standards in Jordanian Universities Heba Tawfiqe AbuEyadah and Anas Odibat

Abstract The study aimed to propose an educational guide for the application of international quality assurance standards for education in Jordanian universities. Basic areas (teaching, scientific research, reliability, community service by following up on graduates) and knowing the degree of suitability of the guide from the point of view of experts and specialists, and making a set of recommendations, the most important of which is the adoption of the guide proposed by the Ministry of Higher Education. Keywords Standard · Global quality standards

1 Introduction Quality standards are the elements and goals in light of which to judge the extent of achieving quality goals. The standards entered various commercial and industrial fields in the last decade of the twentieth century, and then the matter evolved until educational institutions, including universities, are subject to the application of international standards and standards to ensure the quality of education. Hence, the various universities in many countries of the world hastened to adopt the concept of quality in performance and to apply quality standards to the services they provide and the means they use in order to fulfill their mission as effective educational institutions in society. Quality standards are a set of specific standards for comparison and judgment used to set and evaluate achievement goals. They may express the current levels of achievement in the organization. These standards may also be levels set by an external party or levels of achievement in the organization. The educational system works like any other system according to a specific strategy that considers the circumstances surrounding the system, the prevailing cultural structure within it, the organizational climate, technical progress, the available material and human resources, and the public’s needs and desires. Therefore, H. T. AbuEyadah (B) · A. Odibat Islamic University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_53

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it is concerned that its outputs be consistent with international standards for quality control of production through the constant pursuit of using standards to measure and control quality. The issue of education development has become more urgent, due to the low level of the educational product and the weak communication between educational institutions and society. Improving the quality of education has become a primary goal, because the great challenge of educational systems at the present time is not only providing education to all citizens, but also emphasizing that education must be of high quality. Excellent and superior education is expensive, but few are more expensive overall. Hence, this study came to clarify the concept of total quality in education, the steps for its application, the standards on which this administrative approach is based in educational institutions, and the extent of its importance in raising the level and quality of the educational product and increasing the efficiency of educational institutions and their ability to provide the best.

2 The Study Problem The world is witnessing tremendous and rapid developments in various fields, especially the technological field and the digitization of information and communications, until this field is called as the “digital age”, as these developments prompted many countries to activate their institutions in order to provide the highest quality of services. Institutions of transcendent education, like similar institutions, seek to be in harmony with the spirit of the age, and to achieve globally agreed-upon quality requirements, which are requirements concerned with achieving concepts and dimensions related to the quality of education. The international quality standards for education included all aspects of the educational process, administrative and human resources, Such as: students, faculty, institutional infrastructure, student services, academic programs, assessment, and ethics. The problem of finding and adopting quality assurance standards for university education is one of the difficult issues that e-learning is currently facing in the Arab world. This system needs strong, agreed global standards to adopted by higher education institutions, and to confirm its ability to meet the needs of society, and to be in line with future developments and changes, with the need to continue subjecting this system to continuous evaluation [1]. This study came to answer the main question of the study: What is the proposed educational evidence for the application of international quality assurance standards in Jordanian universities? The following sub-questions emerge from it: 1. What are the most important international quality assurance standards in Jordanian universities? 2. What is the proposed educational evidence for the application of international quality assurance standards in Jordanian universities?

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3. What is the degree of adequacy of the proposed educational program for applying international quality assurance standards in Jordanian universities from the point of view of experts and specialists?

3 Study Significance Scientific significance (theoretical): • Developing quality assurance standards for e-learning in Jordanian universities, based on international standards. • Considering it as a starting point for other research, with what it provides from theoretical literature, previous studies, and a tool for collecting information whose validity and reliability will be analyzed. • Achieving quality in education is a necessary and urgent issue, and therefore the existence of e-learning quality standards and indicators is important and imperative for all parties involved in the e-learning community. • Commission for Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions and Quality Assurance: It can benefit from this study through the strict application of administrative standards and procedures in Jordanian universities and raising the efficiency of the educational process by using the latest technologies to keep pace with technological progress in developed countries.

4 Study Methodology The study used the descriptive, analytical, developmental approach, as it used the theoretical approach with reference to the theoretical literature and studies related to the topic; To form a theory of specialized ideas and concepts in the field of study, and to review relevant previous studies, by analyzing the literature related to the study; To reach the answer to the study questions and to provide a number of recommendations. To discuss these observations, we will divide the topics into four demands to cover all aspects of the topic: – The first requirement: Previous studies – The second requirement: Commenting on previous studies The first requirement: Previous studies – The study of Al-Arabi [2] aimed to clarify how to improve the ranking of the University of Hail in the QS classification to achieve the requirements of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. The descriptive approach and the SWOT methodology were selected; With the aim of identifying the availability of the QS classification criteria at the University of Hail from the viewpoint of the faculty members in the faculties of the University of Hail, and the study sample consisted of (274)

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members who were chosen randomly university teaching: The results also indicated that there were statistically significant differences due to the variable of academic rank and in favor of an assistant professor, and the absence of statistically significant differences due to the variables of gender and specialization. It was explained how to improve the ranking of Hail University in the QS classification to achieve the requirements of the Kingdom’s vision 2030 – Muhammad et al. [3] (1)—The current research aims to propose a vision for developing the management of resources and human resources in pre-university education in the light of the Egyptian reality and some international experiences. (2)—The researcher presented the most prominent global experiences in the field of human resources management in pre-university education and explained the aspects of benefiting from these experiences in line with the nature of Egyptian society. (3)—The researcher designed and codified the research tool, then applied it to a sample of educational leaders and teachers in the pre-university education stage, to identify the problems facing the human resource management processes in pre-university education and their suggestions to address those problems. (4)— After the data was collected and statistically processed, the results were presented and interpreted. (5)—A proposed vision has been changed for the development of human resource management processes in pre-university education in light of the Egyptian reality and some international experiences. The study reached a set of results, the most prominent of which are the following: (1)—Many studies indicated that there are manifestations of shortcomings in human resource management in pre-university education institutions. (2)—Success fulfilled in all areas, standards, indicators, and specific practices for building and achieving quality in any institution without the availability of the elements of effective human resources management. (3)—The basic rule in the administration of discipline and penalties is that there should set up rules known to all, and that violating these rules exposes the worker to penalties. – Zahran [4] considers excellence in universities to be the entrance and the main component of institutional excellence through the adoption of a system of institutional values supported by a comprehensive vision and mission that is achieved by work strategies to confront internal and external environmental changes, and the European Foundation Model (EFQM) is one of the most important models of institutional excellence that can be applied to Institutions of higher education, which has proven its success and spread in international institutions as one of the main frameworks for evaluating the quality of the organization’s performance, and evaluating the relevant situation of workers. The research aimed to seek to find out the reality of institutional excellence in Egyptian universities in light of the criteria of the European Model (EFQM) and the innovations of the digital age from the point of view of academic and administrative leaders in Egyptian universities. The research relied on the descriptive approach due to the fact that this approach involves monitoring the reality, and the subsequent analysis and interpretation of this reality based on studies and research. The research found that there are a number of obstacles facing Egyptian universities and limiting the

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possibility of applying the criteria of the European Model of Institutional Excellence (EFQM) in the light of the developments of the digital age from the point of view of academic and administrative leaders in colleges. At the end of the research, a set of proposed requirements for applying the criteria of the European Institutional Excellence Model (EFQM) in Egyptian universities was developed in light of the developments of the digital age. – Abu Al-Layl [5] considers quality management to be one of the basics of management in the twenty-first century. Especially in light of global competition and the scientific and technological revolution of knowledge. As institutions, especially libraries and information centers, are accelerating to upgrade the level of outputs and services they provide to beneficiaries; To achieve the degree of excellence and improve the outputs in accordance with international specifications and standards. Hence the urgent need for a new thought that makes quality in mind and continuous improvement a strategic goal for it. Six Sigma is one of the most famous modern management concepts. This method is based on the foundations of total quality that achieve the highest level of quality in the administrative processes of institutions. This concept appeared in the American company Motorola in the early eighties and achieved widespread. Where major international companies have begun to adopt and apply it in their various administrative procedures. Which has proven its efficiency in helping institutions to provide flawless services that satisfy the desires of the beneficiaries. It is a methodology that is not only a way to improve, but also to bring the organization to a degree close to perfection in improving its performance, satisfying its beneficiaries, achieving conscious leadership, and consolidating a culture and civilized thought for it. – Al-Dajani et al. [6] This study aimed to develop a computerized unit of study in chemistry in the light of international quality standards, and to measure its impact on the development of science processes among secondary school students. To achieve this, and to measure this effect, the quasi-experimental approach was followed. The number of study members was (54) female students at Sweileh Comprehensive Secondary School for Girls affiliated to the Education Directorate of the University Brigade/Capital Governorate in the second semester of the academic year (2016/2017), the second scientific secondary grade (twelfth) in the second semester of the academic year (2016/2017), were randomly assigned equally to two groups: experimental and control. In the study, the science processes test was applied after verifying that it had acceptable validity and reliability. The results showed that there was a statistically significant effect at the level (α = 0.05) in the development of integrative science processes attributed to teaching using the developed computerized unit of study, except for the process of developing hypotheses, the effect of which was not statistically significant. – Alawneh and Al-Shara’a [7] The study aimed to identify the evaluation of the e-learning experience in Palestinian universities during the Corona pandemic “in light of some quality standards of the Jordanian Higher Education Accreditation Commission” from the viewpoint of the faculty members, and the descriptive analytical approach was used, and the study sample represented (270) individuals, and the researcher developed a questionnaire consisting of (40) items as a tool for

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collecting data related to the subject of the study. On the study sample, the study reached many results, the most important of which is that the evaluation of the e-learning experience in Palestinian universities during the Corona pandemic “in light of some quality standards of the Jordanian Higher Education Accreditation Commission” from the point of view of faculty members in general was high, with an average of (4.000) And standard deviation (0.515), and it was found that there were no statistically significant differences at the significance level (α = 0.05) and less in the arithmetic averages of the level of the e-learning experience in Palestinian universities during The Corona pandemic according to the quality standards of the Jordanian Higher Education Accreditation Commission according to the gender variable, the college, the university to which it belongs, and based on the results reached, the study recommended many recommendations, the most important of which was the adoption of the quality standards of the Jordanian Higher Education Accreditation Commission in universities, Encouraging universities to adopt e-learning and use it in teaching. – Zoabi and Salama [8] This study aims to identify the degree to which Jordanian universities apply the criteria for ranking international universities. The study population consists of (4523) individuals, including (795 academic and administrative leaders, and 3728 faculty members) in Jordanian universities. The study sample was chosen by stratified random method from the original study population with a percentage of (20%), reaching (905) individuals, including (159 academic leaders, and 746 faculty members). To achieve the objective of the study, the researcher built a questionnaire consisting of (38) items divided into four areas. The results of the study showed that the overall degree of Jordanian universities’ application of the criteria for ranking international universities from the point of view of academic leaders and faculty members was average and in all fields. The results also showed that there were statistically significant differences in favor of the job title, as well as in favor of the academic rank. As for the variable of the type of university, the results did not show the presence of statistically significant differences in my criteria (teaching quality—education, scientific research—research production and electronic publishing), while the results showed that there are statistically significant differences in my two criteria (facilities, equipment, and academic credits). – Al-Damrat [9] The study aimed to develop an administrative guide for the performance of academic leaders in Jordanian universities in light of the classification of the international Qs standards, by identifying the importance of developing the performance of academic leaders in Jordanian universities in light of the classification of the international Qs standards. The study followed the developmental survey method. The study sample consisted of (399) academic leaders in charge of their work in Jordanian universities to implement the study tool, a questionnaire, and they were approved from among the administrative leaders at the university in a random manner. The validity and reliability of the study tool was selected through several tests, and after verifying its validity and ability to measure what it seeks to measure, arithmetic means, standard deviations, and analysis of multiple variances were used to reach the results of the study. The study reached the most

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important results: that the reality of developing the performance of academic leaders in Jordanian universities in light of the classification of the international Qs standards from their point of view came to a medium degree; The field of scientific research quality ranked first, and in the second place came the fields of academic accreditation and classifications, and in the third place came the field of organizational and administrative environment, and in the fourth place came the field of graduate support. The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α = 0.05), between the average estimates of academic leaders on the fields of study towards the degree of need to develop the performance of academic leaders in light of the classification of international Qs standards. From the academic leaders’ point of view, the fields of study are attributed to the variable of gender, college specialization, and academic rank, while there are differences due to the variable nature of work. The study recommended using the proposed administrative guide for the performance of academic leaders in Jordanian universities in accordance with the international Qs classification standards. It also recommended the dissemination of the results of the study in other Jordanian universities, and the conduct of future studies dealing with the application of the international Qs classification standards in other educational, learning, and administrative processes at the University of Jordan and other Jordanian universities. The second requirement: Commenting on previous studies The study of both Al-Jubouri and Al-Issawi [10] agreed, and the results showed that the reality of the description and diagnosis of the requirements of internationalizing scientific research at the university according to international classifications was low, while it came in the study of Zoabi and Salama [8] and the study of Al-Dammar that the reality of developing the performance of academic leaders in Jordanian universities in light of the classification of standards From their point of view, the global Qs came to a medium degree, and this was confirmed by Jaber [11] that there are shortcomings in human resources management in pre-university education institutions and that success is not achieved for all areas, standards, indicators and practices specified for building an edifice of quality and achieving it in any institution without the availability of the elements of effective human resources management. And that the basic rule in the administration of discipline and penalties is that there should be announced rules known to all, and that violating these rules exposes the worker to penalties.” The study of Polica, Belozpinka, Korniv and Nepapa confirmed the presence of universities’ leadership relative to each other in a high degree each year, and a high degree of trends Global technology and the growing race for innovation both between countries and between companies, and an increase in the demand for professionals with... The current study is different from previous studies by adopting a proposed educational guide for the application of international quality assurance standards in Jordanian universities.

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5 Conclusion We conclude through what was reviewed from a theoretical framework and previous studies of the importance and necessity of applying quality assurance standards in educational institutions because of this positive impact on improving the educational process. Providing a sufficient number of faculty members with technological and knowledge experience. As for students, we can encourage them to join innovative and creative competitions and diversify the teaching strategies used through the use of educational technology and also focus on the university by ensuring that the university obtains a national and international quality assurance certificate for all its programs Focusing on the digital environment through performance-oriented training for development within an environment that stimulates change and keeps pace with developments and opening more channels of communication with all senior leaders through an open door policy to achieve effective communication and the need to create an information base for ongoing and completed research at the university and exchange information and experiences with other scientific institutions locally, regionally and internationally, focusing on the To encourage scientific research through cooperation with scientific and research bodies and institutions inside and outside the Kingdom in the field of conducting joint research and exchanging knowledge and experiences to develop a generation of distinguished researchers in conducting original and applied research of a high level.

6 Recommendations • Universities to develop the awareness and commitment of senior management to apply the international Qs classification standards • Adoption of the guide proposed by the Ministry of Higher Education.

References 1. Khreisat, Z.: Proposed administrative procedures for applying quality assurance standards to e-learning in Jordanian universities based on international quality assurance standards. Unpublished PhD thesis. University of Jordan (2022) 2. Al-Arabi, H.: A proposed strategy to improve the ranking of the University of Hail in the QS classification to achieve the Kingdom’s 2030 vision. Arab. Stud. Educ. Psychol. 128, 405–469 (2020) 3. Muhammad, I.M.I., Faraj, T.B.A., Khalil, O.K.I., Awad Allah, H.S.T., Jaber, M.S.J.: A proposed conception for developing the management of resources and human resources in pre-university education in the light of the Egyptian reality and some international experiences. J. Res. Spec. Educ. 38, 573–642 (2022(

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4. Zahran, I.H.R.: Requirements for applying the criteria of the European model for institutional excellence (EFQM) in Egyptian universities in light of the developments of the digital age. Educ. J. C 94, 1103–1209 (2022) 5. Abu Al-Lail, A.A.A.: Quality management in libraries and information centers using Six Sigma method. Arab Int. J. Knowl. Manage. 1(2), 65–98 (2022) 6. Al-Dajani, W.F.K., Al-Khawaldeh, M.F.A., Al-Ayasra, A.H.A.: Developing a computerized study unit in chemistry in the light of international quality standards and measuring its impact on the development of science processes for secondary school students. Mutah Res Studies Hum Soc Sci Ser 37(3), 189–212 (2022) 7. Alawneh, Y.J., Al-Sharaa, N.: Evaluating the e-learning experience in Palestinian universities during the Corona pandemic “in light of some quality standards of the Jordanian Higher Education Accreditation Commission” from the point of view of faculty members. J. College Educ. 38(2), 181–204 (2022) 8. Zoabi, M., Salama, K.: The degree of application of Jordanian universities to the standards of the classification of international universities. J. Islamic Univ. Educ. Psychol. Studies Mg. 28, January 1, 2020 (2020) 9. Adhamrat, A.: A proposed administrative guide to develop the performance of academic leaders in Jordanian universities in light of the classification of international Qs standards. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Jordan (2021) 10. Al-Jubouri, A., Al-Issawi, A.: The role of internationalization of higher education in achieving the requirements for joining the QS classification: an exploratory study of the opinions of a sample of workers in quality assurance. Econ. Admin. Stud. J. (EASJ) (formerly Al-Dananeer Journal) 1(20), 313–344 (2020) 11. Muhammad, I., Faraj, T., Khalil, O., Awad Allah, H., Jaber, M.: A suggested vision for the development of resource management and human resources in pre-university education in the light of the Egyptian reality and some international experiences. J. Res. Fields Specif. Educ. 38:573–642 (2022)

Attitudes of Students in the Faculty of Educational Sciences in “Zarqa University” Towards Distance-Education Using Educational Technology “in the Light of “the COVID-19 Crisis”” Maram Y. Al-Safarini, Nidal Alramahi, Reda S. M. Al-Mawadieh, Issa abdulwahab Al-Tarawneh, and Luma Fakhir Abstract This study aimed to explore the attitudes of students in the educationalsciences-faculty at “Zarqa University” towards distance-education in light of “the COVID-19 crisis”. The descriptive survey-based approach was adopted. A random sample was chosen from the students enrolled in the faculty of educational sciences at “Zarqa University”. The study’s sample consists 198 of students. The questionnaire consists of 20 items. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were checked. Based on the overall mean, the attitudes of students in the educationalsciences-faculty at “Zarqa University” towards distance-education the light of “the COVID-19 crisis” are positive. There isn’t any significant difference—at the statistical significance level of a ≤ 0.05- between the respondents’ attitudes which can be attributed to gender or major. The light of the study’s results, the present study recommends providing more attention to distance-education by the officials in Jordanian public and private universities, and also recommend delivering such education to all students in all majors.

M. Y. Al-Safarini (B) Director of eLearning Centre, Faculty of Information Technology, “Zarqa University”, Zarqa, Jordan e-mail: [email protected] N. Alramahi Business Faculty, “Zarqa University”, Zarqa, Jordan e-mail: [email protected] R. S. M. Al-Mawadieh Dean of Faculty of Educational Science, “Zarqa University”, Zarqa, Jordan e-mail: [email protected] I. Al-Tarawneh Faculty of Educational Science, Majmaah University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia e-mail: [email protected] L. Fakhir Vice Dean of Faculty of Educational Science, “Zarqa University”, Zarqa, Jordan e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_54

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Keywords Attitudes · Distance-education · “Zarqa University” · COVID-19 crisis · Educational Technology

1 Introduction Nowadays, the world is suffering from “the COVID-19 crisis”. This made the world face many challenges that cannot be neglected. It forced people in all countries to adapt themselves to this crisis. This crisis is associated with unstable conditions that haven’t been experienced before. For instance, countries started delivering distanceeducation using electronic means. Zayed [1] shed a light on a UNESCO report, that suggests the spread of COVID-19 led to the temporary suspension of the delivery of school or university education to many children and youth. The crisis eliminated the temporal and spatial limits. Due to this crisis, people started claiming for delivering distance-education. UNESCO developed several programs for supporting the delivery of distance-education. Such programs and exchanging educational content. It is used for sending homework. Idrak application is used for teaching the Arabic language online. Distance-education aims at providing a convenient learning environment. In this environment, learners are responsible for searching for information. Distanceeducation develops students’ intellectual skills of learners. It enables facultymembers to acquire expertise that is difficult to acquire by using other methods [2]. COVID-19 to the closing of educational institutions in all countries. However, some educational institutions in some countries aren’t affected by such closures. That’s because the educational systems in those countries are deemed flexible. It’s because educational institutions in those countries are capable of employing technology to keep delivering distance-education and create a virtual learning environment that allows delivering education without having a shortcoming. In this regard, “Zarqa University” decided to integrate technology into the educational process. It activated the role of electronic platforms and distanceeducation. It asked the faculty-members in all faculties to activate this role. That was carried out pursuant to the decisions of the council of deans and the decisions of Higher-education and scientific research that are based on the defence order No. 7. This research’s objective was to examine investigate students’ attitudes in “Zarqa University” educational-sciences-faculty regarding distant-education “in light of the COVID-19 crisis” from the perspectives of students and faculty-members.

2 Problem Statement COVID-19 spread in all countries, including Jordan. Thus, the Jordanian government closed schools, universities and other educational institutions. Due to such

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spread, students became in need of receiving distance-education, because it’s the only means to getting an education. Distance-education enables students to acquire the required skills, expertise and information. Schools and universities serve as the means for delivering distance-education. They are responsible for setting plans for such delivery. Thus, university management has a significant impact in this regard. The effectiveness of distance-education is affected by the extent of acceptance shown by students for such education. Thus, this study aimed to explore the attitudes of students in the educational-sciences-faculty at “Zarqa University” towards distance-education “in light of the COVID-19 crisis”.

3 Research Questions Q.1. what views do students at “Zarqa University” faculty of educational-sciences have about distance learning “in light of the COVID-19 crisis”? Q.2. Is there a statistically significant difference between the respondents’ attitudes that may be attributed to gender or major, at the statistical significance level of a ≤ 0.05?

4 Objectives The main objectives of this study is: • Identify the attitudes of students in the educational-sciences-faculty at “Zarqa University” towards distance-education “in the light of COVID-19 crisis”. • Determine whether the respondents’ attitudes differ significantly-at the statistical significance level of a ≤ 0.05 based on their major or gender.

5 Significance of the Study The study’s significance arises from the significance of the study’s topic. This topic is represented in exploring the attitudes of students in the educational-sciences-faculty in “Zarqa University” towards distance-education in light of “the COVID-19 crisis”. This study is significant because it’s beneficial for. • Administrative leaders in “Zarqa University”: This study provides those leaders with knowledge about the attitudes of students in the educational-sciences-faculty in “Zarqa University” towards distance-education • Researchers: This study provides researchers with a theoretical framework and previous studies. It provides researchers with a tool that has been checked for reliability and validity.

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6 Terms Definition Distance-education: It’s an official system for teaching and learning. It aims at delivering education online by using electronic means [3]. It is characterized by offering learning opportunities during conditions through which conventional educational is difficult to deliver. COVID 19 Crisis: The world health organization [4] defines this crisis as a crisis that involves the spread of a contagious disease. This disease affects humans and animals. It’s one of the Coronavirus family. It is a residuary disease that is characterized with the ability to spread fast. The symptoms of this disease may be mild.

7 The Study’s Limits The study was carried out in the educational-sciences-faculty at “Zarqa University” during the academic year 2022–2021.

8 Previous Studies Distance-education is one of the forms of e-learning, and it refers to the delivery of education through the use of computers, their networks, and multimedia. Utilizing search engines, libraries, the internet, and audio and visual content are all part of it. The authors of the current study have listed various Arabic and English-language studies that they have done. Those studies are related to distance-education and e-learnings. They are arranged from the oldest to the latest. The goal of Altaweel [5] was to examine the academic issues that female Imam Mohammad bin Saud University distant learners face. He wanted to offer ideas for dealing with these issues. He explored these issues using a descriptive methodology. The population comprises of all female students enrolled in Imam Mohammad bin Saud University’s distance learning program during the second semester of the academic year 1432/1433 AH. There are 6700 students involved. 6.27% of the pupils who participated in the poll, or 450 students, make up the sample. 435 survey forms were retrieved. 15 forms were disqualified because the answers were missing. It was discovered that the academic issues that female Imam Mohammad bin Saud University distance students experience include issues with the following topics: admission and registration processes, academic advising, curricula, tests and evaluation, and administrative issues. Offering new majors that align with students’ interests is one of the recommendations.

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Al-Malla [6] aimed to investigate the extent of implementing two distanceeducation experiments. One of them was carried out in Malaysia throughout 12 years. The second one was carried out in Saudi Arabia in the college of education for girls in Saudi Arabia. It was carried out for two years only based on quality standards in Britain. The qualitative approach was adopted. The descriptive survey-based approach was adopted too. The population involves all the documents related to those two experiments in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. It involves all the female students who were taught online in the targeted colleges. The sample consists from documents that are available on the Open Malaysian University and the studies that address this experiment. The Saudi sample consists from all the population. It involves all the female students were engaged in the experiment. 30 survey forms were filled and retrieved. The sample involves analyzing some studies about the experiment and some newspaper articles that address this experiment. It was found that the most important factors affecting quality are: the good preparation of the infrastructure, and the availability of technical, and human expertise. They include the availability of quality centers. Ammar [7] aimed to explore the effectiveness of the cooperative e-learning strategy in cognitive online trips in developing higher thinking skills of students in the faculty of education in Sultan Qaboos University. He developed a thinking test to be applied to the sample. The sample consists from 35 students enrolled in the experimental group. It also consists from 35 students enrolled in the control group. It was found that the cooperative e-learning strategy employed in cognitive online trips is effective in developing higher thinking skills of students in the faculty of education in Sultan Qaboos University. Meqdadi [8] tried to identify how secondary school students in Jordan’s public schools perceived about distant-learning “in the light of the COVID 19 crisis” during the second semester of the year 2020–2019. The descriptive survey-based approach was adopted. The population consists from all the secondary school students in public schools in Qasabet Irbid district. The sample consists from 167 female and male students. Those students were chosen through the simple random sampling method. It was found that delivering distance-education “in the light of the COVID 19 crisis” has a positive impact in the public secondary schools in Qasabet Irbid district. The overall mean is 4.30. The standard deviation is 0.56. There isn’t any significant difference between respondents’ attitudes which can be attributed to gender.

9 The Study’s Approach The descriptive survey-based approach was adopted, because this approach suits the study’s topic and problems. The researchers of the present study reviewed the relevant studies in order to identify the fundamentals and bases that the study’s topic is based on. They used a questionnaire to collect data. The questionnaire’s validity and reliability were checked.

624 Table 1 The distribution of the members of the sample in accordance with the study’s variables

M. Y. Al-Safarini et al. Variable Gender

Major

Category Male

Frequency

Percentage (%)

91

45.96

Female

107

54.04

Overall

198

100.00

Library science

41

20.71

Classroom teacher

94

47.47

Kindergarten teacher

63

31.82

198

100.00

Overall

9.1 The Study’s Population and Sample The population, which consists of 240 students enrolled in the educational sciences faculty at “Zarqa University” for the academic year 2022–2021, is represented by the sample. The exploratory sample was removed before distributing the survey forms to the population. They were therefore given to 210 students. During the academic year 2021–2022, the latter pupils were picked. The sample’s participants were given the survey forms online. For analysis, 198 survey forms were accepted as valid. 94% of people responded. The distribution of the sample’s participants among the variables used in the study shown in Table 1.

10 The Study’s Instrument A survey was developed to achieve the study’s objectives and respond to its questions. It was created using the pertinent studies. The instrument’s initial iteration consists of 31 elements. The Likert scale with five points was applied. Strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, and strongly disagree are the five rating options. These scores are represented by those categories: 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.

10.1 Validity of the Instrument The instrument’s validity was reviewed through passing the indicator to a group of experts. These professionals hold faculty positions in Jordanian universities. They were asked to rate the survey’s clarity and use of language. They were requested to make changes, deletions, and additions. The elements that received support from at

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least 80% of the experts were retained by the researchers. The researchers chose to modify an item based on the comments if 80% or more of the experts did not approve it. The opinions and recommendations of the specialists were taken into account. A few things had the necessary modification. Nothing was removed from the list. 20 items make up the survey’s final iteration. It is clear that the instrument is reliable when the opinions, comments, and suggestions of the experts are taken into account. It shows that the outcomes are reliable.

10.2 Construct Validity The researchers of the present study checked the construct validity of the instrument through measuring internal consistency. Thus, the values of the correlation between each item and the overall score. Table 2 presents those values. Based on Table 2, the Pearson correlation coefficient values for the correlation between the items and the overall score are statistically significant at the statistical significance level of a ≤ 0.05. They range between 0.39 and 0.88. They indicate that the instrument enjoys high internal consistency and construct validity levels. Table 2 Pearson correlation coefficient result Item no Pearson correlation coefficient value Item no Pearson correlation coefficient value 1

0.55*

11

0.72*

2

0.49*

12

0.42*

3

0.39*

13

0.60*

4

0.61*

14

0.88*

5

0.47*

15

0.72*

6

0.49*

16

0.44*

7

0.50*

17

0.60*

8

0.60*

18

0.72*

9

0.81

19

0.49*

10

0.72*

20

0.52*

*:

This value indicates that the value is statistically significant at the statistical significance level of a ≤ 0.05

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11 The Study’s Variables The Study’s Variables Are Shown Below • The independent variables: They are shown below. – Gender: This describes the two categories of male and female. – Major Three categories are included, including classroom teachers, kindergarten teachers, and libraries. • The dependent variable: It is represented in the attitude of students in the educational-sciences-faculty in “Zarqa University” towards distance-education “in the light of COVID 19 crisis”. It’s measured through the survey. A.

The Study’s Procedures

The instrument’s validity and reliability were examined. The survey’s final draft was then created. To identify the attitude of students in the educational-sciencesfaculty in “Zarqa University” towards distance-education in the light of COVID 19 crisis, categories were set to classify means. Those categories are shown below. 2.33 or less: Low. 2.34–3.65: Moderate. More than 3.66: High.

12 Discussion and Results The Results of the First Question Q.1. what views do students at “Zarqa University” faculty of educational-sciences have about distance learning in light of “the COVID-19 crisis”? Means and standard deviations are calculated to answer the first question. They represent the attitudes of students in the educational-sciences-faculty at “Zarqa University” towards distance-education during “the COVID-19 crisis” as shown in Table 3: Based on Table 3, the overall mean is 3.74. It means that the attitudes of students in the educational-sciences-faculty in “Zarqa University” towards distance-education during COVID 19 crisis are positive. The standard deviation is 0.79. The mean of statement 17 is high and ranked first. It is 4.33. Statement No. 17 states the following (Distance-education made learning easier). The mean of statement 8 is moderate and ranked last. It is 3.27. Statement No. 8 states the following: (Distance-education assisted me in holding discussions and dialogue related to teaching affairs).

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Table 3 Means and standard deviations to identify the attitudes of students in the educationalsciences-faculty in “Zarqa University” towards distance-education during COVID-19 crisis Item no Item

Rank Mean Std

Level

17

Distance-education made learning more easy

1

4.33

0.97 High

19

Distance-education facilitates the delivery of immediate corrections for mistakes

2

4.26

0.95 High

18

Distance-education assisted me in sending the assignments to the educator in a better manner

3

4.14

1.05 High

3

Distance-education assisted me in comprehending the teaching material in a better manner

4

4.06

1.14 High

20

Distance-education enriched me with knowledge

5

3.99

1.17 High

4

Distance-education increased my motivation to learn 6 and enthusiasm in the learning process

3.95

1.18 High

12

Distance-education provided me with a higher sense 7 of psychological comfort during the learning process

3.83

1.25 High

15

Distance-education enabled me to access many information sources

8

3.78

1.25 High

11

Distance-education reduced the stress and anxiety levels

9

3.76

1.37 High

1

Distance-education reduces the time needed for the learning process

10

3.71

1.37 High

13

Distance-education offer more flexibility during the learning process

11

3.70

1.27 High

16

Distance-education enabled me to address my academic problems in a better manner

12

3.64

1.30 Moderate

6

Distance-education enabled me to handle my responsibilities in a better manner

13

3.63

1.28 Moderate

10

Distance-education made learning interesting for me 14

3.60

1.34 Moderate

2

Distance-education enabled me to handle many student-related problems

15

3.59

1.37 Moderate

5

Distance-education allow taking the individual differences between student into consideration

16

3.56

1.30 Moderate

14

Distance-education contributed to raising my creativity

17

3.53

1.32 Moderate

9

Distance-education enabled me to communicate with 18 educators in a better manner

3.32

1.41 Moderate

7

Distance-education reduces the financial costs needed for the learning process

19

3.30

1.41 Moderate

8

Distance-education assisted me in holding discussions and dialogue related to teaching affairs

20

3.27

1.40 Moderate

–

Overall

–

3.74

0.79 High

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The latter outcome can be attributed to students at “Zarqa University” realizing the purpose and value of distant learning as well as its efficacy in light of the current situation. That manifests through the results of student and their attitudes towards the programs implemented online. The current reality experienced by Jordan and other countries is represented in COVID 19 crisis. This crisis required taking protection, social distancing and precautionary measures. Due to this crisis, schools and universities were closed temporarily. Thus, it was necessary to deliver distanceeducation. Such education ensures the continuation of the delivery of education. It ensures that students are isolated from each and remain at their homes to protect them from infection with this virus. This result may be attributed to the obstacles facing distance-education. The university address all the technical conditions facing distance-education. That was done through designing educational problems that involves much use for technology. Such programs aim at promoting awareness among students and faculty-members about the significance of e-learning. The findings here are consistent with those of Abochedid and Nasser [9] and Meqdadi [8]. They also noted that respondents had positive attitudes of university distance learning. In this sense, the findings do not correspond with those of Mehra and Omidian [10]. The Results of Second Question Q.2. Is there a statistically significant difference between the respondents’ attitudes that may be attributed to gender or major, at the statistical significance level of a ≤ 0.05? The second question was addressed using a two-way analysis of variance. This was done to determine if the respondents’ attitudes could be linked to their major or gender. Moreover, the results are shown in Table 4. According to Table 4, there are no observable variations in the attitudes of the respondents that can be connected to gender or major. The latter finding suggests that these two variables have no bearing on the attitudes of faculty members. It could be explained by the fact that all male and female faculty members, regardless of their qualifications, work in the same environment and adhere to the same rules. It could be explained by the fact that both male and female staff members and students, regardless of their educational backgrounds, underwent the same instruction on how to utilize computers and their programs to support distant education. Table 4 The results of the two-way-analysis Source of variance

Sum of squares

Df

Mean square

F value

Sig

Gender

0.1540

1

0.1540

0.2390

0.6260

Major

0.6230

2

0.3120

0.4820

0.6180

124.676

193

0.6460

1448.023

197

Error Overall

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This result in this aspect agrees with the gender result of Meqdadi [8]. In terms of major findings, it agrees with Husamo and Alabullah’s [11].

13 Recommendations The researchers provided many recommendations based on the findings. More specifically, they advise doing the following: • Providing more attention to distance-education by the officials in Jordanian public and private universities, including faculty deans, and heads of academic departments. The researchers of the present study recommend delivering such education to all students in all majors in light of experiencing “the COVID-19 crisis” • Conducting a similar study with a focus on Jordanian public universities and evaluating the findings in comparison to the current study. • Carrying out research on distance learning at Jordanian public and private universities.

14 Conclusion COVID-19 was the reason for the radical shift towards e-learning around the world, which has become a necessity to face difficult challenges, which push educational institutions, teachers and learners to improve their skill levels towards the use of modern technology. This study is attempted priority on identifying the views that students at the Faculty of Educational Sciences at “Zarqa University” had about elearning. Moreover, It clarified the importance of focusing on education and skill development through the use of educational technology for all parties concerned with the educational process, including professors and students, by all educational institutions.

References 1. Zayed, H.: Distance-education in the light of “the coronavirus crisis”. www.ekb.eg. (2020) 2. Almousa, A.: Using computer for delivering education, 4th edn. Shabaket Al-Bayanat, Riyadh (2008) 3. Alshomali, K.: What is the meaning of distance-education? mawdoo3.com (2017) 4. The World Health Organization (WHO). http://www.whoint/ar (2020) 5. Altaweel, I.: The academic problems facing female students receiving distance-education at Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University and suggestions to address them. J. Sci. Res. Educ. (19), 149–186(1434 AH) 6. Al-Malla, A.: Evaluating the distance-education experiment at the Malaysian University and the college of education for Girls based on the quality standards adopted by the agency of quality

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9. 10. 11.

M. Y. Al-Safarini et al. assurance at higher education. Int. J. Educ. Res. United Arab Emirates (UAE) University 39/2016, 123–168 (2016) Ammar, M.: The effectiveness of the cooperative e-learning strategy used in the cognitive journeys made via the web in raising the higher thinking level of students at faculty of education at Sultan Qaboos university. J Educ Psychol Studies Sultan Qaboos Univ 13(1), 175–193 (2019) Meqdadi, M.: Perceptions of public secondary school students in Jordan towards delivering distance-education in light of the Coronavirus crisis and the events associated with it. Arab J Sci Publish (AJSP) 16, 97–113 (2020) Abouchedid, K., & Nasser, R.: Assuring quality service in higher education: registration and advising attitudes in a private university in Lebanon. Qual. Assur. Educ. 10(4), 198–206 (2002) Mehra, V., & Omidian, F.: Examining students’ attitudes towards e-learning: A case from India. Malaysian J. Educ. Technol. 11(2), 13–18 (2011) Husamo, S., & Alabdullah, F.: The e-learning nature at Tishreen university in Syria from instructors’ and students’ point of view. J. Damascus Univ. 27 (2011)

A Proposed Vision to Improve the Ranking of Palestinian Universities in (Times Rankings 2022) for Sustainable Development Goals Mohammed F. Abu Owda , Ahmed A. Abu Amsha, Nisreen R. Salem, Niven A. Hilis, and Israa D. Abu Owda Abstract This research aims to reveal the reality of the ranking of Palestinian universities in the Times Higher Education rankings and to formulate a proposed vision to improve the ranking of Palestinian universities in the Times rankings. The researcher followed the descriptive analytical approach and analyzed the results of Palestinian universities in the Times rankings for universities for the year (2022). The researchers also analyzed the experiences and expertise of some leading universities in the Times rankings and relied on analyzing the criteria and indicators of the (SDGs) covered by the Times rankings. The researchers presented a proposed vision to improve the ranking of Palestinian universities in the Times rankings for each of the (SDGs). Keywords Rankings · Palestinian Universities · Times Rankings 2022

1 Introduction Educational institutions are facing significant knowledge and technological openness, and this openness has clearly affected all the roles and tasks required in educational institutions in general, and universities in particular, which made educational institutions and scientific research centers the main player in building and developing countries. Universities are centers of science and learning and sources of societal progress and enlightenment, as they bear the responsibility of education, scientific research and community service. Universities are affected by cultural, technological, economic and social changes prevailing locally and globally [1]. Universities are among the most important means by which a country can reach an advanced position among other nations. This made universities the focus of the world’s attention, and competition between countries has taken place over the development of education, especially university education. Therefore, university education has become one of the basic elements for the progress and prosperity of societies M. F. A. Owda (B) · A. A. A. Amsha · N. R. Salem · N. A. Hilis · I. D. A. Owda Islamic University of Gaza, P.O. Box 108, Gaza, Palestine e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_55

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in terms of economic, technological, and social progress, and the main driver of the renaissance of nations. One main outcome is that it has become necessary to reconsider university education to face emerging challenges, and meet societal needs, hence universities, like other institutions, seek to continue and grow and work to develop their own strategies to achieve their goals [2]. Education is one of the most important (SDGs), and it has received great attention in the United Nations development programs as it constitutes a solid foundation of sustainable development. Education is the human capital, on which the process of the development of societies depends in all its aspects. That is why the university is considered one of the most important educational institutions entrusted with achieving the (SDGs), for it possesses the human, financial and structural components to develop human capital, prepare it to carry out scientific research and encourage it to innovate, and to provide society with highly qualified cadres in various fields. Scholars and thinkers differed in their definition of the university. Some of them defined it as the educational institution that provides students with a high school diploma and its equivalent a theoretical, cognitive, and cultural education which adopts ideological and humanitarian foundations accompanied by professional training with the aim of graduating them to become productive individuals. The university also contributes to addressing vital issues that emerge at different times in society and affect the interactions of these different students [3]. Defines [4] it as an educational institution that includes at least (3) university colleges and provides educational programs that end with the award of a bachelor’s degree, the first scientific degree, and it also offers educational programs for postgraduate studies that end with the award of a higher diploma, master’s degree, or doctorate; a university may offer educational programs which award a diploma in accordance with the required regulations. Define [5] it as “a productive institution that works to enrich knowledge, develop technologies and create competencies, benefiting from the human scientific accumulation in various scientific, administrative and technical fields. There are (18) Palestinian traditional and open-education universities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The international rankings of universities are one of the most important means that universities use to achieve their goals, in addition to being one of the most important means of evaluating higher education and its institutions. They have also become one of the necessary imperatives, especially in light of the competition between universities. There have been many definitions of university rankings have been provided [6]. Rankings are defined as a system for ranking universities in terms of academic, scientific or literary level and is based on a set of statistics or questionnaires that are distributed to scholars, professors and other reviewing experts [7]. Defines [8] them as “methodologies determined by independent bodies that aim to rank and classify the world’s universities based on quantitative measurement of a specific set of standards and indicators and are issued in the form of annual periodic reports.

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Also defines [6] it as a method through which information is collected to evaluate universities according to prescribed criteria and rules, and universities are ranked in order based on these criteria, and therefore the ranking works to enhance competition between university education institutions as it is a force and a tool to bring about changes in universities. Defines [9] rankings as the total degree obtained by the university in one of the international rankings of universities based on a set of criteria, indicators and calculations, and therefore its ranking is determined from among the number of universities applying to obtain a ranking according to a specific ranking according to the degree obtained. Ranking is based on a set of criteria and indicators that differ according to the entity administering it. Therefore, talking about the international rankings of universities has become one of the important topics that affect universities and decision makers in universities and higher education. The talk about these rankings increased with the publication of Shanghai Jiaotong University (2003) of a detailed academic study for the first time in which universities and higher education institutions were ranked in all countries of the world, after which the (QS) ranking and (Webometrics) ranking appeared, in addition to many other rankings, such as the world-renowned Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2022. The importance of the international rankings of universities is highlighted in the information they provide on the status of universities, their ranking and the level of quality, which they have reached by relying on criteria that lend credibility to this assessment. Therefore, the ranking is objective, as the results of these rankings are of interest to both decision-makers, those in charge of the higher education sector and supervisors of universities, and both professors and students, given the information they provide on the status of universities and identifying their strengths and weaknesses. The Times ranking considers one of the most prominent international rankings of universities. The ranking is based on six indicators built on a hierarchical structure, as follows: • Theorization evaluation, weighing (40%): It is measured by distributing questionnaires to survey the opinions of experts in universities from around the world. The evaluation excludes experts who work in the same institution, and involves ensuring the application of weights from a geographical point of view to guarantee accuracy and fairness in the spread and application of the questionnaire. • The ratio of faculty members to students (20%): It means the number of faculty members relative to the number of students. • Research and scientific references, (20%): the percentage of research published by university professors in one academic year. • Evaluation of the labor market, weighing (10%): the ratio of graduate students working in the labor market in relation to the total number of students graduating from the university.

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• Foreign professors, (5%): the number of faculty members of other nationalities (international) in relation to the number of faculty members as a whole. • Foreign students, (5%): the number of students of other nationalities (international) in relation to the number of faculty members as a whole.

2 Statement of the Problem Arab universities, and Palestinian universities in particular, face many serious problems in providing their services to community, which has made them lose a lot of their effectiveness and efficiency, and this in turn has affected their competitiveness at the local, Arab and international levels. The process of entering competition and raising the efficiency and effectiveness of universities today requires entering the field of competition, of which global rankings are part. After reviewing a number of previous studies, the researchers found Arab universities obtained a low level in international rankings [1, 6, 10–13]. Through their work in the Deanship of Quality and Development at the Islamic University of Gaza that enabled them to know about the status of Palestinian universities in international rankings, especially the famous Times international ranking for Societal Impact related to the extent of achieving the 17 (SDGs), the researchers found that there was a small number of Palestinian universities that participated in this ranking, and that the participating universities had unsatisfactory and low ranking results. Therefore, the researchers decided to present a proposed vision to improve the ranking of Palestinian universities in the Times Ranking of Societal Impact. The study is based on studying the renowned Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2022, issued by the international Times Magazine that relies in its methodology on evaluating the efforts of universities in achieving the 17 (SDGs), set by the United Nations, and then identifying the challenges facing universities, and finally presenting a proposed vision to improve the ranking of Palestinian universities in this ranking. The research problem is determined in the following main question: What is the proposed vision for improving the ranking of Palestinian universities in Times Ranking 2022? The following sub-questions are derived from the main question: • What is the reality of the ranking of Palestinian universities in Times Ranking 2022? • What are the challenges facing Palestinian universities in Times Ranking 2022? • What are the features of the proposed vision to improve the ranking of Palestinian universities in Times Ranking 2022?

3 Research Objectives The current research seeks to achieve the following objectives:

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• Identifying the reality of Palestinian universities in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2022 issued by the International Times Magazine and studying the criteria related to this ranking and related to the (SDGs). • Uncovering the challenges facing Palestinian universities in the Times Ranking 2022. • Building a proposed vision to improve the ranking of Palestinian universities in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2022.

4 Research Significance The importance of the research lies in the following: • The study may benefit higher education institutions by setting development plans to improve their rank in international rankings, specifically the Times University Rankings related to development goals. • Opening new horizons for researchers and educators interested in international rankings by revealing the reality of Palestinian universities in international rankings and the challenges facing them. • Directing the attention of specialists in higher education institutions to holding training courses and workshops to improve the reality of Palestinian universities in international rankings, particularly the Times ranking of universities related to sustainable development goals.

5 Research Limitations The current research is limited to developing a proposed vision for improving the ranking of Palestinian universities in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2022 issued by the International Times Magazine, which depends in its methodology on evaluating the efforts of universities in achieving the 17 (SDGs), defined by the United Nations. The researchers focused on examining the reality of Palestinian universities in the Times ranking of universities and suggested a proposed vision to improve the ranking of Palestinian universities in the Times Ranking during the year (2021–2022).

6 Research Terms The researchers define search terms procedurally as follows: • Rankings: a set of quantitative criteria and indicators developed by independent institutions that aim to evaluate universities.

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• Palestinian Universities: they are the Palestinian universities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which are approved by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, numbering (18) educational universities, including (16) traditional universities and (2) open education universities, and include a group of colleges with no fewer than (3) faculties and they award diploma to doctoral degrees. • Times Rankings 2022: it is one of the rankings organized by the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings that measures the success of international universities in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Universities are evaluated in Goal No. (17) mandatorily, in addition to selecting (3) Goals from the (SDGs).

7 Research Methodology 7.1 Research Method The researchers followed the descriptive analytical approach for its suitability to the nature of the research, with the aim of identifying the reality of Palestinian universities in the Times Ranking of 2022, and revealing the challenges facing Palestinian universities in the Times Ranking, in order to build a proposed vision to improve the reality of Palestinian universities in the Times Ranking. This is carried out based on the analysis of educational literature, previous studies, publications and statistical reports that dealt with the Times Ranking.

7.2 Research Tool The research relied on analyzing the results of Palestinian universities in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings for the year (2022), which measures the extent to which international universities have succeeded in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The research relied on analyzing the experiences and expertise of some leading and advanced universities in the Times Ranking, such as Oxford University, California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and Stanford University. The research also relied on analyzing the criteria and indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals dealing with the internationally renowned Times Ranking.

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Table 1 The results of the Palestinian universities participating in the Times Ranking for the year 2022, based on the goals in which each university participated [14] An-Najah National University

Goals Goal (12) Responsible consumption and production

Goal (2) Zero hunger

Goal (3) Good health and well-being

Goal (17) Partnerships for the goals

Result

83.8

75.1

73.9–79.6

76.7–83

Rank: (101–200) internationally Birzeit University

Goal (4) Quality Education

Goal (16) Peace, justice and strong institutions

Goal (5) Gender Equality

Goal (17) Partnerships for the goals

Result

79.5

71.3–78.4

59.6–65.9

70.3–76.6

Rank: (101–300) internationally Islamic University of Gaza

Goal (4) Quality Education

Goal (3) Good health and well-being

Goal (10) Reduce inequalities

Goal (17) Partnerships for the goals

Result

61.9–58.1

41.5–53.2

35.7–48.2

58.8–70.2

Rank: (801–1000) internationally Arab American University

Goal (3) Good health and well-being

Goal (8) decent Goal (1) work and economic Eradicate growth poverty

Goal (17) Partnerships for the goals

Result

53.3–63.6

25–44.9

58.8–70.2

34.1–47.4

Rank: (801–1000) internationally

8 Results 8.1 Results of Question 1 What is the reality of the ranking of Palestinian universities in Times Ranking 2022? Although the challenges that Palestinian universities face, The Palestinian universities compete international, local and Arab rankings. Four Palestinian universities in 2022 participated in the famous Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2022 issued by the International Times Magazine. Table 1 shows the results of each university in the Goals it participated in.

8.2 Results of Question 2 What are the challenges facing Palestinian universities in Times Ranking 2022? University higher education in the Arab world suffers from many problems and negative manifestations that have negatively affected all fields and made it lose a lot

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of its effectiveness in carrying out the basic functions. These functions are scientific research, teaching and community service, especially in light of the fierce competition between universities [15]. Although some Arab universities may enjoy large financial resources, sometimes more than many other universities. Many Arab universities still suffer numerous obstacles, professional and behavioral sensitivities, selective employment, and unstudied priorities. These obstacles do not help in any way to provide a serious climate of scientific, knowledge and technical production, nor do they contribute to a professional behavior that offers a framework for serious and fruitful work to outline appropriate solutions to the problems facing the countries in which these universities are located. Hence, the researchers found that there are many reasons and manifestations of the weakness of Arab universities at various levels, including what were mentioned by [16]: • The absence of a clear scientific vision that depends on local interests and qualified cadres to work on projects of benefit to the country. • Employment, work, and development projects are often subject to the mood of the financier or the administrative decision-maker. • Poor planning and the desire to obtain quick results in the shortest possible time, and the despair of many scholars and their abandonment of research, scrutiny and writing. • Professional sensitivities and individual selfishness among peers and colleagues towards belittling, undermining, or underestimating the other party, at the expense of hard work and fruitful cooperation. • Corruption, loss of priorities, spread of bribery and nepotism in hiring the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time [17]. • Constant dependence on imported knowledge that is moving fast, indifference, superficiality, and lack of self-confidence to the point of importing everything, including curricula, professors, and the names of universities and their branches [18]. The researchers believe that there are other challenges facing Palestinian universities, which are: • The dependence of the majority of Arab universities in teaching sciences on the theoretical aspects rather than the practical ones. • Poor alignment and failure of the programs and specializations in universities to keep pace with the needs of the labor market. • An increase in brain drain and its relocation to work in foreign universities. • The Israeli occupation and its almost complete control over the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip including the increase in the number military checkpoints, the dismemberment of the West Bank, and the continuation of the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip for 15 years. • Weak partnership between Palestinian universities and the private sector. • Weakness of the approved scientific research budget allocated to research in Palestinian universities.

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• Weak government funding allocated to support the budgets of Palestinian universities.

8.3 Results of Question 3 What are the features of the proposed vision to improve the ranking of Palestinian universities in Times Ranking 2022? To answer this question, the researchers developed a proposed vision that aims to improve the ranking of Palestinian universities in (The Impact Ranking) that depend on 17 SDGs (United Nations, 2015), in the light of the experiences of the top universities in the ranking to improve the Palestinian universities positions in the (The Impact Ranking), Where the researchers presented goals vision addressed by the Palestinian universities, which can be summarized in the following points: • No Poverty – Providing grants to poor students and students with special needs, Facilitating the access of students to health services. – Guiding students to participate in voluntary programs aimed to serving people who suffering from poverty. • Zero Hunger – Organizing university Exhibition to display national products and support local producers and distribution a brochure to support local products. – Holding awareness meetings for students, to conducting community initiatives that contribute to Eliminatee the hunger. – Providing community initiatives to distribute food baskets to poor families. • Good Health and Well-being – Preparing health initiatives that serve the local community to access the health services in remote places. – Conducting research to support the prevention and treatment of diseases in the local environment. • Quality Education – Conducting cooperation between universities, governments and stakeholders to ensure lifelong learning for all individuals. – Providing awareness meetings on the importance of lifelong learning for university students and the local community, and providing formal and informal learning opportunities for students. – Preparing a road map for the educational process based on the sustainable development goals.

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• Gender Equality – Enhancing the participation of women in the administrative and academic staff in the university. – Participation in research conferences concerned with raising awareness about women’s rights and increasing opportunities for gender equality. – Establishing a research center and a research journal for the study of women’s affairs. • Decent work and economic growth – Reporting and directing government policies on sustainable business strategies to developing economy in society. – Develop partnerships with non-governmental and governmental organizations; To provide professional training activates. • Reduced inequality – Holding workshops to organize initiatives and projects that support equality and equity in the workplace. – Preparing educational brochures against racism. – Ensuring that students and staff with disabilities have access to their various rights in the university environment. • Responsible consumption and production – Participation in scientific projects and conferences concerned with the quality of the environment: water, air, and soil around the world. – Motivating students to organize graduation projects on carbon reduction and waste treatment. – 7 Preparing awareness brochures on enhancing community participation in waste treatment. • Peace, justice and strong institutions – Promote the values of peace and just societies through study programs. – Issuing university policies to combat corruption and bribery, and encourage freedom of opinion and election to union bodies and student councils. • Partnership for the goals – Enhance partnerships with civil society organizations to address all sustainable development goals. – Signing agreements that Enhance local and global partnerships that are concerned with developing SDGs, strengthening regional social relations, and economic and environmental well-being in the region.

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9 Conclusion • The results showed that the Times ranking of Palestinian universities is still lagging, despite the efforts made by Palestinian universities in order to face the strong and difficult competition. • The results showed that Palestinian universities suffer from a set of challenges that prevented their advancement in the Times classification, the most prominent of which was the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, which impeded the enrollment of foreign students in Palestinian universities, the lack of a budget for scientific research, and the brain drain of faculty members as a result of the difficult situation that Palestinian universities suffer from. • The research presented a set of proposals for the (17) SDGs to improve the ranking of Palestinian universities.

10 Recommendation In light of the results of the research, the recommendations are as follows: 1. Benefiting from the experiences of advanced universities in the famous international classification of the Times. 2. Urging Palestinian universities to work towards achieving the SDGs with their various indicators. 3. Spreading awareness among employees in Palestinian universities about the importance of international classifications of higher education and the factors that help to achieve them.

References 1. Hawala, S., Al-Metwally, S.: Criteria for international classifications, a critical analytical study. J. Educ. Sci. 4(22), 649–666 (2014) 2. Al-Abbad, A.: a proposed model to raise the competitiveness of King Saud University in the light of the international rankings of universities. Dar Al-Manzmah, Special. Int. Educ. J. 6(3), 306–327 (2017) 3. El-Baradei, W.: The role of the university in confronting intellectual extremism, 1st edn. University Knowledge House, Alexandria (2002) 4. Al-Ghoul, M.: The role of electronic administration in Palestinian universities in reducing the problems of admission and registration and ways to develop it, an unpublished master’s thesis. Islamic University of Gaza, College of Education (2019) 5. Delio, F., et al.: Democratic participation in University management, i (1). Mentouri University, Constantine, Sociology and Communication Laboratory (2006) 6. Muhammad, S.: A critical study of the reality of Egyptian universities in light of the standards of international rankings of universities. Fayoum Univ. J. Educ. Psychol. Sci. 14(6), 703–773 (2020)

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7. Kobashi, T.: The university ranking of asahi Shimbun publication. J. Int. High. Educ. 3(4), 169 (2010) 8. Abdel-Hay, A., Al-Hadi, I.: Factors of low Arab universities’ positions in the international rankings of universities and ways to advance them, the eighteenth annual national conference (developing the performance system in Arab universities in light of contemporary global changes). Univ. Educ. Develop. Center, Univ. Ain Shams 87–126 (2014) 9. Al-Barbari, M.: Suggested scenarios to improve the ranking of Egyptian universities in the international rankings of universities and benefit from some Asian experiences. J. Educ. Psychol. Studies Zagazig 89(2), 5–147 (2015) 10. Al-Sharif, F.: The suitability of the international classification standards to the reality of Arab universities, an evaluation study. Educ. J. Sci. Publ. Council, Kuwait Univ. 34(134), 221–264 (2020) 11. Billaut, J.C., Bouyssou, D., Vincke, P.: Should you believe in the Shanghai ranking? MCDM View Scientomet. 84(1), 237–263 (2010) 12. Dahan, M., Bouatrous D.: Ranking of Algerian universities in international rankings, where is the defect? And what is the solution?, Studies, educational sciences, a special issue of the conference of the college of educational sciences entitled (Conference on higher education in the Arab world) 173–187 (2017) 13. Abdul Qader, O.: The unified matrix of world rankings for universities and strategic premises to activate the kingdom’s vision 2030, a study presented to the Conference on the role of Saudi universities in activating vision 2030 at Qassim University, 1–17 (2017) 14. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/impactrankings. 15 Sept 2022 15. Al-Sisi, G., Al-Zahrani, I.: Re-engineering operations in Arab universities to improve their competitiveness in the light of international rankings. Cultur. Develop. Mag. 116, 1–68 (2017) 16. Mustafa, K.: Classification of Arab universities with money and What’s on it. Arab scientific archive (2018). https://doi.org/10.31221/osf.io/dhczs 17. Mohamed, A., Mohamad, M.: The effect of wasta on perceived competence and morality in Egypt. Cross Cultur. Manage. Int. J. 18(4), 412–425 (2011) 18. Donn, G., Al Manthri, Y.: Education in the broader middle east: borrowing a baroque arsenal. Symposium Books Ltd. (2013)

The Extent of Human Resource Efficiency at Zarqa University from the Point of View of Its Faculty and Administrative Staff Reda S. M. Al-Mawadieh , Nidal Alramahi , Khaled Alzeaideen , Mahmoud Odeh , and Maram Y. Al-Safarini Abstract The aim of the study was to determine the level of human resource efficiency at Zarqa University from the perspective of the academic and administrative employees. The descriptive survey technique was used, and the sample was selected from the research population using the intentional approach; 100 faculty members and 32 administrative employees were included in the sample. After establishing its validity and dependability, a questionnaire of thirty items divided across six categories was utilized to gather data. The results indicated that the efficiency of human resources at Zarqa University was generally high, as the majority of items received high ratings, and the results indicated that the efficiency of human resources at Zarqa University was high from the teaching and administrative staff’s perspectives. In addition, the findings revealed that there were no disparities between faculty members and administrative staff, as well as no gender inequalities. Keywords Efficiency · Human Resources · Zarqa University. Introduction

R. S. M. Al-Mawadieh (B) · K. Alzeaideen Business Faculty, Zarqa University, Zarqa, Jordan e-mail: [email protected] K. Alzeaideen e-mail: [email protected] N. Alramahi Dean of Faculty of Educational Science, Zarqa University, Zarqa, Jordan e-mail: [email protected] M. Odeh Zarqa University, Zarqa, Jordan e-mail: [email protected] M. Y. Al-Safarini Faculty of Information Technology, Zarqa University, Zarqa, Jordan e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_56

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1 Introduction Management has seen substantial progress in the twenty-first century [1]. Some terminology, such as human resource efficiency and aspects of organizational justice, have evolved; if implemented, these notions will establish an acceptable work environment, instill confidence in workers, and allow them to execute their jobs [2]. Human resource effectiveness is seen as the way to greatness for every business, as it helps it to compete locally, regionally, and worldwide, as well as to keep up with quick changes and innovations [3]. Human resources also responsible for generating productive, morally upright members of society who, in turn, will enhance society and transcend its human ideals [4]. The way businesses handle employees, goods, and technology cannot be applied to managing human capital since it is an intangible asset [5]. Employees own their own human capital, not the company, which is one of the reasons behind this [6]. A business loses any investment in the training and development of valued personnel when they depart since they take their human capital with them [7]. However, HRM procedures like selection and training may create replacements for these staff members, making high-quality HRM systems the true strategic edge for firms [8]. To increase an organization’s human capital, managers need to continue to cultivate outstanding knowledge, skills, and experience within their workforces, as well as retain and promote top workers [9]. In addition to the need that businesses invest in the growth of their staff members, these businesses need to devise strategies for making better use of the expertise that their employees possess [10]. Employees often fail to make advantage of the information they possess. Total quality improvement, reengineering, downsizing, and outsourcing are some examples of the ways in which businesses adjust the way they conduct their operations in order to achieve greater levels of success [11]. In years gone by, human resources departments were often centered on doing administrative work, dealing with labor unions, and complying with various employment rules [12]. However, HR management is quite different in today’s world. Intelligent CEOs are aware that human resources specialists may assist them in improving, remaining in compliance with the law, and contributing to the bottom line by helping to streamline employee expenditures. Redesigning work to encourage innovation, predicting trends in the labor market, hiring and motivating staff, and determining how successful they are all things that HR professionals can do to boost the bottom line [13]. HR managers provide assistance to their companies in a variety of areas, including corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and the development of new and innovative market entry methods [14]. The challenges the globe encountered during the Corona pandemic resulted in significant changes that influenced the functioning of organizations worldwide [15]. According to the new post-pandemic modifications, the technique for interacting with personnel in the organization, the division of labor, the assignment of duties, and the development of skills were modified in response to these issues [15]. Zarqa University is among the foremost institutions in its sector. Since its founding in 1994,

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it has accumulated several years of expertise. It strives continually to distinguish itself among universities on the local, Arab, and worldwide levels. Since its inception, the company has endeavored to give the greatest services and facilities to its workers, hence staffing the Human Resources Department with competent individuals who aspire to perform better [16]. This necessitates an investigation of the level of human resource efficiency at Zarqa University from the perspective of its teaching and administrative personnel in order to identify the university’s strengths and areas for development [17]. This evaluation study is summarized in the following points: 1. Reviewing prior studies and reference frameworks to prepare the research instrument for measuring the effectiveness of human resources. 2. Arbitration of the tool by referring to experts specialized in measurement and evaluation. 3. Data and information were collected by distributing the tool to employees at Zarqa University (faculty members and administrative employees) through an electronic link. 4. Analyzing the results of the tool.

1.1 Research Questions • Q1: What is the reality of the efficiency of human resources at Zarqa University from the point of view of the teaching and administrative staff? • Q 2: Are there statistically significant differences at the level (a ≤ 0.05) in the degree of human resource efficiency at Zarqa University from the point of view of the teaching and administrative staff? • Q 3: Are there statistically significant differences at the level (a ≤ 0.05) in the degree of human resources efficiency at Zarqa University from the point of view of the teaching and administrative staff due to the variables: academic degree, and gender?

1.2 Objectives of the Study The study aims to achieve the following objectives: • Disclosure of the degree of human resource efficiency at Zarqa University from the point of view of its teaching and administrative staff. • Identifying the differences in the degree of human resources efficiency at Zarqa University from the point of view of its teaching and administrative staff. • Achieving the formulation of a deductive and inductive document to be used as a valuable tool for continuous planning and development.

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• Taking a critical insight at the university’s current status quo, and then examining the developments within the framework of achieving its vision, its mission and goals.

1.3 The Importance of the Study This study’s importance originates from the significance of the issue it addresses, namely determining the degree of human resource efficiency at Zarqa University from the perspective of the teaching and administrative staff. The study benefits of this research include: • Introducing administrative personnel at Zarqa University to the degree of human resource effectiveness. • Faculty members and employees of the university. • Commission for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education. • The results and approach mentioned in this study may serve as a starting point for future research in this sector.

1.4 Study Delimitations The present study is limited to Zarqa University faculty and administrative employees for the academic year 2021/2022.

1.5 Study Limitations Generalization is restricted to the research population from which the sample was collected and populations with comparable characteristics.

1.6 Data Collection and Analysis Tools Reviewing documents, records, surveys, opinion polls, and researching performance indicators were used to gather data, which then was analyzed using descriptive analytic models.

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2 Study Methodology This particular study made use of the descriptive survey research technique because the researchers felt that this was the most suitable methodology given the nature of the study’s topic and the challenges that it presented [18]. In order to determine the nature of the subject matter, as well as the theoretical underpinnings and premises that the topic of the present research is founded on, a desk survey was carried out, and studies that are relevant to the one being investigated were analyzed [19]. After ensuring that it was both valid and reliable, the questionnaire was used as a method for the gathering of data [20].

2.1 Study Population For the academic year (2021/2022), the population for this study consisted of all faculty members and administrative staff of Zarqa University across all faculties, deanships, and departments.

2.2 The Study Sample The sample consisted of 100 academic members and 32 administrative personnel and was selected from the research population using the deliberate sampling technique.

2.3 Study Tool For the purposes of achieving the study’s aims and answering its questions, a questionnaire was prepared with reference to the relevant theoretical literature and prior investigations. The questionnaire, in its final form, included (30) paragraphs distributed over 6 domains: human resources vision, recruitment and employment, work environment, professional development, job satisfaction index, performance evaluation. The following Table 1, shows the distribution of the questionnaire items (the study tool) on the six domains.

2.4 Tool Construction Validity The instrument’s construct validity was determined utilizing the internal consistency approach for determining validity.

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Table 1 The questionnaire Domains and number of questions

Domain

Number of paragraphs

HR vision

4

Recruitment and employment

7

Work environment

5

Professional development

5

Job satisfaction index

2

Performance evaluation

7

The answer variables were high, medium, low

2.5 The Study Variables This study included two types of variables: • First: The middle independent variables, represented by the following • Academic degree: have four levels: PhD, Master, Bachelor, Diploma, and High School. • Gender: Males and Females. • Second: The dependent variable efficiency of human resources at Zarqa University.

2.6 Statistical Processing • To answer the questions of the study and find the validity and reliability of the tool, statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) were used, and the following statistical procedures were performed. • To answer the first question, the arithmetic means, standard deviations, and ranks of the paragraphs were extracted. • To answer the second question, a one-way ANOVA was used. • To answer the third question, a two-way ANOVA was used.

2.7 Study Procedures After identifying the study population, selecting the sample, and obtaining official approvals, the questionnaire was distributed to the members of the study sample (faculty and administrative staff). The researchers then introduced the respondents to the significance of the study, answered their questions and observations regarding the questionnaire’s paragraphs, and retrieved the questionnaire before entering the data into the SPSS software.

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To determine the efficiency of human resources at Zarqa University from the point of view of the teaching and administrative staff at Zarqa University, the following equation was applied: The high value of the variable−the minimum value of the variable = 3 – 1 = 2 = 0.66 Number of levels

3

3

Results are calculated as. • Low score from 1 to 1.66 • Average score from 1.67 to 2.33 • High Score from 2.34 to 3

3 The Results The results of the first question, “What is the reality of the efficiency of human resources at Zarqa University from the point of view of the teaching and administrative staff? To answer the first question, the percentages and ranks of the questionnaire items were extracted. The following Table 2 represents the results of the arithmetic averages, standard deviations, and ranks. It is clear from the data in the previous table that the efficiency of human resources at Zarqa University was generally high, as the vast majority of the paragraphs scored high. For example, paragraphs No. (7, 22) ranked first with a rate of 73% of the degree Approval, and Paragraph No. (26) ranked second with a 70% approval rating. On the other hand, paragraphs (4, 12, 24) ranked (11) with an approval rate of 47% The results of the second question: “Are there statistically significant differences at the level (a ≤ 0.05) in the degree of human resources efficiency at Zarqa University from the point of view of the teaching and administrative staff?”. To answer the second question, a One-Way ANOVA was extracted, where the following Table 3 represents the results of the One-Way ANOVA. The data in the previous table indicates that the value of (p) equals (8448) and the value of (p) equals (0.091) and is not significant at the significance level (a ≤ 0.05), so there are no statistically significant differences at the level (a ≤ 0.05) in the degree of human resources efficiency at Zarqa University from the point of view of faculty members and administrative staff. The results of the third question, “Are there statistically significant differences at the level (a ≤ 0.05) in the degree of human resources efficiency at Zarqa University from the point of view of the teaching and administrative staff due to the variables: academic degree, and gender?”. To answer the third question, a two-way ANOVA was extracted, where the following Table 4 represents the results of two-way ANOVA.

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Table 2 Results of percentages and ranks No Paragraph

High (%) Medium (%) Low (%) Rank

1

HR implements a comprehensive and integrated plan in order to periodically evaluate the performance of departments, faculties and deanships

59

41

7

7

2

HR includes the development plan of the university in its strategic plan

53

40

7

9

3

HR implement its strategic plan with high efficiency and quality

59

41

7

7

4

HR follows up the implementation of the strategic plan by implementing periodic feedback

48

45

7

11

5

HR determines the criteria for recruitment and 60 employment

33

7

6

6

HR surveys the university’s needs of human cadres at the university

62

32

6

5

7

HR determines the job description of the university’s employees

73

22

5

1

8

HR shows the challenges and difficulties of work for applicants for vacant positions at the university

56

33

11

8

9

HR depends on transparency in the selection of employees

53

42

6

9

10

HR sets specific criteria to fill the vacant position in the light of the interest of the university and the qualifications of the individual

67

29

4

3

11

The distribution of human resources working in the university in all areas of performance

64

29

7

4

12

HR determines the training needs of university 47 employees in proportion to their capabilities

40

13

11

13

Training programs offered by human resources are related to future needs

60

31

9

6

14

HR ensure that the impact of training is transmitted to university employees

51

37

12

9

15

HR provides the opportunity for employees to 50 train

43

8

10

16

HR provides training services to faculty members and administrators

60

33

2

6

17

HR is keen to provide its employees with equal opportunities for professional development and career promotion

51

48

8

9

18

HR benefit from the results of performance evaluation in training university employees

56

37

7

8 (continued)

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Table 2 (continued) No Paragraph

High (%) Medium (%) Low (%) Rank

19

HR ensures that its highly qualified and high-performance employees receive career development opportunities

59

41

7

7

20

The promotion system applied at the university is based on objective and clear foundations and factors for all

51

37

12

9

21

HR sets specific criteria to fill the vacant position in the light of the interest of the university and the qualifications of the individual

67

29

4

3

22

The promotion system applied at the university is based on objective and clear foundations and factors for all

73

22

5

1

23

HR contributes to completing the transactions of employees and faculty members quickly and efficiently

60

30

10

6

24

HR allows university employees to exchange information among themselves

47

45

9

11

25

HR distributes tasks among university employees so that functional relations lead to social relations between them

51

40

9

9

26

HR contribute to the interaction of university employees in the spirit of one team

70

29

1

2

27

HR focuses on raising the efficiency of staff and faculty members by assigning workshops to meet their needs

65

30

5

3

28

HR provides incentives for employees and 60 faculty members, which raise the degree of competition among them which is reflected positively on the performance of the university

33

7

6

29

The University, through the Human Resources 67 Department, is keen that its employees obtain their annual vacations in accordance with the instructions and regulations

29

4

3

30

HR benefits from the results of performance evaluation in training university employees

40

9

9

51

It is clear from the previous table that the value of (p) is equal to (7491) and the value of p is equal to (0.09) and is not significant at the significance level (a ≤ 0.05) so there are no statistically significant differences at the level (a ≤ 0.05) in the degree of human resources efficiency at Zarqa University between both academic degree and gender from the point of view of the faculty members the administrative staff.

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Table 3 Results of one-way ANOVA Contrast source

Sum of squares

Degree of freedom

Mean squares

Between groups

1481,867

4

740,933

Within groups

2368,000

128

Total

3849,867

132

87,704

Value (q)

Indication level

p. value

Indication

8448

0.06

*0.091

Not significant

Indication level

p. value

Indication

0.09

*0.221

Not significant

Table 4 The results of a two-way ANOVA Contrast source

Sum of squares

Degree of freedom

Mean squares

Value (q)

Degree

1289,811

4

sex

2112,026

128

49,799 7491

1

60,100

Interaction error The total

120,200 208,000 3849,867

2

690,137

8667

132

References 1. Ndalamba, K.K, Tomé, E.d.R.B.: Process management: a requirement for organizational excellence in the twenty-first century business environment? Leadership in a changing world-a multidimensional perspective (2021) 2. Ma, D.: The monitoring method of enterprise human resource efficiency under the smart city management mode. Adv. Multimedia (2021) 3. Astuty, W., Zufrizal, Z., Pasaribu, F., Rahayu, S.: The effects of customer relationship management, human resource competence and internal control systems on the effectiveness of supply chain management in the Indonesian public sector. Uncert. Supply Chain Manage. 9(3), 595–602 (2021) 4. Sorribes, J., Celma, D., Martínez-Garcia, E.: Sustainable human resources management in crisis contexts: Interaction of socially responsible labour practices for the wellbeing of employees. Corp. Soc. Responsib. Environ. Manag. 28(2), 936–952 (2021) 5. Deming, D.J.: Four facts about human capital. J. Econ. Perspect. 36(3), 75–102 (2022) 6. Gruzina, Y., Firsova, I., Strielkowski, W.: Dynamics of human capital development in economic development cycles. Economies 9(2), 67 (2021) 7. Anwar, G., Abdullah, N.N.: The impact of human resource management practice on organizational performance. Int. J. Eng. Bus. Manage. (IJEBM) 5 (2021) 8. Jamkhaneh, H.B., Shahin, A., Parkouhi, S.V., Shahin, R.: The new concept of quality in the digital era: a human resource empowerment perspective. TQM J. (2021) 9. Wijaya, R., Yadewani, D., Karim, K.: The effect of human resource skills and capabilities on SMEs performance. Int. J. Islamic Bus. Manage. Rev. 2(1), 59–68 (2022) 10. Azizi, M.R., Atlasi, R., Ziapour, A., Abbas, J., Naemi, R.: Innovative human resource management strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic narrative review approach. Heliyon 7(6), e07233 (2021) 11. Swanson, R.A.: Foundations of human resource development Berrett-Koehler Publishers (2022)

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Teacher Preparation Program: Alumni Perceptions and Technology Utilization Sherin Alamassi

and Sultan Alsuwaidi

Abstract This study sought to contribute to discussions on the development of teacher education. It investigated teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the preparation program and explored the challenges that teacher candidates faced. Then, it suggested solution to utilize technology to tackle the challenges and improve the program. The target population was teachers who graduated from education program within the last five years, and are currently working as teachers. An exploratory sequential mixed methods design was used. Results indicated that the agreement among participants about the effectiveness of the program was higher than disagreement, after assessing data from three teachers’ interviews and 22 teachers’ survey responses. An area for improvement includes enabling students to communicate their educational knowledge in Arabic. Participants’ responses highlighted the importance of linking the theory of teaching directly to practice and clarified the significance of choosing the schools and associate teachers wittingly to enrich the teacher candidate practicum experience. Survey results revealed 45% of participants disagreed that the program supports teacher candidates to communicate effectively with students’ parents. Forty percent of participants disagreed that the practicum period is sufficient and only 27% of participants agreed that the program equips teacher candidates with in-depth subject knowledge. These results might assist education policymakers in reaching informed decisions on the changes needed to improve the teacher preparation programs. Keywords Teacher education · Teaching practicum · Program evaluation · Program development · UAE

S. Alamassi (B) Alain University AAU, Alain, UAE e-mail: [email protected] S. Alsuwaidi United Arab Emirates University UAEU, Alain, UAE © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_57

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1 Introduction The United Arab Emirates (UAE) education leaders strive to increase the quality of the students’ education in the country. It is well recognized that teacher effectiveness is the most vital school-based aspect related to improving student achievement [1]. The quality of teachers and teaching depends directly on the quality of teacher preparation programs [2]. The student teaching program could be a measure of students’ accomplishments in the College of Education general educational outcomes; this has been the subject of contentious debates regarding the best way to prepare teachers for teaching roles. Some argue that investing in high-quality teacher preparation is the most promising approach. Most agree, however, that the UAE lacks a strong research basis for understanding how to prepare teachers. Yilmaz [3] defined teaching efficacy as teachers’ beliefs about their effectiveness. Thus, it is essential to explore the beliefs of teachers who have graduated from the College of Education at the UAE, about their effectiveness as teachers. The study objectives were: 1. To examine the effectiveness of teacher candidate experience from their perspective. 2. To identify the impediments or challenges, to create an effective program. 3. To provide recommendations on what is required to improve the program including utilizing technology.

1.1 Literature Review Teacher candidates must possess detailed knowledge and understanding of a wide range of areas, to be prepared to impart their knowledge among various groups and individuals in different situations and under changing conditions [4]. Findings of studies about teacher candidate preparation programs explored their perceptions of several aspects of the programs. For example, Lee et al. [2] studied the teachers’ beliefs regarding pedagogical content knowledge, planning and preparation for instruction, classroom management, promoting family involvement and professionalism. The results of the study clarified that teachers benefit from the program in all of these elements. However, promoting family involvement gained the lowest rating compared to the other elements. The school context where teacher candidates spend their practicum period is another factor that impacts their future effectiveness as teachers. One study investigated the relationship between teacher candidates’ student teaching experiences and their later teaching effectiveness [1]. The study found that teachers are more effective when the demographics of students at their current school are similar to the student demographics of the school in which they did the practical component

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of their studies [1]. They suggested training teacher candidates in schools that are similar to the schools at which they are likely to be hired. Ronfeldt [5] proposed that teacher candidates’ experiences may be associated with high functioning and low teacher turnover levels at the schools where they undertook their training. All of the previous findings shed light on the importance of the practicum period. Hamad [6] found that one semester for the practicum is insufficient to prepare teacher candidates, and called for increasing training hours. Furthermore, it was recommended that training should be provided for cooperating teachers and the principals at schools where teacher candidates will spend their fieldwork experience [6]. It was also suggested that multiple stages should be included in a practicum, including orientation, observation, microteaching, participating in teaching, teaching, and finally mastering the teaching stage [6]. Althamaly [7] agreed with Hamad [6] about the necessity of increasing the practicum period and suggested that students should not be enrolled in any other courses during this period. Moreover, it was recommended that cooperating teachers reconsider their selection approach and to increase the number of visits that the academic advisors conduct during the practicum. Cooperating teachers are vital to maximizing teacher candidates’ learning opportunities [8]. Effective cooperating teachers use instruction, advising, professionalism, cooperating teacher/student–teacher relationship, and personal characteristics, as stated in Roberts and Dyer’s (2004) model (as cited in Roberts [9]). Teacher candidates appreciate the increased level of interaction with cooperating teachers. It helped them to feel more confident and well-prepared as Dunning et al. [10] revealed. In this study, cooperating teachers were trained to undertake their roles. The results of the study shed light on the added pressure on the cooperating teachers and their time limitations, as their role is voluntary. Ragland [11] conducted a case study to explore the benefits of using alumni of teachers’ education programs from the same university as the teacher candidates, as cooperating teachers. It was found that those cooperating teachers are more open to interact and learn from their supervisors as they were their supervisors previously. Furthermore, their knowledge and practice are also more aligned with the knowledge and practice of student candidates. Having attended the same university means having shared goals, values, routines and rules of conduct between teacher candidates and cooperating teachers. Hager [12] clarified that utilizing technology can contribute in enhancing the effectiveness of practicum and reduce its expense.

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Table 1 Participants’ demographics Cycles KG

Participants no 4

Experience

Participants no

Education major

Participants no

First-year

4

Special education

7

Cycle 1

5

1–2 years

6

Field teacher

5

Cycle 2

3

3–4 years

6

Mathematics

2

Cycle 3

0

5 years

1

Arabic

2

Others

10

Missing

5

Missing

6

2 Methods 2.1 Participants The participants were 25 female teachers who had completed their student teaching preparation program within the last five years and were currently working as teachers at government schools or educational institutions (Table 1).

2.2 Study Design This case study used quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Out of 59 teachers who had completed their student teaching preparation program within the last five years and their contact information was available. Twenty-two teachers responded to the survey, and three agreed to be interviewed. Surveys and interviews were used to collect data and enable teachers to share their perspectives and describe their experiences.

2.3 Data Collection and Analysis Procedures Two methods were used for data collection: online surveys and telephone semistructured interviews. The interviews explored a topic before building the survey, and the results of the interviews were used to develop the survey. The survey was constructed to ensure face and content validity. Survey items were comprised of 23 items, divided into three sections (appendix). Section 4 contained three open-ended questions about the challenges that teacher candidates faced and their suggestions for improving the program. All of the participants’ rights were clarified in the introduction of the survey and the interview; each participant gave informed consent to participate in the study.

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The qualitative data was sorted by using the constant comparative method. The data extracted from different participants were grouped into themes and under headings to answer the research questions. The themes in the data were searched for both within and across interviews and the answers to open-ended questions. In the data extracts, TCO means Teacher Candidate responses to open-ended questions, and TCI is the responses of the teachers who participated in the interview. Due to the small sample size, frequency and percentages were used to analyze survey data. Means were used to describe the average degree of agreement among the participants by considering reversing the results of negative statements. The survey results were used to achieve the first objective and examine the effectiveness of student teacher experiences from their perspective. To identify the impediments or challenges in creating an effective, high-quality program, and to provide recommendations on what is needed to improve the program, qualitative data from the survey and interviews were used, and quantitative data from the survey was used.

3 Results 3.1 Survey Results The survey results discovered that the agreement among participants on the effectiveness of the program was higher than disagreement among participants. In the first part of the survey, the statement “Subjects in the preparation program empower teacher candidates with educational research skills” earned the highest agreement. Conversely, the statement “Subjects in the preparation program support teacher candidate communication skills with students’ parents”, earned the highest disagreement among participants in this section and the whole survey statements. The cumulative mean of all statements in this section revealed that the participants partially agreed on the effectiveness of the subjects (M:1.17). The overall percentage of agreement on this section statements was 58% (Table 2). In the Sect. 2 of the survey, the two statements that got the highest agreement were: “Associate teacher supports teacher candidate opportunities to apply education methods they learned in the university” and “The academic advisor continuously follows up with teacher candidates in the field”. On the other hand, the statement “The practicum period is enough to prepare the teacher candidate to work in schools” got the highest disagreement among the participants. The overall percentage of agreement on the statements in this section was 60% (Table 3). In the Sect. 3, the statement “The teacher candidate is evaluated more than once during the practicum period”, earned the highest agreement in the section as well as the complete survey’s statements. The statement “The academic advisor feedback focuses on negativisms more than positive aspects”, gained partial agreement and the highest disagreement. In general, the cumulative mean of all statements in this section revealed that the participants partially agreed on the effectiveness of the

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Table 2 Frequency and percentage of the participants’ responses about the subjects in the preparation program Items*

DA

S

A

Missing

DA%

S%

A%

Missing

M

1

4

7

11

0

18.18

31.82

50.00

0.00

1.32

2

6

5

11

0

27.27

22.73

50.00

0.00

1.23

3

4

10

8

0

18.18

45.45

36.36

0.00

1.18

4

5

11

6

0

22.73

50.00

27.27

0.00

1.05

5

5

9

8

0

22.73

40.91

36.36

0.00

1.14

6

10

7

5

0

45.45

31.82

22.73

0.00

0.77

7

5

10

7

0

22.73

45.45

31.82

0.00

1.09

8

7

11

4

0

31.82

50.00

18.18

0.00

0.86

9

5

4

13

0

22.73

18.18

59.09

0.00

1.36

10

4

5

9

4

18.18

22.73

40.91

18.18

1.28

11

2

5

11

4

9.09

22.73

50.00

18.18

1.50

12

5

7

10

0

22.73

31.82

45.45

0.00

1.23

Note DA: disagree, S: sometimes, A: agree, M: mean *Items are stated in the appendix.

Table 3 Frequency and percentage of the participants’ responses about the practicum Items*

DA

S

A

Missing

DA%

S%

A%

Missing

M

1

5

9

8

0

22.73

40.91

36.36

0.00

1.14

2

4

6

12

0

18.18

27.27

54.55

0.00

1.36

3

5

4

13

0

22.73

18.18

59.09

0.00

1.36

4

9

4

9

0

40.91

18.18

40.91

0.00

1.00

5

5

11

6

0

22.73

50.00

27.27

0.00

0.95

6

4

4

13

1

18.18

18.18

59.09

4.55

1.43

Note. DA: disagree, S: sometimes, A: agree, M: mean *Items are stated in the appendix

subjects (M:1.31). The overall percentage of agreement on this section statements is 65% (Table 4).

3.2 Qualitative Data Results The data extracts were grouped under three main themes: integration of the preparation program parts, the practicum and responsibilities of the different stakeholders (Fig. 1).

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Table 4 Frequency and percentage of the participants’ responses about the evaluation of teacher candidate Item*

DA

S

A

Missing

DA%

S%

A%

Missing

M

1

3

9

10

0

13.64

40.91

45.45

0.00

1.32

2

8

9

5

0

36.36

40.91

22.73

0.00

1.14

3

4

5

13

0

18.18

22.73

59.09

0.00

1.41

4

7

6

9

0

31.82

27.27

40.91

0.00

1.09

5

3

3

16

0

13.64

13.64

72.73

0.00

1.59

Note DA: disagree, S: sometimes, A: agree, M: mean

Student teaching programs

Integration of the preparation program parts

Problems

Suggestions

The practicum

Problems

Suggestions

Responsibilities of different stakeholders

Problems

Suggestions

The gap between theory and practice

Teaching in Arabic

Selecting schools and cooperating teachers

Improve the practicum implementatio n process

Lack of different stakeholders involvement

Involving all stakeholders

The language gap

Increase the exposure to practical experience

Restrict the training to classroom aspects

Increase the period of the practicum

Ignoring the actual goals of practicum

Training and rewards

Fig. 1 Qualitative analysis main themes structure

4 Discussion and Recommendations The quantitative and qualitative findings synergized to illuminate the moderate agreement among the participants about the effectiveness of the education program. The issue of language differences between the theory studied at the university and the language used in the schools creates a gap between teacher candidates, and the school teachers and administrative staff. In order to allow for consistency among the various stakeholders, more time and effort is required, which is not available under the current design and period of the practicum. It is suggested that the cooperating teachers should be alumni of the same college of education that teacher candidates belong to as a minimum requirement to address this problem.

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Ragland [11] clarified that cooperating teachers who were prepared in the same teaching preparation program were preferable because they shared the same philosophy and expectations for success. In the case of the UAE education program, the cooperating teachers that are alumni from the same program are expected to support teacher candidates to cope with language differences. In addition, they understand the needs of the teacher candidates as they have been through the same educational program previously. Discrepancies in the responses about the roles that teacher candidates are given in classrooms by teachers, either as a teacher or a class assistant, highlighted the importance of training the cooperating teachers in the program to help the students to practice their teaching roles. Training cooperating teachers is vital to guaranteeing that the practicum goals are achieved. Additionally, it is essential that the required instructional practice is clearly explained to the volunteer cooperating teachers [11]. Providing teacher candidates with clear guidelines and choosing highly qualified cooperating teachers to support teacher candidates is critical to enhancing their prospects of becoming successful teachers [2]. Restriction of training inside the classroom will limit the abilities of teacher candidates to be well prepared to deal with various educational situations in their future careers. This includes dealing with and all partners that are involved in schools, including parents, teachers and other school staff, and community members who volunteer at schools. Furthermore, they will predominantly work in teams and manage other tasks such as participating in event preparation, parent-teacher meetings and supervising school trips. Should teacher candidates not be allowed to practice or at least observe how teachers manage their various tasks and situations during the practicum, they might be overwhelmed by them during the first year of their career. This might lead to novice teachers perceiving their future careers in education to be challenging and demanding. The restriction of classroom training also explains the reasons behind the exclusion of parents and other school staff, such as the principal and vice-principal, from participating in the evaluation stage. Teacher candidates’ classroom skills will only be evaluated by those they have previously worked alongside, such as their cooperating teacher and their academic supervisor from the university. Lack of involvement of different stakeholders in the different phases of the practicum was evident in participants’ responses. Ragland [11] stated that establishing a rapport between the teacher candidate and the cooperating teacher is critical before the beginning of the practicum. Some participants clarified that the university confirms neither the participation of the cooperating teachers nor are the teacher candidates given a chance to choose their cooperating teachers. If a relationship was not established from the beginning of the practicum, the brief period of the practicum would be focused on establishing relationships and solving problems instead of using the time to develop the teacher candidates’ knowledge and skills. Promoting family involvement was not only low in this study, but it was also low in a study conducted by Lee et al. [2], where the participants rated family involvement to be the lowest compared to other components. This might occur because

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teacher candidates did not have enough opportunities to deal with or to observe expert teachers involving families during their preparation program. Schools and cooperating teachers voluntarily support field training. This voluntary work adds more responsibilities to their full schedules. Thus, the suggestion that the best schools and cooperating teachers should be provided with award incentives for their service is reasonable. Encouraging those who support the success of the program will increase the chances that all parties will strive to participate effectively to win an award. The award system will raise the level of competition and could potentially maximize the benefits of practicum for the teacher candidates.

4.1 Recommendations for Teacher Education Preparing highly qualified teachers requires a comprehensive review of the courses included in the program, the teaching language or languages, the period and the type of practical implementation. Thus, it is suggested that the results of this study be shared with other faculty members at education program in UAE; following this a program development plan that considers all impediments and suggestions and involves various education parties should be established. The practicum process requires improvement. Figure 2 demonstrates the suggested phases of the practicum. The selection of schools and cooperating teachers needs to be standardized. Therefore, all teacher candidates will get the same quality of training in practicum. So, schools and cooperating teachers should be chosen based on specified criteria. To establish relationships among all parties, it is also important to improve communication and involvement procedures. Therefore, it is recommended that multiple communication channels be opened with schools, cooperating teachers and teacher candidates before the beginning of the practicum. This can be achieved using video meeting application and variety of social media apps. A preparation program will follow this; it is suggested that training sessions be conducted for cooperating teachers and other school staff to explain the expectations

selection of schools and cooperating teachers

Establish relationship

Preperation

Implementation

Continuous evaluation and improvement

Rewarding and closing

Fig. 2 Suggested practicum process

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of the program and the roles of the school staff to achieve them. In this phase, the advertisement of the award program is recommended to assure participants positive engagement. Such training session can be conducted face to face or online which will reduce the cost and effort of all stakeholders. The advisors’ follow up frequency should be intensified at the commencement of the practicum, thereafter the frequency of the visits should be decreased when they feel that school staff and teacher candidates are on track for achieving the program goals. This also can be solved by using technology. For example, Hager [12] suggested that advisors can use live or recorded video to observe teacher candidate and enhance the effectiveness of their feedback. Finally, rewarding participants and celebrating success and advertising it via digital media is not only a significant for motivating factor for participants but is also crucial for the program’s continuous improvement and development. Overall, the alumni moderately agreed on the effectiveness of the teacher preparation program. The most significant obstacles decreasing the effectiveness of the program were connected to the integration of the preparation program components, and the responsibilities of the various stakeholders during the practicum. Using technology in all phases of the practicum can enhance its effectiveness, reduce its cost and overcome many of its challenges.

Appendix

First: Subjects in the preparation program Items

Agree Sometimes Disagree

1. Assist teacher candidate to have adequate classroom management experience 2. Assist teacher candidate to have adequate class time management experience 3. Enable teacher candidate to prepare the proper teaching aids 4. Enable teacher candidates to possess enough and in-depth subject knowledge 5. Support teacher candidate to deal with students from different learning levels 6. Support teacher candidate communication skills with students’ parents 7. Qualify teacher candidates to possess continuous learning skills 8. Qualify teacher candidates to possess innovative problem-solving skills 9. Empower teacher candidates with educational research skills 10. Enable teacher candidate with students’ evaluation skills (continued)

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(continued) First: Subjects in the preparation program Items

Agree Sometimes Disagree

11. Empower teacher candidates with using technology skills in supporting education 12. All the subjects in the teacher preparation program support preparing teacher candidates for their practical life Second: Practicum Items

Agree

Sometimes

Disagree

Agree

Sometimes

Disagree

1. The education college contributes to solving any problem that teacher candidates face in school 2. Schools allow teacher candidates to have real teaching experience in the practicum 3. The cooperating teacher supports teacher candidate opportunities to apply the education methods they learned in the university 4. The practicum period is enough to prepare the teacher candidate to work in schools 5. The preparation program focuses on evaluating students’ current skills more than developing these skills 6. The academic advisor continuously follows up with teacher candidates in field Third: Evaluation of teacher candidate Items 1. The teacher candidate’s ability to utilize the subjects in the program is evaluated by practical tasks 2. The academic advisor feedback focuses on negativisms more than positive aspects 3. The teacher candidate is evaluated from all aspects (personal characteristics, class management, education methods, subject matter etc.) 4. The teacher candidate is evaluated by an academic advisor, principal, associate teacher, parents, students etc. 5. The teacher candidate is evaluated more than once during the practicum period

• What are the problems faced by students in the practical education program? • How can the education program be developed? • Was the training period sufficient to possess the necessary knowledge and skills to work in the field of teaching? please explain.

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References 1. Goldhaber, D., Krieg, J.M., Theobald, R.: Does the match matter? exploring whether student teaching experiences affect teacher effectiveness. Am. Educ. Res. J. 54(2), 325–359 (2017). https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831217690516.lastaccessed08/10/2022 2. Lee, J., Tice, K., Collins, D., Brown, A., Smith, C., Fox, J.: Assessing student teaching experiences: teacher candidates’ perceptions of preparedness. Educ. Res. Q. 36(2), 3–19 (2012) 3. Yilmaz, C.: Teachers’ perceptions of self-efficacy, English proficiency and instructional strategies. Soc. Behav. Pers. 39(1), 91–100 (2011) 4. Hollins, E.R.: Teacher preparation for quality teaching. J. Teach. Educ. 62(4), 395–407 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487111409415.lastaccessed08/10/2022 5. Ronfeldt, M.: Where should student teachers learn to teach? Effects of field placement school characteristics on teacher retention and effectiveness. Educ. Eval. Policy Anal. 34(1), 3–26 (2012) 6. Hamad, S.: The reality of practical education in the areas of Al-Quds Open University in the Gaza governorates from the viewpoint of the students. Islamic University Periodical: Hum. Studies 13(1), 155–193 (2005) 7. Athmali, A.: Evaluation of teaching practice program at Taif University from the point of view of the faculty members and students of Islamic education. J. Educ. Psychol. 60, 65–90 (2018) 8. La Paro, K.M., Van Schagen, A., King, E. et al.: A systems perspective on practicum experiences in early childhood teacher education: focus on interprofessional relationships. Early Childhood Educ. J. 46, 365–375 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0872-8 9. Roberts, T.G.: Developing a model of cooperating teacher effectiveness. J. Agric. Educ. 47(3), 1–13 (2006) 10. Dunning, C., Meegan, S., Woods, C., Belto, S.J.: h Te impact of the COPET programme on student PE teachers’ teaching practice experiences. European Phys. Educ. Rev. 17(2), 153–165 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X11413182. Last accessed 08 Oct 2022 11. Ragland, R.G.: Coming full circle: using program alumni as cooperating teachers for the next generation of student teachers. Teach. Educ. Develop. 4(1), 1–20 (2017). https://doi.org/10. 1080/2331186X.2017.1290906.lastaccessed08/10/2022 12. Hager, K.D.: Integrating technology to improve teacher preparation. Coll. Teach. 68(2), 71–78 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2020.1723475.lastaccessed08/10/2022

The Level of Educational Tourism in Jordanian Universities Through the Relationship Between the Push–Pull Factors, Expectations, Aspirations, and International Career Expectations Aysar Ahmad Kharabsheh and Hasan Kiliç Abstract Jordan is characterized by educational tourism and the possession of services and education at reasonable prices compared to developed countries. Therefore, educational tourism is an important source for Jordan’s economy. This study was carried out to find out the opinions of foreign students about educational tourism in Jordan in terms of push and pull factors, expectations, aspirations and international Career expectations. The descriptive analytical approach was used and with reference to previous studies. The electronic questionnaires used social networks, about 400 foreign students in private and public Jordanian universities responded. The results of this study were that the ambition factors followed by the expectations factors are the most important of the factors that affect the choice of Jordan as a destination for educational tourism. The results of this study are expected to help the Jordanian tourism authorities and governmental and private educational institutions in further enhancing their position in educational tourism and address their weaknesses. Keywords Push factors · Pull factors · Expectations · Aspirations · International Career Expectations

1 Introduction The economies of the tourism and education sectors both contribute to the development of the state, therefore educational tourism is a highly important topic, according to Rifai et al., the decision to seek an overseas education and the final study location are both influenced by a variety of circumstances. The choice of the host country and the ultimate host institution is also influenced by these variables. Jordan is one of the developing countries in the world. In terms of education, Jordan is one of the more advanced Middle Eastern nations. However, the impact of the drop in international students studying in Jordan for the current academic year compared to the prior three academic years has a negative influence on the education A. A. Kharabsheh (B) · H. Kiliç Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta, Cyprus e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_58

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industry and the tourism sector. In Jordanian universities, there were approximately 35,000 foreign students enrolled in 2020–2021, compared to approximately 42 thousand students in 2019–2020 and approximately 45 thousand students in 2018–2019 [1]. Additionally, Jordan dropped to 58th rank in 2020 according to the Global Competitiveness Yearbook 2020 published by the Lausanne, Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD). The goal of the current study is to determine the factors of educational tourism in Jordanian Universities through the study of the factors that attract to study in academic institutions to improve education tourism (Jordan case study). Literature Review.

1.1 Education Tourism and Push–Pull Factors Education tourism is one of the forms and categories of tourism, according to Rifai et al. Abu Khalif also stated that educational tourism is based on travel; to receive a degree in a subject from a particular educational institution, and to gain the essential knowledge and abilities in a certain profession. Hassan ([2], p. 244) claims that by developing and incorporating these products and services with added value, it is able to protect state resources while retaining its market share in comparison to rivals. Push factors and pull factors of the destination and institutions stimulate the student’s desire to seek education abroad and influence the decision-making process in choosing a destination for the final study. The most important of these factors is that the nation’s economic and social forces are working to “push” students abroad; however, the decision regarding the host country they will choose depends on a variety of “pull” factors, according to Mazzarol and Soutar’s [3] analysis of the “push factors, pull factors, expectation and aspirations” model. The linkages between push–pull factors, institutional leadership, and international strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic were examined using a structural model developed by Chang and Chou [4], Push–pull factors, institutional leadership, and international strategies were the areas that the chosen indicators fell under. These findings enriched our knowledge of the field of higher education sustainable development.

1.2 Aspirations and Expectations to Study Overseas The degree of people’s behavior self-determination and the nature of the goals they pursue are the two components of motivation (Expectations) that need to be researched, according to SDT.

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Chirkov et al. [5] discover whether self-determined incentive to study abroad would improve students’ adaptation outcomes more than non-self-determined motivation. In general, the self-determination theory (SDT) was applied. The selfdetermination theory (SDT) is an organismic explanation of human motivation with an empirical foundation that carries on the traditions of existential and humanistic theories of human functioning. The two-factor structure of students’ goals was identified using the Goals for Study Abroad Scale. The “Preservation Factor,” which covered reasons for studying abroad based on avoiding unsafe and unstable situations at home, and the “SelfDevelopment Factor,” which included motivations for studying abroad related to education and professional development. Both factors of the theory will be applied in this research in accordance with Chirkov et al. [5] to determine international students’ expectations for studying abroad. On the other hand, Hazel et al. [6] defined aspirations are students’ interest and investment in their education. Aspirations lead to students’ appraisals of the worth and wholeness of education and its utility to their future.

1.3 International Career Expectation (the Career Decidedness) Azmat et al. recruiting and internationalization efforts implicitly take into account the aspirations and expectations of the expanding international student body, but little academic research has been done in this area. Most often, the years of college are crucial to professional development. This timeline’s fundamental point, career decidedness, which is defined as an individual’s dedication and belief and a developmental stage of job-related thoughts and decisions, stands out [7]. Career determination effects academic progress in university life favorably and aids in establishing goals to be attained. Theory of career socialization emphasizes students’ engagement with the target area, their preferences and choices, and their role models. Students’ quality of life in university can be improved by addressing career concerns and strengthening career determination. The Career Decidedness scale was created by Lounsbury et al. [8] and validated by Lounsbury et al. [7], with further construct validation supplied by Lounsbury and Gibson. Six items make up the Career Decidedness Scale, and responses are graded on a 5-point Likert-type scale, from strongly disagree to strongly agree. This study will use these elements.

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1.4 Study Hypotheses The study aims to examine the relationship between the dependent variables and international career expectations, in order to identify educational components based on previous studies. The resulting model and the following criteria can be used to estimate the level of educational tourism in Jordan. This paper will also use the aspiration dimensions of Hazel et al. [6] to define international students’ aspirations to study abroad. (Please refer to Fig. 1). H1: There are significant statistical relationship between the push factors of the destination and International Career Expectations. H2: There are significant statistical relationship between the push factors of the destination, expectations, Aspirations, and International Career Expectations. H3: There are significant statistical relationship between the pull factors and (expectations and Aspirations).

2 Methodologies and Research Design The descriptive-analytical method was used to achieve these objectives of the study through the use of secondary data after referring to the previously conducted studies relating to the topic of this present study, and the electronic questionnaire for collecting the primary data from the respondents regarding the Factors that attract foreign students to study overseas in the countries.

Fig. 1 The framework

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2.1 Setting, Sample and Sampling The public and private Jordanian universities that include foreign students were randomly selected, taking into account the representation of the three main regions in the country (North, Center, and South). Sample size was 380 participants (foreign students).The survey sends for approximately 400 students to reach the targeted sample size. Therefore, the sample was collected during monthly intervals from May 31 to June 15, 2022, and it started with the opening of universities to ensure that all foreign students recruited for this study had roughly the same condition. In this study we used the set of all units to which the research results will be applied. The choice of a probability test was selected in this inquiry. In agreement with Sekaran [9]. The statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 25 was used for data analysis. All study variables were classified and entered into SPSS (version 25.0) according to their level of measurement. Data cleaning was performed where outliers, missing data, and skewness for each variable were examined and handled appropriately. Besides frequencies and descriptive tests, parametric tests (t-test and ANOVA) were used to assess the sociodemographics of foreign students at the University of Jordan.

2.2 The Results 2.2.1

Demographic Factors Results

As shown in the Table 1 (42.8%) of the participants is from The University of Jordan. while the percentage (61.0%) the participants are in the Art faculty according to the Department of Student. (54.0%) of the participants is Arab nationality. Additionally, (35.3%) the participants are Poor In academic Performance. Results of data analysis as indicated in the table show that (58.5%) of participants are Muslim, (and 41.5%) are Christian. According to the used methods of Age, table (4–6) indicates that from 18 to 20 years (46%) of the sample, (29.5%) from 21 to 23 years old. According to the used methods of Resident in Jordan with, the table indicates that My Friend (41%) of the sample, (34%) My Family, and Alone is (25%). While to the used methods of Gender, the table indicates that Male (60.3%) of the sample, (39.7%) Female of the sample. As for the used methods for Marital Status, the table indicates that the Single Variable is (59.5%) of the sample. Finally, According to the used methods of Family monthly income, the table indicates that less than 500 $ Variable is (48.7%) of the sample, (24.5%) 2000 $ or more.

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Table 1 Demographic factors University of student

Variable

Frequency

Jordan university

171

42.8

science Islamic uni

83

20.8

Hashemite uni

54

13.5

Mutah uni

25

6.3

ASU

46

11.5

Amman Al-Ahleyyah university

21

5.3

400

100.0

Total Department of student

Administrative faculty

28

7.0

Engineering faculty

86

21.5

244

61.0

Art faculty Science Faculty Total Original nationality of student

Jordanian (residence overseas)

Age

Residence in Jordan with

Gender

10.5

400

100.0

36

9.0

216

54.0

Asian

60

15.0

88

22.0

Total

400

100.0

Poor

141

35.3

Average

117

29.3

Good

108

27.0

34

8.5

Total

400

100.0

Muslim

234

58.5

Christian

166

41.5

Total

400

100.0

From 18 to 20 years

184

46.0

From 21 to 23 years old

118

29.5

From 24 to 26

52

13.0

Older than 26

46

11.5

Total

400

100.0

Alone

100

25.0

My friend

164

41.0

My Family

136

34.0

Total

400

100.0

Male

241

60.3

Female

159

39.7

Total

400

100.0

Excellent Religion

42

Arab English Academic performance

Percent (%)

(continued)

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Table 1 (continued) Single

Marital status

238

59.5

Married

51

12.8

Divorced

30

7.5

Separate Family monthly income

81

20.2

Total

400

100.0

Less than 500 $

195

48.7

501–1000 $

39

9.8

1001–1500 $

41

10.3

1501–2000 $

27

6.7

2000 $ or more Total

2.2.2

98

24.5

400

100.0

Data Management

Before further analyses of data, it is necessary to test if the criterion of normality assumption has been met. This study utilized IBM SPSS version 22 to examine the normality distribution through the indices of skewness and kurtosis. These two components of normality have to do with symmetry and peaked Ness (or flatness) of a distribution respectively. When a distribution is normal, it is said to be not violated. As reported by Tabachnick and Fidell, when the sample is more than 200, the deviation from the normality of the two components many times do not make a substantive difference in the analysis. That is considered to be normal if the kurtosis value is between − 8 and + 8. Additionally, if the values of skewness and kurtosis are above ± 3, then they are assumed to have abnormal univariate distribution. All the scores of skewness and kurtosis in this study are less than ± 1, only one value in kurtosis fall between 2 and 2.5. Thus, all values were accepted in order to prove normal distribution. The following figures show the typical distribution of the variables of this particular study (Table 2). Table 2 Normal distribution for variables Variables

N

Mean

Skewness

Statistic

Statistic

Statistic

Kurtosis Std. error

statistic

Std. error

Push factors

400

3.80

− 0.690

0.122

0.939

0.243

Pull factors

400

3.80

− 0.469

0.122

-0.207

0.243

Pull factors university

400

3.62

− 0.839

0.122

0.529

0.243

Aspirations factors

400

3.85

− 0.866

0.122

0.086

0.243

Expectations factors

400

3.85

− 0.982

0.122

2.087

0.243

Career expectations

400

3.77

− 0.598

0.122

0.555

0.243

Valid N (listwise)

400

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Table 3 Descriptive statistics Mean

SD

Cronbach’s Alpha

No. of factor

Remark

Push factors to study 4 overseas

Rank

3.80

0.721

0.907

5

Good

Pull factors to study in Jordan

3

3.80

0.867

0.927

2

Good

Pull factors for university

6

3.62

0.720

0.917

7

Good

3.75

0.772

1

3.85

0.812

0.908

13

Good

Expectations factors 2

3.85

0.633

0.912

9

Good

5

3.77

0.729

0.906

6

Good

Level

Pull factors average Aspirations factors International career expectations

2.2.3

Descriptive Statistics

Cronbach’s alpha (α) represents a standard reliability coefficient widely used in social research to measure the internal consistency of the instrument’s components. Reliability analysis is used specifically through calculating Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients value which ranges from (zero to one) having an alpha coefficient close to (1.00) indicates good consistency. Less than 0.60 was Poor Reliability and Excellent Reliability was higher than 0.90. In Table 3, the ranged regard to Cronbach’s alpha values is from 0.906 to 0.927. Such values indicate strong stability among the respondents’ answers suggesting a good degree of the overall reliability of the used instrument. Such values also indicate strong stability among the respondents’ answers suggesting a good degree of the overall reliability of the used instrument. Table 3 also indicates the results of means and standard deviations of the study dimensions arranged in descending order. Compared to other variables, Aspirations factors were ranked first with a mean of (3.85) followed by Expectations factors with a mean of (3.85), then Pull factors to study in Jordan and push factors with a mean of (3.80) and Pull factors university was ranked last with a mean of (3.62) which means the all answers were between neutral and disagree. This analysis is to know the level of the degree and opinion of (international students) on education tourism in Jordan. Finally, the Standard Deviation which measures the differences of each of the study dimensions from the mean it was ranked between 0.867 and 0.633.

2.2.4

Pearson Correlation Analysis and Regression

The association between each of the factors that entice international students to study in Jordanian universities was determined by the researcher using multiple linear regression. In the first section, it was determined the significance of the multiple

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linear regression between the variables (the push, expectations, aspirations, and international career expectations), and in the second and third sections, it was determined the significance of the bivariate linear regression between the average pull factors (the pull factors of destinations and universities), as well as the Aspirations factors and Expectations factors. The conclusions of the analysis are presented in Tables 5, 9, and 13. The correlation analysis was primarily conducted to determine the relationship strength between each independent variable and the dependent variable by Pearson correlation analysis. The following table indicates the results of the Pearson correlation coefficient between the dimensions of the study. As Table 4 also shows that there is a direct statistically significant relationship at the significance level less than or equal to (0.01.) between each of these factors on the one hand and Career Expectations on the other hand. The value of the correlation coefficient reached its highest levels between Push Factors and Career Expectations with a value of a correlation coefficient (0.849). While we find it equal in the relationship between Aspirations Factors and Career Expectations on the one hand. On the other hand, it is also equal between Expectations factors and Career Expectations, where it reached (0.649). Table 4 Correlations

Pearson correlation

Sig. (1-tailed)

N

Career expectations

Push factors

Aspirations factors

Expectations factors

Career expectations

1.000

0.849

0.649

0.649

Push factors

0.849

1.000

0.622

0.623

Aspirations factors

0.649

0.622

1.000

0.686

Expectations factors

0.649

0.623

0.686

1.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

Career expectations Push factors

0.000

Aspirations factors

0.000

0.000

Expectations factors

0.000

0.000

0.000

Career expectations

400

400

400

400

Push factors

400

400

400

400

Aspirations factors

400

400

400

400

Expectations factors

400

400

400

400

0.000

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2.3 Discussion This study concluded that the ambition factors followed by the expectations factors are the most important of these factors for Jordan, according to the opinions of the sample. This is also according to Azmat et al. which took into account the aspirations and expectations of an expanding international student body. This study measured the pull and push factors to know the level of educational tourism in Jordan and found that the pull and push variables have an impact on professional expectations through expectations and aspirations. These items used in this study were used to discover push and pull factors by knowing the relationships and factors according to Chang and Chou [4]. The study found that the highest rank of the items that show the answer “disagree” among the samples that are related to political reasons and family reasons within the mother country work to “push” students to study abroad, and this tells us that there are no problems for foreign students in their countries. On the other hand, the aspirations identified by Hazel et al. [6] are students’ interest and investment in their education are very important. The study found that there is a conflict between emotional and subjective judgment in the decision-making process and thus leads to the erosion of realistic and objective assumptions that govern the choice of the institution. Educational institutions tend to launch their programs using English in order to increase market share. As the demand for advanced lessons tends to compete if they are offered in English. Starting educational programs in English opens up an organization that increases competitive advantage and acts as a gateway to reach more audiences. Students travel across international borders for access to education services and in a globalized world where our daily lives become more competitive, where access to and provision of educational services increases, and ways of sharing knowledge take various forms, the importance of modernity takes on a fundamental meaning. The seeker is looking for something new, new experiences, social norms, and cultures. This was confirmed by Chirkov et al. [5] about the main motive to go to study outside the country of residence. Factors that drive students from their home countries include; Acquisition of high-quality knowledge, inability to be accepted into local institutions, places with familiar cultures such as language and cuisine, and intent to relocate to other destinations. The factors that attract scholars to the purposes include; State of the nation, understanding of private status, family consent, proximity to home, and total spending on programs where the sources of information were from tourism suppliers either formally or informally. Formal include; Travel agents, travel brochures, travel guides, magazines, newspapers, TV shows, advertisements, commercials, websites and the Internet. Informal forms consist of word of mouth through friends and relatives and one’s experience of a previous visit to a destination and this was confirmed by [6] in his aspirations about students’ interests, aspirations, and aspirations about studying abroad. Career expectations and the relationships of push factors towards the study of foreign students in Jordanian universities were statistically significant, which means that hypothesis H3 is accepted: there is a statistically significant relationship between

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destination push factors and expectations, international career aspirations and expectations On the other hand, aspiration factors had a lower t value of other variables. The researcher refers to this result as the “push and pull” factors that motivate the student’s desire to seek education abroad and influence the decision-making process in choosing the final study destination.

2.4 Conclusion The Jordanian higher education field is able to influence the elements that attract international students to study in Jordan in a variety of ways. These include: taking advantage of efforts to amend regulations related to employment; Ensuring that internationalization is a comprehensive initiative of employers that is supported by appropriate pedagogy, curricula and administrative manual; and enhancing the capabilities of student directory networks to meet the needs of university students. This study can be used as a reference for the Jordanian tourism authorities and government and private educational institutions in strengthening their position in educational tourism and addressing their weaknesses in Jordan. More research studies are necessary to understand the weaknesses of educational tourism and increase student attractions, such as the work of scholarships to encourage foreign students for educational tourism and the diversity of cultures within Jordan. It is highly recommended that further studies on educational tourism be conducted in order to understand the reasons behind the recent weakness in educational tourism, the low level of education, and Jordan’s international rank in education. For example, a qualitative study design can be applied to explore the cultural issues responsible for low levels of educational tourism, and further research is recommended to design randomized, observational, and follow-up studies in order to predict the pull factors that may increase the number of incoming students in public and private universities which in turn will lead to increased numbers Foreign students in public and private universities, tourism and the recovery of the Jordanian economy.

References 1. Bataineh, S., Ibbini, J.H.: Science education in Jordan. In: Science education in countries along the belt & road, pp. 43–66. Springer, Singapore (2022) 2. Hassan, S.S.: Determinants of market competitiveness in an environmentally sustainable tourism industry. J. Travel Res. 38(3), 239–245 (2000) 3. Mazzarol, T., Soutar, G.N.: Push-pull factors influencing international student destination choice. Int. J. Educ. Manage. (2002) 4. Chang, D.F., Chou, W.C.: Detecting the institutional mediation of push–pull factors on international students’ satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainability 13(20), 11405 (2021)

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5. Chirkov, V., Vansteenkiste, M., Tao, R., Lynch, M.: The role of self-determined motivation and goals for study abroad in the adaptation of international students. Int. J. Intercult. Relat. 31(2), 199–222 (2007) 6. Hazel, C.E., Vazirabadi, G.E., Gallagher, J.: Measuring aspirations, belonging, and productivity in secondary students: validation of the student school engagement measure. Psychol. Sch. 50(7), 689–704 (2013) 7. Lounsbury, J.W., Tatum, H.E., Chambers, W., Owens, K.S., Gibson, L.W.: An investigation of career decidedness in relation to Big Five personality constructs and life satisfaction. Coll. Stud. J. 33(4), 646–646 (1999) 8. Lounsbury, J.W., Hutchens, T., Loveland, J.M.: An investigation of big five personality traits and career decidedness among early and middle adolescents. J. Career Assess. 13(1), 25–39 (2005) 9. Sekaran, U.: Research methods for business: a skill-building approach, 4th edn. John Wiley & Sons, New York (2003)

The Study of Digital Learning Experience in Cargo Business Siti Afiqah Zainuddin , Mohd Hafiz Faizal Mohamad Kamil , Tahirah Abdullah , Nur Izzati Mohamad Anuar , Siti Rohana Mohamad , Siti Fariha Muhamad , Liyana Ahmad Afip , Bazilah Raihan Mat Shawal , Siti Bahirah Saidi , and Siti Zamanira Mat Zaib Abstract Logistic business deals with a variety of entities from both the external and internal corporate environments. These entities, known as actors, must be linked to one another to form a complete transaction and determine the business’s success. This study is based on an explanation of a network of actors who are connected and play different roles in a larger process. Actor Network Theory is used to construct connections between actors throughout the process. The application of theory in this study explores and establishes the relationship between seven characters in a shipping business, which include both human and non-human actors. This study employs a qualitative approach, with the researcher employing an ethnographic case study approach. The researcher spent around six months in the cargo business, making observations on the processes and networks that connect one actor to another. The observation data is divided into themes and given in this publication. The research contributes to the use of ANT in managing logistic business, particularly in the cargo business operation and management process. The study suggest digital learning is essential in facilitating the employees in this business to deal with the business operation. Keywords Digital Learning · Entrepreneurship · Logistic · Cargo Business · Case Study S. A. Zainuddin Department Accounting, Economics and Finance, School of Business Administration, European University Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus Department of Business and Accounting, Faculty of Entrepreneurship and Business, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Bachok, Kelantan, Malaysia M. H. F. M. Kamil (B) Malaysian Institute of Information Technology, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] T. Abdullah · N. I. M. Anuar · S. R. Mohamad · S. F. Muhamad · S. Z. M. Zaib Faculty of Entrepreneurship and Business, UMK, Bachok, Kelantan, Malaysia L. A. Afip · B. R. M. Shawal · S. B. Saidi Faculty of Language Studies and Human Development, UMK, Bachok, Kelantan, Malaysia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_59

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1 Introduction Commodities or products delivered by truck, van, aircraft, train, or ship are referred to as cargo [1, 2]. The phrases freight and cargo are interchangeable. In most cases, transporters or shipping companies move cargo for a profit. When emergency products are carried to a disaster region, for example, and the carrier is not making a profit, it is still referred to as cargo [3]. In some rural and agricultural regions, cargo can also refer to animals being transported, such as cattle, pigs, or chickens. If people are present aboard the vehicle, they are referred to either passengers or crew [4]. An employee of the case company is an actor who has been taught to be proficient with the digital tools and technology used in the case company. This employee is a component of the network that exists within the case company. In the framework of this research, the employees at the case firm are permitted to make use of any social media platform of their choosing as a mode of communication in order to carry out the responsibilities assigned to them. Because it is widely held that increased worker involvement in their job may be achieved via the usage of social media. In addition to the method described in the part before this one, the workers are strongly encouraged to make the most of the opportunities provided by social media, with the goals of fostering a pleasant working environment and enhancing relationships between employees. A study that was conducted over a period of six months found that employees at the organization conduct their official meetings through the use of online meeting techniques. These methods include the usage of the Zoom app, Google Meet, or Microsoft Team. In addition to reducing the amount of time wasted, it is also helpful in the event of any kind of emergency. When there is an immediate need to examine the problems at hand and make a decision, it is necessary to call an emergency meeting right away.

2 Cargo Business The term “cargo” is commonly used to refer to multi-modal container units, notably by shipping lines and logistics companies. These container units are designed to serve as reusable carriers for the commodities that are carried within them [5]. In a similar manner, airline containers are included on the cargo manifest alongside a detailed description of the contents’ packing. When shipping containers that are empty, each individual unit is considered to be cargo [6]; however, when containers are filled with goods, the contents of the containers are referred to as containerized cargo [7]. Shipper’s hand over their air cargo, sometimes referred to as air freight, to businesses, which then collect it and deliver it to clients [8]. In 1911, letter delivery was one of the earliest uses for aircraft to transport freight. Later on, manufacturers started constructing aircraft that could carry a variety of different sorts of cargo [9]. Many different types of commercial aircraft, most notably the Boeing 747, were developed

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with the express purpose of being easily converted into cargo carriers [10]. Unit Load Devices, often known as ULDs, are utilized on large aircraft and are analogous to the ISO containers that are seen on cargo ships. It is possible to store unmanned landing devices (ULDs) on the main deck of certain narrow-body aircraft and the lower decks of many wide-body aircraft (both front and back). A huge loading bay can be found in the front of some types of cargo aircraft. The Saab 340A is a well-known commercial aircraft that has been modified into a cargo aircraft. It is intended to generate the greatest amount of revenue and profit possible from short- and medium-range flights [11]. From the ports of departure, a significant number of containers can be transported by train [12]. In addition to water, cement, grain, steel, and timber, and coal, trains carry lumber and coal. They are employed due to the fact that they have a clear path to the goal as well as a great carrying capacity. When certain criteria are met, transporting freight through rail is less expensive and uses less energy than transporting freight via automobile. This is especially true when the freight is carried in bulk or over a significant distance. The inflexibility of rail freight transportation is the primary disadvantage of this mode of transport [13]. Because of this, a sizeable portion of the freight business that was formerly served by rail has been taken over by the vehicle transport industry. Because railway freight must sometimes be transferred from one method of transportation to another, charges associated with transshipment are commonly incurred. One strategy that aims to reduce these expenses is called containerization. Train continues to be the most practical and favored means of delivery for the transportation of point-to-point bulk products like cement and grain, thanks to the specialized bulk processing facilities that are located at rail sidings. The majority of industries are undergoing digital change [14], which is upsetting traditional business processes. Freight forwarding is no exception. Logistics companies have also acknowledged the need of integrating cutting-edge technology to improve operations and customer satisfaction. However, few studies have been conducted to examine how digitalization improves modern businesses. Freight forwarders, as key stakeholders in the global supply chain, must embrace digitization. As a critical mediator between carriers and shippers, they interact with numerous parties from many industries and manage a significant amount of data, more than airlines, shipping lines, or transportation companies. This means that coordinating operations and communicating with all partners is a daily task, particularly because they do not all use the same transportation management system (TMS). This incompatibility leads to poor and inconsistent data quality, which is a considerable hurdle. Additionally, because everything takes time, traditional techniques need the use of a big number of people to do a little work. Finally, good collaboration among all stakeholders is critical. Digitalization in the transportation business is required for all of these reasons. As instance, significant advancements in recent years have included benchmarking tools, autonomous ships, entirely automated warehouses or port terminals, and commodities transported by drones. Despite the fact that technology has benefited in the expansion of the cargo industry, there is still a lack of study into this aspect, particularly in researching how

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technology is accepted and implemented in the cargo sector as a whole. Furthermore, this discovery is crucial for providing a better understanding of the parties engaged in the interplay of technology and humans in the cargo business process, which contributes to enhanced awareness and grasp of how to do a good job. In this article, artificial neural networks (ANT) are used to connect the dots between shipping industry participants and how digital learning events occur in the business process.

3 The Case Study: The Cargo Business and Digitalization The N Cargo company is named as the case company in this article. The case company is a business that dealing with cargo and transportation of cargo. It situated at one of port in Malaysia and became a member of well-known cargo association. The identity of the case company and related parties is hidden and replace with suitable name to protect the confidentiality of the case company and its information. The case company has four divisions which referring to its core business, namely Ports and Logistics, Energy and Utilities, Engineering, and Industrial Development. The case company is one of the largest multi-purpose ports of its kind in the national ports system. It provides dedicated facilities and services to handle a wide variety of cargoes, including containers, cars, break bulk cargoes, liquid bulk cargoes, and dry bulk cargoes of all types and shipment sizes. The case company is one of the largest multi-purpose ports of its kind in the national ports system. The case firm has a rich history that dates back more than a century, and it has played a significant part in the growth of both the Malaysian economy and the country’s expanding foreign commerce. The company in question provides shippers with viable solutions by utilizing its superior, cutting-edge facilities. These facilities include a real-time smart information application system that is designed to guarantee operational and cost efficiency in order to maintain speedy delivery and vessel turnaround time. The case company has moved up the value chain by broadening its product base, including through “logistical integration,” and increasing its attractiveness to a wider range of shippers and shipping lines. This was done in order to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the expansion of trade that was made possible as a result of the trend toward globalization and trade liberalization. The ability of the case business to provide vast global shipping connectivity has helped to reinforce the central position that it plays, which was formerly played by the case company. The leading port of its kind in the world is now connected to numerous ports around the world that are served by major shipping lines. These lines include many world-leading container liner operators who offer one of the most extensive choices of shipping services available anywhere in the area. The case firm has set itself the ambitious goal of being the world’s most favored regional gateway by providing exceptional opportunities for integrated supply chain management. Despite the fact that the mission is to achieve excellence by providing

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the highest standards of quality, occupational safety, health, and environment; continuous enhancement of employee skills and well-being; State-of-the-art facilities and equipment; and Maximization of stakeholders’ returns through value innovation; the vision is to maximize the returns to stakeholders through value innovation. Integrity, customer focus, innovation, teamwork, and excellence in business performance are the case values that are upheld by the case corporation in each and every commercial transaction. The case firm offers a variety of services, one of which is maritime service, among other options. The maritime services offered by the case organization are available around the clock to ensure the smooth operation of vessel traffic inside port waters. This comprises the coordination of all port services that are necessary as well as the transmission of information that is pertinent. Pilots with a great deal of expertise are responsible for coordinating the safe and effective movement of vessels, and they do this while making use of the proper number and kind of tugs for berthing and unberthing operations at the wharves. In order to determine the proper resources required and the time for the movement of boats, which the case firm is presently doing to the best of its ability, it is vital to have knowledge about the location of the port, the waterways, and the tidal flows [15]. The case firm provides a second type of service, which is called Container Services. The ever-increasing demand for container services is being met by the operation of container services at specialized container terminals. These terminals are fully equipped with handling equipment and facilities to satisfy this need. There are currently four terminals that have a combined quay length of approximately 3.3 km and a depth alongside ranging from 11.5 to 17 m. As a result, these terminals are fully capable of accommodating vessels weighing up to 200,000 displacement tones and have quay lengths that total approximately 3.3 km. Landside and container handling operations are made easier by the use of quay cranes, rubber-tire gantry cranes, straddle carriers, prime movers, trailers, and high stackers. Because it possesses all of these capabilities, the case firm is now able to provide more connections to ports all over the globe than any other port in Malaysia. As a result, it has become one of the most significant gateway ports in the whole world. Following that, it has the traditional, logistic, and free zone service categories. The case firm has two different facilities that are dedicated to handling non-containerized goods, specifically break bulk, dry bulk, and liquid bulk freight. The term “break bulk” refers to shipments of iron, steel, lumber, plywood, machineries, RORO containers, and cattle. The case firm handles break bulk shipments of all of these types of cargo. The capacity of the case firm has also been increased, which enables it to facilitate the repackaging and distribution of goods and raw materials inside the premises. Dry bulk is a term that refers to grain, maize, coal, sea salt, and fertilizers. The dry bulk cargoes that are handled by the case firm include all of these items. The luffing cranes on three different levels are used to unload the dry bulk cargoes. At the bulk port, clinker and other types of goods that are comparable are loaded using cranes. Pipelines are used for loading and unloading liquid bulk cargo, which is delivered aboard boats that have been specifically constructed for the task (such as tankers).

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The case firm transports a variety of goods, including liquid chemicals, petroleum products, and crude palm oil, among other things. The liquid bulk terminal is equipped with wharves that have a maximum depth of 11.5 m and can accommodate ships that have a displacement of up to 60,000 tons. And last, we have the logistic services. The case company has made significant investments in up-stream support facilities, products, and services that offer a value proposition not only as a Regional Distribution Centre but also as an International Procurement Centre. These value propositions include warehousing, pre-shipment activities such as documentation, internal haulage, packing and re-labelling, minor assembly, and other value-added activities to complement the core business activities at the case company. Here, the contents of containers are kept, next, if required, they are processed, and finally, they are distributed farther. In addition, the case company’s Free Commercial Zone is home to a Container Freight Station (CFS), which has a Multi Consolidation Centre and provides services like warehousing, distribution, and freight forwarding. This facility can be found in the Free Commercial Zone. This service provides a significant concentration of facilities that are related to distribution activities, and as a result, clients benefit from time and cost savings associated with transportation as a direct result of this service’s concentration. At the case company, the researcher spent almost six months to do the ethnography field work and conducting observation on the business operation. During this period, the researcher learns many attempts of digital adoption by the case company. The researcher learns that without technology and digitalization, the case company will not be efficient in conducting its business operation. The observation during the fieldwork is noted and recorded using a notebook. The observation is analyze using a thematic analysis and draw using ANT to discuss the connection between actors in the process of digital learning experience during the fieldwork.

4 Actor Network Theory: The Actors in Cargo Business Operations According to O’Doherty (2019), actor-network theory (ANT) is a theoretical and methodological approach to social theory in which everything in the social and natural worlds occurs in constantly moving networks of interactions. This view of the world is based on the idea that networks are inherently dynamic. It asserts that nothing exists outside of the interactions between people and things. There are no external social influences other than what and how the network participants engage with one another currently since all of the components participating in a social situation are on the same level. As a consequence of this, non-human components, such as things, ideas, and processes, as well as any other important components, are regarded as being on par with people in terms of their significance in the construction of social circumstances.

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This indicates that it tracks not just material interactions (those that occur between things), but also semiotic interactions (between concepts). It is a common assumption that many types of interactions may be broken down into two categories: material and semiotic. The concept indicates that everything in the social and natural domains, including humans and nonhumans, interacts in dynamic networks of interactions, with no other components being excluded. These interactions can take place at any level of organization, from the individual to the global. In the context of this study, five players that have been identified as being involved in the functioning of the cargo sector are described in further depth. Employees are the initial actors in the cargo handling process who are instructed and trained to use the case company’s systems. Employees are instructed to deal with clients using the contract system (as the second actor), the container system (as the third actor), and the cargo system (as the fourth actor) (the fifth actor). The regular operation of logistics systems is dependent on information technology. Logistics system information includes service functions such as forecasting, dynamics (capacity, charge, and stock), intelligence and information, production information, and market intelligence activities that are connected to the top management level plan. Employees must first enter order information into the contract system. This is used to record essential logistical operations such as transportation, storage, packing, circulation processing, and logistics such as intermediate contact unity, as well as maintaining activities for inspection, maintenance, loading maintenance, and unloading. The next step is to provide information about the order specifics to the third actor, the container system. This procedure includes loading or unloading, moving, compiling, classifying, and other steps. Container and palletization are the loading and unloading representation forms. Cranes, forklifts, conveyors, and other types of vehicles are among the machinery and handling equipment employed. The information is transmitted to the cargo system after the container operation is completed. Loading and unloading actions occur regularly during the cargo process. This is one of the most common causes of product damage. For handling management, particularly the method of handling, unloading and unloading of handling equipment and rational allocation, as well as the usage and handling of rationalization, the quantity of handling is minimized, logistical expenses are saved, and economic gains are realized. If the default occurred, staff were instructed to meet with clients (the fifth actor) to investigate the situation. For instance, whether there is an excess fee, or a charge decrease throughout the import and export procedure.

5 Digital Learning Experience As a member of the case company’s network, the employee is an actor who has been taught to be proficient with digital tools and technology. In the context of this study, employees at the case firm are given the flexibility to communicate via social media platforms in order to perform their jobs. It is because social media is thought

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to increase worker involvement in their jobs. Aside from the method outlined in the preceding section, employees are encouraged to maximize their usage of social media in order to build a welcoming working environment and develop worker relationships. A six-month observation reveals that employees at the organization utilize online meeting tools such as the Zoom app, Google Meet, or Microsoft Team to hold official meetings. It is not only useful in the case of an emergency, but it also saves time. When an urgent meeting must be held immediately to examine concerns and make decisions.

6 Discussion and Conclusion During the six months field work, researcher given an opportunity to learn many things related to digitalization at the case company and how the company managing the cargo business operations with the help of digital tools and system. Based on the observation, a few recommendations provided to the management parties of the case company such as: first, the case company needs to upgrade the operating system used by the Free Zone Logistics department at the case company because the system used is still using manual operational method compared to the system used in more sophisticated terminals. Second, the company should replace the old machinery with new machinery so that the operation process will be faster because the old machinery is often damaged, and the old machinery has the old technology in line with the current high-tech machinery that is based on digital automation. Third, equally important to digital tools, the readiness of facilities is very important. Therefore, there is need for some investment required to upgrade the existing facilities at the case company to accommodate the adoption of more digitalization development in the case company. It is proven that there is strong connection and link between actors in the case company in delivering tasks related to cargo business. Strong link between actors could increase the business performance and more importantly in understanding the needs and satisfaction of customers. Customers’ decision-making processes are impacted by a variety of elements, both internal and external [16]. Internal factors encompass both the behavior of the company’s customers and the business’s own controllable aspects, such as price and the quality of the product or service being offered [17]. On the other hand, there are studies that concentrate on the impact of external factors such as growing digitisation, technological advancements in the business, switching flexibility, and higher service demands [17–20]. It is no longer sufficient to merely reply to a campaign that a competitor has launched. Actors can also be found in settings other than the market or business, where they are molding and developing new customer expectations and needs. Recognizing this reality enables companies to better act and react to the movements of their customers, as well as develop their services to satisfy the requirements for satisfaction that their customers have. The methodology of integrating technology and digital tools is not something that can be picked up in a single night either [21]. According to the findings of a number of studies, younger generations and potential

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future business owners have been exposed to technological and digital approaches while they were still in the school phase [16, 18, 22–24]. An early introduction to digitalization and technology results in a future society that is more knowledgeable [25] and has the ability to make the most of the benefits offered by technology. They will also acquire a deeper comprehension of the risks that are present in both their organization and their environment [26, 27]. Acknowledgements Authors would like to acknowledge Malaysian Institute of Information Technology, Universiti Kuala Lumpur and Universiti Malaysia Kelantan for funding this publication.

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New Teaching Methods in Universities Using Artificial Intelligence Abdulsadek Hassan, Mahmoud Gamal Sayed Abd Elrahman, Sumaya Asgher Ali, Nader Mohammed Sediq Abdulkhaleq, Mohanad Dahlan, and Ghassan Shaker

Abstract The current study aims to identify the role of artificial intelligence in education, specifically during the coronavirus crisis, and the teaching methods used in educational institutions. The study concludes that the educational process is constantly searching for modern methods and strategies including the use of artificial intelligence—the technology of the current age, considering that it touches all areas of everyday life, starting with simple computers, infiltrating smart devices, electronic applications, and most complex devices. It is within this intellectual context that this research paper explores the role of artificial intelligence in improving the quality of higher education. Keyword Teaching methods · Artificial intelligence · Coronavirus

1 Introduction The advent of big data, cloud computing, artificial neural networks, and machine learning have made it possible to create a machine that can simulate human intelligence. Based on these technologies, this article refers to machines capable of perceiving, recognizing problems, learning, interacting, and solving problems such as artificial intelligence (AI) [1]. In addition to current educational reforms such as digitizing educational resources and personalizing learning experiences, there are A. Hassan (B) Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain M. G. S. A. Elrahman Faculty of Mass Communication, Radio and Television Department, Beni-Suef University, Beni Suef, Egypt S. A. Ali · N. M. S. Abdulkhaleq · M. Dahlan · G. Shaker University of Business and Technology (UBT), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia e-mail: [email protected] G. Shaker e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_60

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many opportunities for developing AI applications in education [2]. For example, modeling using AI systematically enables the development of interactive and adaptive learning programs to build individual learning environments, which through the use of an intelligent teaching system may be employed supportively in the instances of teacher shortages. Many modern customized learning experiences use AI in educational processes in schools and universities. Three basic views of AI in knowledge processing are: (A) the representation of knowledge, (B) the acquisition of knowledge, and (C) the derivation of knowledge. Historically, AI has gone through several stages, the most significant of which is its recent integration into education [3]. The “first generation” of AI-supported human intellectual work was through the application of expertise based on expert knowledge. The “second generation” found the optimal solution through a statistical and research model, while the “third generation” greatly improved recognition performance based on a brain model [4]. A set of AI programs that can be harnessed positively at the level of managing learning processes and at the level of managing educational institutions will be introduced [5].

2 Education Transformations in the Post-coronavirus Era Education systems in the world witnessed unprecedented turmoil due to the coronavirus pandemic. Globally, most schools and universities closed their doors to more than 1.5 billion students, estimated to be more than 90% of total learners, according to recent figures issued by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics [6]. The most important new patterns forming a digital structure in education are as follows: • Distance education: A method used in many countries of the world, since the onset of the pandemic, as an alternative to traditional education [7]. Efforts made by many governments to reach students during the closures were far-reaching and successful, and there is evidence that education was extended to students who had previously not been included under normal circumstances [8]. • E-learning: A method combining distance education and education in the classroom, through modern means and mechanisms of communication, such as computers, networks and multimedia, merging sound, images, graphics, search mechanisms, and digital libraries, aimed at reaching the student in the shortest time, with the least effort, and the greatest benefit [9]. It is expected that this educational pattern will prevail in most educational institutions around the world during the foreseeable future, and one of its most important forms is what has become known as blended education, which combines technology-enhanced education and direct (face-to-face) education [3]. • Artificial Intelligence: There is an increasing trend towards adopting AI techniques to enhance online education, adaptive learning software, and research tools

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that allow students to interact quickly, benefit from information, and acquire skills [10]. The results of many academic studies have emphasized the fact that the use of adaptive learning benefits students’ progress in their educational path, promotes active learning, helps stumbling students, and evaluates factors affecting students’ success [5]. However, the effective integration of these new technologies into school curricula requires good planning and the provision of necessary resources.

3 Shifts in Schools and Curricula When the severity of the pandemic recedes, and countries begin to open their schools to students—and this will often be carried out in stages—important transformations will occur. However, these transformations will vary, according to the material capabilities and plans adopted by each country [11]. In general, the basic education sector will witness new conditions in many countries globally, including: • Social distancing: Access to classrooms will be gradual, and the principle of social distancing will be carefully observed [12]. No handshakes or physical proximity will be allowed. Friendships, social networking, and many other activities will remain suspended [13]. • Multiple working hours within the same school building: The need for social distancing between students will impose smaller numbers in the classroom. It will be necessary for educational institutions to operate in shifts, perhaps two or three per day, especially in overcrowded schools. This will undoubtedly place more pressure on the faculty and administrative staff [14]. • Acquisition of new skills: Following months in homeschooling during the closure period, students will be more familiar with the tools and means of educational technology and will possess sufficient ability to control their own lessons. Students will no longer be learning guided lessons according to the curriculum but will also gain experience in many new available applications, which can be used to study and learn [15]. Redefining the role of the teacher: The concept of the role of the teacher as the owner of knowledge who imparts wisdom to his students, will change, especially with the expansion of students’ access to knowledge resources through digital education systems, in which the role of the traditional teacher is reduced [12]. Effective teaching: Examination and correction will be subject to change, as the data of the modern technology revolution will assist teachers to deal with assessment, track each student’s performance with less boredom, and set grades fairly. These tasks will be simplified and will allow teachers more time and effort to focus on improving the course [8].

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4 The Global Alliance for Education and Post-coronavirus Transformations As part of international efforts being made to assist countries in facing the repercussions of the pandemic and rationalizing the expected transformations of education, the “Global Alliance for Education” was established under the auspices of the United Nations, and in addition to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Health Organization, the World Food Program and the Organization for Cooperation and Development were quick to join this alliance, as well as the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Telecommunication Union, the World Bank, and major technical institutions and companies, such as Microsoft, the International Association of Mobile Networks, Weidong, Google, Facebook, Zoom, KPMG, Coursera, and many other NGOs and related charitable non-profit organizations [16]. The only way forward is to forge partnerships. This is what we hope the new coalition, which spurs coordinated and innovative action, to find solutions will do. Not only does it support learners and educators in the moment, but it also continues with us throughout the recovery process, with a special focus on the principles of inclusion and listening [17].

5 The Global Education Alliance Has Identified a Set of Goals that It Seeks to Achieve, the Most Important Being • Assisting countries in mobilizing resources and implementing innovative and context-appropriate solutions to provide distance education and promote curricula based on high technology and low technology, or those based on non-technology [18]. • Finding equitable solutions that guarantee universal access to education [17]. • Ensuring a coordinated response and avoiding overlapping efforts [19]. • Facilitating the return of students to school and being careful to avoid high dropout rates [3].

6 The Transformations Caused by AI Techniques in the Educational Field Include 1. Simplification of Administrative Tasks The use of AI can cover many of the administrative tasks usually performed by teachers and faculty members. Teachers spend a great deal of time checking students’

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test scores, reviewing homework and providing valuable answers for their students; however, technology can automate those tasks, thus helping teachers to spend more time with their students. Software developers improve and make the most of AI, developing techniques for evaluating written answers and articles [20]. Much paperwork related to university and school applications, processing, and grading of applicant papers can be performed by AI [18]. 2. Content Intelligence Education with AI combines by developing educational content so that students can obtain the greatest benefit. Entire articles can now be written by AI, and this is the technology that is reaching classrooms currently [12]. Smart content also includes virtual content such as video lectures [20]. 3. Personal Education YouTube and Netflix recommend content viewers might like. The same techniques can be used to deliver the appropriate course content to each individual student. The curricula are designed to suit 80% of the students; if students form part of the smartest students who represent 10%, they may find that the curricula do not match their abilities and do not bring out the best in them; however, 10% of the least capable students may have learning difficulties [10]. 4. Global Education Artificial intelligence can overcome limits and obstacles to promote education without restrictions. Technology has introduced radical changes to facilitate education; therefore, it is now easy to receive any educational course from anywhere in the world at any time [9]. Artificial intelligence-enhanced education provides learners with basic skills related to information technology, and with time, educational content on the Internet will evolve and courses will diversify and become available to all [4]. 5. Higher Efficiency of the System In general, AI increases the efficiency of information technology-related processes. These processes may not be directly related to educational content; however, they increase the efficiency of the system as a whole. For example, city planners can improve traffic flow and reduce congestion, and similarly schools can prevent students from becoming lost on their way to and from school [17]. A study published in eSchool News predicted that reliance on AI applications in education would increase by 47.5% by 2021. These applications will not be limited to institutions of higher education but will become tangible at lower levels of education [12].

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7 Applications of AI that Can Be Employed in the Educational Process These can be summed up as follows: 1.

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Intelligent chatbots: Are computer programs designed to simulate intelligent human conversations [6]. They provide a number of forms of user and program interactions, and are presented by text, voice, or text summarization. They can summarize lengthy texts with extreme accuracy and in an easy-to-read manner, where users can comprehend the summary and extract the most important information in record time, whether the original texts are articles or publications on social media [14]. Augmented reality: An interactive security technology based on adding informational layers of text, images, audio, video…etc., and multiple or repeat formats on real scenes, where text, images, or other special problems with course content are turned into a real-world reality [21]. Virtual reality: An interactive computer simulation of real reality, which affords the learner the opportunity to interact, develop, control and navigate within it, such as conducting dangerous laboratory experiments, or participating in visiting certain places while being in a different environment [9]. Audio industry: Are digital programs that convert written texts into audio, and virtual machines specified for use in websites, mobile applications, digital books, e-learning materials, documents, etc. [22]. Systems expert: Computer programs that simulate the behavior of a benevolent person in using knowledge, issuing judgments, rules of inference, and providing advice and solutions appropriate to problems [23]. Robotics: Are electromechanical machines that are able to carry out tasks by using a set of instructions saved in the devices’ electronic memory. These commands are designed by specialized software in a computer, and they are connected to the parts of the robotic root [16]. Adaptive learning intelligence: Is the use of AI methods to meet the different educational needs of each learner, where computer algorithms derived from the learner’s response to questions can be used to adapt the presentations of the educational materials and provide customized resources [12]. Educational smart games: Computer-programmed games to achieve a specific educational goal, characterized by suspense, challenge, imagination, and competition, as they are designed in a way that stimulates mental activity, increases the level of concentration, improves the ability to make logical decisions, and troubleshooting in a quick way, as well as strengthening social bonds [6]. SMART evaluation: A computer program that can evaluate higher order thinking skills, correct interfaces, and complex choices in an automated form, browse a wide range of data, analyze learners’ performance, highlight their strengths and weaknesses, and provide them with dwarf support in a timely manner [1].

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10. Distinguish and read letters: Converts printed images or handwritten texts into text files that can be infringed, and this is done by analyzing the document, comparing it with fonts stored in databases, or typical character traits, as well as speaking to guess the unknown words [18]. 11. Text summarizer: Computer programs able to summarize long texts with extreme accuracy and in an easy-to-read way, so that their users can comprehend the summary and extract the most important information in a record time, whether the original texts are articles, articles, or publications on social media [20]. What AI technology is used to monitor tests remotely? There are technical requirements and standard specifications that are approved during the preparation of remote tests, whereby male and female students can enter the achievement test system [15]. How AI systems will change the future of education 1. Artificial Intelligence Can Automate Basic Activities in Education, Such as Grading In college, grading homework and tests for large-lecture courses can be tedious work. Teachers often find that grading takes a great deal of time, which can preferably be used to interact with students, prepare for class, or work on professional development [5]. Using AI techniques, it is now possible for teachers to perform automatic classification of all types of multiple tests [20]. 2. Artificial Intelligence Systems Can Adapt Educational Programs to the Needs of Students From kindergarten to graduate school, one of the main ways AI will impact education is through the application of higher levels of individual learning [13]. These systems respond to students’ needs, placing more emphasis on particular topics, repeating facts students have not mastered, and generally helping students work at their own pace [22]. 3. Indicate Where Improvement is Needed in Coursework Teachers may not always realize that there are gaps in their lectures and teaching materials that can leave students confused regarding certain concepts. AI systems provide a way to solve this problem [4].These systems help fill in various gaps that can occur in courses and help ensure that all students build the same conceptual foundations. Instead of waiting for feedback from the professor, students get instant feedback that helps them understand the concept and reminds them of how to do it correctly the next time [3]. 4. Students Can Get Additional Support There may be things that human educators can do that machines cannot, currently there are already various tutoring programs built on AI that can help students with

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basic math, writing, and other subjects [24]. These programs can teach students the basics; however, thus far they are not ideal for helping students learn high-level thinking and creativity skills, which teachers still need to facilitate [9]. 5. Programs that Rely on AI Systems Can Give Students and Teachers Helpful Feedback Artificial intelligence-powered software tasks not only help teachers and students prepare courses that are customized to their needs but can also provide feedback to both regarding the success of the course overall [7]. 6. Artificial Intelligence is Changing How People Find and Interact with Information It is seldom perceived how AI systems influence the information that is researched and found on a daily basis [2]. AI adapts to Google users based on location, Amazon makes recommendations based on previous purchases, Siri adapts to your needs and commands, and nearly all web advertising is geared toward your interests and shopping preferences [14]. 7. Artificial Intelligence Systems Can Change the Role of Teachers There will always be a role for educators in education; however, this role and the responsibilities involved may change due to new technology in the form of intelligent computing systems [10]. As previously discussed, AI systems can take on tasks such as grading, can help students improve learning, and may even be a substitute for realworld tutoring [21]. However, AI can be adapted to many other aspects of teaching as well, and in most cases, AI will transform the role of a teacher into that of a facilitator [6]. 8. Artificial Intelligence Systems Can Make Trial-And-Error Learning Less Intimidating Trial and error are an important part of learning; however, for many students, the idea of failing, or possibly not knowing the answer, is a paralysis. Some students simply are not comfortable appearing immediately in front of peers or authority figures such as a teacher [7]. An intelligent computer system, designed to help students learn, can provide students with a way to study and learn in a relatively judgment-free environment, especially when AI teachers can provide solutions for improvement [2]. In fact, AI systems are the ideal form to support this type of learning, as AI systems often develop through a method of trial and error [1]. 9. Data Powered by AI Systems Can Change How Schools Attract, Teach, and Support Students The process of intelligent data collection, supported by intelligent computer systems, is already making changes to how colleges interact with prospective and current students [13]. From recruiting to helping students choose the best courses, intelligent computer systems help make every part of the college experience more personalized to meet students’ needs and goals [22].

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10. Artificial Intelligence Systems Will Change Where Students Learn, Who Teaches Them, and How They Acquire Basic Skills Although major changes may continue for several decades into the future, the reality is that AI has the potential to change almost everything considered with regard to education [20].

8 Conclusion Artificial intelligence is an icon that has accomplished a giant leap and scientific breakthrough, especially by using it in online education, where artificial intelligence has made an excellent contribution and is an important part of the measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. This is particularly true in the case of Egypt, as the country has adopted “distance education” policies to limit the attendance of students and avoid social mixing in schools and universities. The results revealed that in light of the rapid transformation of the modern world as a result of tremendous technological progress, the capabilities of artificial intelligence are developing in parallel at a high speed. With the introduction of fifth-generation technology for communication networks and the greatly increased internet speeds and number of internet users, new opportunities will be opened for many applications of artificial intelligence, which will be strongly reflected in work methods and various aspects of life.

References 1. Cao, J., Yang, T., Lai, I.K.-W., Wu, J.: Student acceptance of intelligent tutoring systems during COVID-19: the effect of political influence. Int. J. Electr. Eng. Educ. (2021) 2. Fu, D.: Where is school education going in the Era of artificial intelligence? Moder. Educ. Manage. 05, 52–57 (2019) 3. Bucea-Manea-T, O.R., Simion, V.E., Ilic, D., Braicu, C., Manea, N.: Sustainability in higher education: the relationship between work-life balance and XR E-learning facilities. Sustainability 12(5872), (2020) 4. Kuleto, V., Ili´c, M., Dumangiu, M., Rankovi´c, M., Martins, O.M.D., P ˘aun, D., Mihoreanu, L.: Exploring opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence and machine learning in higher education institutions. Sustainability 13, 1042 (2021). 5. Zhu, Q., Wan, M.: Team-based mobile learning supported by an intelligent system: case study of STEM students. Interact. Learn. Environ. 1–17 (2019) 6. Goksel, N., Aras, B.: Artificial intelligence in education: current insights and future perspectives. In: Handbook of research on learning in the age of transhumanism, pp. 224–236. IGI Global: Hershey, PA, USA (2019) 7. Luo, D., Li, W., Deng, Z., Tong, Y., Liu, J., Chen, J., Xie, K.: Teaching reform and practice of artificial intelligence course in Beijing university. Comput. Educ. 10, 3–8 (2019) 8. Savin-Baden, M., Bhakta, R., Mason-Robbie, V., Burden, D.: An evaluation of the effectiveness of using pedagogical agents for teaching in inclusive ways. Artif. Intell. Inclusive Educ. 117–34 (2019)

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9. Wang, J., Tian, H.: Review of the operation mechanism of American virtual charter schools. Int. Compar. Educ. 08, 29–34 (2019) 10. Marinoni, G., van’t Land, H., Jensen, T.: The impact of Covid-19 on higher education around the world. In: International association of universities, survey report, Paris, France (2020) 11. El-Din, D.M., Hassanein, A.E., Hassanien, E.E.: The effect corona virus pendamic on education into electronic multi-modal smart education. In: Big data analytics and artificial intelligence against COVID-19: innovation vision and approach, vol. 78, pp. 245–259. Springer: Cham, Switzerland (2020) 12. Ahmad, S.F., Rahmat, M.K., Mubarik, M.S., Alam, M.M., Hyder, S.I.: Artificial intelligence and its role in education. Sustainability 13, 12902 (2021) 13. Yannier, N., Hudson, S.E., Koedinger, K.R.: Active learning is about more than hands-on: a mixed-reality aI system to support STEM education. Int. J. Artif. Intell. Educ. 30, 74–96 (2020) 14. Mo, Z.: Rethinking and unraveling the personalized learning theory in the “Artificial Intelligence +” Era. J. Dist. Educ. 3(35), 22–30 (2017) 15. Dhawan, S., Batra, G.: Artificial intelligence in higher education: promises, perils, and perspective, pp. 11–22. OJAS: New Delhi, India (2021) 16. Shih, P.-K., Lin, C.-H., Wu, L.Y., Yu, C.-C.: Learning ethics in AI—teaching non-engineering undergraduates through situated learning. Sustainability 13, 3718 (2021) 17. Nishad, N., Anjali, M.G., Mohamed, A.S.: Artificial intelligence (AI) applications for library services and resources in COVID-19 pandemic. JCR 7, 1951–1955 (2020) 18. Bozkurt, A., Karadeniz, A., Baneres, D., Guerrero-Roldán, A.E., Rodríguez, M.E.: Artificial intelligence and reflections from educational landscape: a review of AI studies in half a century. Sustainability 13, 800 (2021) 19. Zhang, Z., Zhang, L., Li, M.: The due analysis of artificial intelligence education application: the necessity and possibility of teaching automation. Distance Educ. China 01, 25–35 (2019) 20. Park, C.L., Crocker, C., Nussey, J., Springate, J., Hutchings, D.: Evaluation of a teaching tool–wiki–in online graduate education. J. Inf. Syst. Educ. 23(3), (2019) 21. Bucea-Manea-T, O.R., Manea, N.: Quality parametres on higher education PhD program in Romania. Indep. J. Manag. Prod. 10(2), (2019) 22. Liu, S., Chen, Y., Huang, H., Xiao, L., Hei, X.: Towards smart educational recommendations with reinforcement learning in classroom. In: Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE international conference on teaching, assessment, and learning for engineering (TALE), pp. 1079–1084. Wollongong, Australia, 4–7 December 2018 23. Gunawan, K., Liliasari, L., Kaniawati, I., Setiawan, W., Rochintaniawati, D., Sinaga, P.: Profile of teachers’ integrated science curricula that support intelligent tutoring systems. J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 1806, 012139 (2021) 24. Karsenti, T.: Artificial intelligence in education: the urgent need to prepare teachers for tomorrow’s schools. Format. et Prof. 27(1), 112–116 (2019) 25. Alareeni, B., Hamdan, A.: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Accounting and Auditing in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic. In: Alareeni, B., Hamdan, A. (eds) Artificial Intelligence and COVID Effect on Accounting. Accounting, Finance, Sustainability, Governance & Fraud: Theory and Application. Springer, Singapore. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-103 6-4_1 26. Altarif, B., Al Mubarak, M. Artificial Intelligence: Chatbot—The New Generation of Communication. In: Hamdan, A., Harraf, A., Arora, P., Alareeni, B., Khamis Hamdan, R. (eds) Future of Organizations and Work After the 4th Industrial Revolution. Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol 1037. Springer, Cham. (2022).https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99000-8_12

Digital Anxiety Among Students of the University College of Applied Sciences and Its Relationship to Some Variables Hisham Ghorab, Mahmoud Jalambo, Maysoon Arafat, and Dalia Bakroun

Abstract This study aimed at identifying the level of digital anxiety among the students of the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS) and its relationship with the variable of gender and students’ achievement. The researchers adopted the analytical descriptive approach, as a google form questionnaire was designed to collect the needed data on a sample of (173) students who were enrolled at UCAS during the academic year 2022/2023. The results revealed the availability of a moderate level of digital anxiety among UCAS students, and there were statistically significant differences in the level of anxiety among the students due to the gender of students in favor of female students. However, the results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the level of digital anxiety among UCAS students attributed to their academic achievement. Keywords Digital anxiety · University College of Applied Sciences · Palestinian university students

1 Introduction Anxiety represents a situation or situations at different times that require compatibility or re-compatibility with the environment, so this phenomenon is the origin of most psychological phenomena such as stress, frustration and aggression. Therefore, anxiety doesn’t need to be a negative phenomenon, so we cannot refrain or escape from it, otherwise, it causes a lack of individual activities and lack of competence, and then a failure in life [12].

H. Ghorab · M. Jalambo (B) · M. Arafat · D. Bakroun The University College of Applied Sciences, Gaza, Palestine e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_61

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Psychological anxiety occupies the first place among mental illnesses, as there is a difference between natural and desirable anxiety, such as anxiety on exam days, and pathological anxiety that requires the intervention of doctors. Abbas [1] mentioned that anxiety arises from desires that the individual may not be able to achieve in the real world, as it may arise from aggression and hatred that the individual carries for others [18]. Anxiety is one of the psychological problems that affect academic achievement which refers to the internal competition that makes an individual redeeming to accomplish the task he promised himself. Therefore, those with knowledge needs and determination seek to acquire new knowledge, with which they sometimes have to change their behavior and attitudes. At a time when the need for achievement among students is linked to academic achievement, it is an achievement that means excellence and distortion of the competitive spirit rather than a continuous desire to gain the largest possible amount of related information linked to reconnaissance activities [4]. Recently, “digital anxiety” has emerged, which results from the combination of cognitive, physical, and behavioral elements towards an unpleasant feeling usually associated with discomfort, fear, and tension from distance or disconnection from modern digital means of communication in general, whether it is the Internet, smartphones or social media websites [15]. Some factors contribute to the development of the ability to achieve, including the school and health environment, sound social relations, development of mental abilities, and normal mental health, however, other factors negatively affect academic achievement, including anxiety. Accordingly, students nowadays are experiencing severe panic and an increased sense of danger represented in psychological disorders, anxiety and fear, given that the individual’s future is built upon his academic achievement in the later educational stages. Therefore, digital anxiety has become a concern for different age groups, especially university students who use the Internet extensively in the educational and cultural process (Ben Arabiya and Habis 2016: 34). Accordingly, the focus of the present investigation is the digital anxiety among the students of the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS) and its relationship to some variables. Th following sections discuss the statement of the study problem, the study significance, and the theoretical framework about the types, reasons, and symptoms of anxiety, followed by the research methodology and results. Finally, a conclusion and recommendations in light of the gained results were derived.

1.1 The Problem of the Study The problem of the current study emerged from the researchers’ feelings and observation of the digital anxiety during the Corona pandemic among UCAS students, where the Internet, social media, and various platforms such as (Classroom and Zoom), which rely heavily on the Internet, and through which students have struggled to communicate with their teachers, to attend lectures and submit online quizzes

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and assignments, which increased the level of Anxiety and stress among the students. Moreover, with the burden of modern life and the spread of recent technologies, and the many influences that may conflict with each other in light of the beliefs and norms of the conservative Palestinian society, digital anxiety has become the core problem to be investigated.

1.2 The Questions of the Study The problem of the study is determined by the main question “What is the level of digital anxiety among students of the University College of Applied Sciences in Gaza?”, while there are two sub-questions derived from the main question; (1) Are there statistically significant differences in the level of anxiety among university college students according to the variable of gender?, and (2) Is there a relationship between the level of digital anxiety and the level of academic achievement among the students of the University College of Applied Sciences?

1.3 The Significance of the Study The importance of the study relies on the fact that it deals with an important community sample, which is the UCAS students to tackle a recent topic i.e. digital anxiety in light of the Corona pandemic. Therefore, the results of the study may benefit workers in the field of psychological and educational counseling to work on reducing the level of digital anxiety among university students.

1.4 Terminologies of the Study Anxiety: It is a reaction to a danger that individual fear of its occurrence and is directed to the personal components, and this reaction carries an internal meaning that relates to the individual and adds it to the external world ([11]: 200). Digital Anxiety: An unpleasant emotional state that accompanies the individual when dealing with technology sources and social media programs, accompanied by a kind of tension and fear as a result of the loss of safety and a sense of control and the spread of his personal information during direct interaction with the Internet ([3]: 7). The researchers define digital anxiety operationally as dealing with digital programs, and it is measured by the degree obtained by the examinee on the digital anxiety scale used in the current study, which consists of 35 items.

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University College of Applied Sciences: Is an academic institution operating under the supervision of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. It was established in 1998 to provide technical and vocational education services to the Palestinian community to grant bachelor’s degrees and intermediate diplomas to more than 40 majors in various fields of study.

1.5 The Theoretical Framework of the Study The researchers identified anxiety and linked it directly to the student’s level of academic achievement. The educational stage that the student passes through constitutes an important starting point in his life, overcoming anxiety and knowing its causes and results, which is a central and essential point in the process of correcting the course of the educational process [8]. The researchers believe that it is necessary to develop strategies to educate university students and help them to raise their cumulative average while paying attention to their desires to choose a specialization. So, the educational system should give them psychological comfort, reassurance and safety and always push them towards Progress, and reaching a higher level of academic, educational, cognitive and social achievement to build the nation [13]. It is worth mentioning that anxiety is a normal phenomenon experienced by man, which is distinguished from other living creatures, as it is an accompanying human life and his compulsion to choose paths that do not conform to his desires, yielding to the demands of society, or due to the inability to achieve his desires, tendencies and ambitions, which are hindered by many obstacles that increase with the increasing pressures and demands of modern life [5].

1.6 The Concept and Definition of Anxiety Anxiety is a vague and unpleasant feeling that leads to fear and tension accompanied by some physiological symptoms such as feeling short of breath, headache and frequent movement, and this feeling is repeated in the same person. Anxiety is also considered one of the most prevalent mental illnesses among people, as it disrupts body functions [27]. Also, Muhammad [22] defines anxiety as a complex and chronic emotional state characterized by various neurological states and mental disorders accompanied by often vague terror. The terror may be out of awareness and understanding. Also, Okasha [23], defines anxiety as a general, vague, unpleasant feeling of apprehension, fear, motivation and tension, usually accompanied by some bodily sensations, especially an increase in the activity of the autonomic nervous system, and it comes in recurring episodes. Anxiety is also defined as general instability as a result of the psychological pressure that falls on the individual, which causes disturbance in his behavior and is accompanied by a set of psychological and physical symptoms [2].

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Upon the given definitions of anxiety, the researchers define it as an unpleasant emotional state that accompanies the individual when dealing with technology sources and social media websites, accompanied by a kind of tension, fear and turmoil as a result of the loss of safety and a sense of control and the spread of his personal information during direct interaction with Internet programs.

1.7 Types of Anxiety Various types of anxiety can be summarized by [9] as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Anxiety related to emotional and subconscious states Anxiety that is associated with cases of hysteria that a person is exposed to Transformational anxiety resulting from the lack of human resources Unrealistic anxiety resulting from the domination of baseless fantasies on man Realistic anxiety comes from realistic situations that a person is exposed to and raises that kind of anxiety 6. Natural anxiety results from natural situations, such as a person’s exposure to actual situations that cause him anxiety, such as an exam, giving a speech to a large group of people, or standing in front of public prosecution and other difficult situations.

1.8 Reasons for Anxiety According to Hegazy [19], many possible reasons for anxiety as follow: • Trauma from previous experience i.e. taking a previous test and feeling confident about the result and then discovering that there were errors or getting a result that was much lower than expected. • Enjoying an anxious personality: that is, a person has a response more than others to feelings of anxiety and fear, and of course, tests are among the things that stimulate this response. • Failure to prepare properly and well for the exam as leads to a feeling of failure and thus fear of the exam and the possibility of failure. • Exaggerated perceptions about the exam and how difficult it is, and incorrect expectations about it make the person anxious and tense. • Setting exaggerated goals that can only be reached by passing the test with complete success, and then fearing failure to obtain them. • Enhancing the feelings of exam anxiety on the part of the parents, such as following the wrong parenting methods or the method of intimidation and threats, or the presence of severe punishment in the event of not passing the exam. • Social behavior contagion, i.e. the person is affected by those around him, especially the people around him and those close to him.

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1.9 Symptoms of Anxiety Symptoms of anxiety, according to Ibrahim [20], are divided into four main categories i.e. physical, psychological, social, and cognitive symptoms, as follow: (a) Physical symptoms: Paleness of the face, dilated pupils, expressions of fear on the face, cold extremities, rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, rapid breathing, feeling of suffocation, dry throat, difficulty swallowing, indigestion, stomach and intestine pain, especially the large intestine, feeling bloated, excessive gas and difficulty urinating. Among the physical symptoms of anxiety are general weakness, lack of vital energy, activity and perseverance, muscle tension, excessive motor activity, and nervous crises such as mouth convulsions, thumb sucking, nail-biting, and blinking of the eyes [7]. (b) Psychological symptoms: Feeling of fear, inner discomfort, the anticipation of something bad, resulting in distraction, inability to focus and forgetfulness as well as insomnia, inability to sleep, tension or nervous irritability and this makes the individual very sensitive to any noise, feeling suffocated, disturbing dreams and nightmares, and controlling feelings Depression ([24]: 44). (c) Social symptoms: Quick decisions that are not implemented with a strong tendency to self-criticism and placing strict requirements on what must be done. The anxious person also appears to be in a state of disorder in his compatibility with others, as he tends to isolate and distances himself from social interactions and seems unable to make a constructive adjustment to circumstances, people and social situations ([20]: 24). (d) Cognitive symptoms: It includes a set of cognitive characteristics below: 1. Extremism in judgments: things are either white or black, meaning that a tense person interprets situations in one direction, and this brings him misery and anxiety. 2. Also, the tendency of the neurotic to rigidity, that is to say, facing various situations in one way to think. 3. They also adopt attitudes and beliefs about self and life that are not based on logical evidence, such as authoritarianism and ideological inertia, which prevents them from independent judgment and the use of logic instead of emotions. 4. They tend to rely on the powerful, models of authority, and the rulings of tradition, which turns them into blind people who are unable to act with emotional freedom when the language of mental health requires it. Thinking of anxious people, the researchers believe that what is noticed is that it is far from logic and sometimes adopts absolute unrealistic ideas and beliefs.

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1.10 Anxiety and Academic Achievement Sometimes anxious students say that they stumble on tests and can not recall the information they know. Anxiety affects the reception, storage and recalling of information, and these effects on memory processes are not easy to separate from each other [16]. In this regard, excessive or severe anxiety has negative effects represented in performance disturbance and deterioration because it leads to distraction and lack of focus and then committing mistakes. In this regard, the proponents of motivation theorists state that growing anxiety increases the generation of motivation and thus leads to improved learning and achievement and that the person in learning and achievement situations becomes anxious, which leads him to strive in accomplishing his tasks to relieve his feelings of anxiety or get rid of it until he regains his emotional balance. However, the assumptions of this theory did not gain sufficient empirical support, while the second type of motives (anxiety motives) impede effective performance due to what it generates in individuals from severe anxiety, annoyance, confusion, confusion in thought, preoccupation with oneself and an exaggerated sense of threat, which are responses that weaken performance and thus achievement [10].

2 Methodology of the Study 2.1 Research Design The researchers of this study adopted the descriptive-analytical approach, as it is the most appropriate design for the nature of the current investigation, by describing the phenomenon of digital anxiety among UCAS students and its relationship to some variables through analyzing the collected data.

2.2 Participants of the Study The study population consists of all UCAS students enrolled in the University College of Applied Sciences during the academic year 2021/2022, who were (6313) students. The researchers distributed the study tool to a random sample consisting of (200) male and female students, as (173) questionnaires were answered and collected, with a response rate of (86.5%). Thus the sample of the study was (173) male and female students representing (2.74%) of the study population, and Table 1 describes the study sample.

706 Table 1 The study sample

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Number

%

Males

30

17.3

Females

143

82.7

Total

173

100

2.3 The Tool of the Study Based on reviewing the related literature on digital anxiety, the researchers designed a questionnaire, as the validity and reliability of the tool were verified.

3 Study Results To answer the first study question i.e. “What is the level of digital anxiety among students of the University College of Applied Sciences?”, the means, standard deviations, and relative weights of the responses of the UCAS participants were calculated. The statistical analysis of the Anxiety Scale showed that the means of the scale as a whole was (3.06) with a relative weight (61.1%), and this indicates the availability of digital anxiety at an average level among the participants. This can be explained that despite the interaction of UCAS students with digital content of its various types, there is a degree of anxiety that students have while using this content due to the events experienced by the students and related to the risks of using this content such as hacking, digital bullying and other risks. Three items had a very high degree of digital anxiety, with relative weights ranging between (84–85.1%). These items are: • As soon as I see the phrase “live broadcast” on social media, I feel reacted • I’m bothered when browsing emails • I get nervous when I start browsing programs related to communication (Twitter, Telegram, Facebook, YouTube….). The three items indicates a very high level of anxiety among UCAS students when watching live broadcasts and browsing e-mail and various social networking sites. Seven items obtained means that ranged between (3.44–4.06) with relative weights that ranged between (68.8–81.3%), and they indicate a significant level of anxiety, and these items are: • • • • •

I hesitate to address others in the posts. I find myself nervous feeling that I will miss something posted on social media. I feel an upset stomach just thinking that the apps on my phone are not working. I am afraid to give my real name on social media websites. I feel that I can not control myself while searching for information in the Google search engine.

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• I do not feel free to express my opinions on social media websites. • I hesitate more than once before posting my ideas on blogs. These items focuses on the presence of high levels of anxiety among UCAS students when writing posts on social media websites, responding to comments, presenting their ideas on various sites and blogs, searching for information, declaring their identity and expressing their opinions on social media websites. Additionally, (16) items obtained means that ranged between (2.72–3.38) with a relative weight ranging between (54.3–67.5%), which indicates the presence of an average level of digital anxiety among UCAS students. The content of these items deals with the fear of surfing the Internet; expressing opinions; downloading updates for software and applications; handling anonymous links; accepting friendships, and dealing with advertisements. Moreover, the results showed that eight items obtained means that ranged between (1.9–2.57), with relative weights that ranged between (38–51.3%), and those items were as follows: • • • • •

I constantly encrypt passwords I feel addicted to browsing the Internet I miss the thought of logging out of Instagram I panic when I hear that someone’s account had been hacked Because of the various dangers of communication, I feel that my privacy is threatened • I often forget my passwords • I get nervous when a virtual person asks me for personal information online • Before I start ordering what I want to buy online, I feel insecure. Those items indicate a low level of anxiety among the UCAS students when encrypting passwords or fearing that they will be forgotten, buying online; or for fear of encrypting accounts or violating privacy. Finally, one item got a very low level of digital anxiety with an average of (1.71) and a relative weight of (34.1%), namely “I feel disturbed just thinking that I can’t access my personal account”, meaning that students are not afraid to forget their personal data and access methods to their accounts.

3.1 The Results of the Second Question To answer the second study question i.e. “Are there statistically significant differences in the level of anxiety among UCAS students according to gender?”, the researchers tested the null hypothesis “There are no statistically significant differences at (α ≥ 0.05) in the level of anxiety among UCAS students due to the student’s gender”. The t-test of two independent samples was conducted to identify the significance of the differences between male and female students in terms of their level of digital anxiety. The researchers also used the Size Effect through the Eita Square to ensure

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Table 2 T-test for the differences between males and females on the digital anxiety scale Gender

Number Means Standard t-value deviation

Males

30

Females 143

2.301

0.941

3.216

0.424

Degrees of Sig. freedom

8.332** 171

Eta square Size effect

0.000 0.289

Very high

* represents statistically significant value at less than (0.01)

Table 3 Pearson’s correlation coefficient for the relationship between students’ digital anxiety level and their academic achievement Variables

Number of pairs

Pearson correlation coefficient

Sig. value

Statistical significance

Digital anxiety x academic achievement

173

0.082

0.285

Not significant

that the differences are significant and did not result from the factors of chance, as illustrated in Tables 2 and 3. It is clear from the previous table that the means of male UCAS students was (2.301) with a standard deviation (0.941), while the means of the female students was (3.216) with a standard deviation of (0.424) and the value of t was (8.332), which is a statistically significant value at less than (0.01). This indicates that the average responses of females are higher than the average responses of males with a statistically significant difference, and therefore the null hypothesis is rejected to accept the alternative hypothesis. In other words, there are statistically significant differences at the level (α = 0.01) in the level of anxiety among UCAS students due to the student gender, in favor of female students. This result confirms that the levels of digital anxiety are higher among females, and the results of calculating the effect size indicate that the value of the ETA square is (0.289). This value indicates a very large effect size, as the effect size is considered very large if its value is higher than (0.23). Thus, the differences between UCAS male and female students are significant and not due to chance factors. The researchers attribute this result to the fact that females are more exposed to digital bullying than male students, and this leads to higher levels of digital anxiety compared to males.

3.2 The Results of the Third Question To answer the third study question i.e. “is there a statistically significant relationship between the level of digital anxiety among UCAS students and their academic achievement?”, the researchers tested the null hypothesis “There is no statistically significant relationship at the level (α ≥ 0.05) between the level of digital anxiety among UCAS students and their academic achievement”. The researchers used

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the Pearson Correlation Coefficient to identify the significance of the relationship between the level of digital anxiety among UCAS students and their academic achievement, as presented in Table 3. It is shown in the table above that the calculated value of the Pearson correlation coefficient (0.082), while the tabular value of the correlation coefficient is (0.159) at the level of significance (0.05), which means that the calculated value of the correlation coefficient is much less than the tabular value, and therefore we accept the null hypothesis i.e. There is no statistically significant relationship at the level (α ≥ 0.05) between the level of digital anxiety among university college students and their academic achievement. This result indicates that the levels of digital anxiety are not statistically linked to the academic achievement of students. In other words, students may have different levels of digital anxiety regardless of their academic scores, and this may be due to the fact that the use of digital applications is not limited to students with high academic achievement; Rather, it includes all students, and therefore the level of digital anxiety is not affected by the student being academically superior and may be related to other factors, including the student’s technical culture level.

4 Conclusion and Recommendations The findings of the study revealed the availability of a moderate level of digital anxiety among UCAS students, and there are statistically significant differences at the level (α = 0.01) in the level of anxiety among the students due to the student gender, in favor of female students. However, the study findings indicated that there are no statistically significant differences at the level (α ≥ 0.05) between the level of digital anxiety among UCAS students attributed to their academic achievement. Based on the results of the study, the researchers recommend the following: • Implementation of training courses to raise the level of technical and digital culture among university students. • Implementing awareness sessions on the safe and secure use of digital content, especially for female students. • Implementation of psychological and social support training targeting students who have been subjected to digital bullying or blackmail to raise their level of digital awareness. • Including a course within the academic study plan of students at UCAS dealing with digital awareness and the safe use of digital content.

5 Limitations and Suggestions for Further Research The study is limited to investigating the digital anxiety among UCAS students during the academic year 2022–2023. Accordingly, the researchers suggested future

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research to study the relationship of digital anxiety with other variables related to personality traits and ways of thinking, and to investigate digital anxiety for larger samples such as university instructors, school teachers and secondary school students.

References 1. Abbas, F.: Psychoanalysis of the Self and Humanity (Theory and Practice). Beirut, Lebanon, Dar Al-Fikr Al-Luban (1997) 2. Abdel-Fattah, N.: The effectiveness of a rational and emotional counseling program in reducing anxiety, depression and fear of death among a sample of children with heart disease, Doctoral dissertation, Institute of Graduate Studies for Childhood, Ain Shams University, Egypt (2004) 3. Abdul-Hussein, Z.: Digital Anxiety (2018) 4. Abu Fouda, B.: Compatibility between the traditional theory of measurement and the paragraph response theory in matching the items of the referenced test in the Analytical Geometry unit. Arab Studies Educ. Psychol. MG 73:189–215 (2016) 5. Abu Azab, N.: The effectiveness of a suggested counseling program to reduce test anxiety among secondary school students in Gaza Governorate. J. Educ. Psychol. Sci. Gaza, 99 (2008) 6. Al-Absi, M.: The effect of tangibles on increasing the achievement of first graders in mathematics. Damascus Univ. J. 26(4) (2010), Jordan, Amman 7. Al-Anani, H.: Mental Health. Dar Al-Fikr for Printing and Publishing, Jordan (2014) 8. Al-Khalaf, S.: Anxiety Among Adolescents in the City and the Village, a Comparative Study on a Sample of Adolescents in the Administrative City of Riyadh, unpublished master’s thesis, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah (2011) 9. Al-Maleh, H.: Blog our psychological life (2018). Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://hay atnafs1.blogspot.com/2018/04/?m=0 10. Al-Qariti, A.: Mental Health, 1st edn. Dar Al-Fikr Al-Arabi, Cairo (2014) 11. Al-Rifai, N.: Mental Health: A Study in Psychological Adaptation, 6th edn. University of Damascus, Damascus (2003) 12. Al-Saati, B.: The Relationship Between Parental Stress as Perceived by Working and Nonworking Mothers and the Traits of Anxiety and Depression in Children, unpublished MA thesis, College of Education, Department of Psychology, King Bin Saud University 13. Ali, A.: Social support and stressful life events and their relationship with university life among university students residing with their families, and residing in university cities. Psychol. J. 53(4). General Egyptian Book Organization (2015) 14. Belhosseini, W.: The Effect of a Cognitive-Behavioral Program in the Treatment of Social Phobia Among a Sample of University Students, Doctoral dissertation, Algeria. Kasdi Merbah University (2011) 15. Bouaina, H.: Networking Sites and the Digital Anxiety Dilemma (2021) 16. Davidoff, L.: Personal Motivational Emotions, 1st edn. International House for Cultural Investments (2000) 17. Ghobari, T.: Educational Psychology and Its Classroom Applications, 1st edn. Arab Society Library for Publishing and Distribution, Jordan (2008) 18. Ghorab, H.: Anxiety and Its Relationship to Some Variables Among High School Students in Schools in the Governorates of Gaza, Master’s thesis, Islamic University, Palestine (2000). https://blogs.aljazeera.net/blogs/2020/7/11/ 19. Hegazy, A.: Social Anxiety and Its Relationship to Irrational Thoughts among Preparatory Stage Students in Government Schools in Gaza Strip. Master’s thesis, Islamic University of Gaza, Palestine (2013) 20. Ibrahim, A.: Anxiety is a Limitation of Illusion, p. 485. Dar Al-Hilal Journal, Cairo (2014) 21. Kutchukian-Boxley, C.F.: The effect of anxiety on incidental learning and examination performance in college students (1993)

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22. Muhammad, Z.: Mini psychological counseling to deal with academic problems. Muhammad Hamid Zahran (2000) 23. Okasha, A.: Contemporary Psychiatry. Anglo Egyptian Library, Cairo (2003) 24. Othman, M.: Psychological Trauma and Its Effects, A study day at the Faculty of Education, Al-Aqsa University, Gaza, Palestine (2012) 25. Rushdie, H.: Psychological Problems. Dar Al-Kholud, Cairo (2015) 26. Shreim, R.: Adolescence Psychology, 1st edn. Dar Al Masirah for Publishing and Distribution, Amman, Jordan (2009) 27. Zahran, H.: Mental Health and Psychotherapy, 3rd edn. World of Books, Cairo (2015)

Life Skills and Their Relationship to Self-affirmation Among Deaf Students in the Universities of Gaza Aibo Shwedh, Mahmoud O. Jalambo, and Ahmad Hamad

Abstract The current study aimed at identifying the level of life skills among deaf students and their relationship to deaf students’ self-affirmation in the universities of Gaza. The study also investigated if there were statistically significant differences between life skills and self-affirmation among deaf students due to the study variables (gender, university, degree of disability). The researchers used the descriptive correlative approach on a sample of (70) deaf university students in Gaza. The results showed the existence of a significant correlation between life skills and selfaffirmation among deaf students in Gaza universities. The results also presented that there were statistically significant differences due to the gender variable in favor of males, but there were no statistically significant differences due to the variable degree of disability. Keywords Life skills · Self-affirmation · Deaf students · Gaza Universities

1 Introduction The human being is social by nature, as he cannot live in isolation from others, and the continuous human need for others is one of the first necessities that impose itself on the human individual, to be able in the future to interact with others, join groups, and perform his role in light of his respect for, and commitment to, social values and standards. Due to the importance of life skills and their relationship to self-affirmation among university students, this study is recent and unique in its application to deaf university students in the Gaza Strip. When the student feels that his disability is the reason for his failure, he loses the desire to continue in the learning process, and this feeling negatively affects his personality in a form of a low level of motivation and distracted attention and weak confrontation in solving problems. This, in turn, lowers the students’ self-assessment A. Shwedh · M. O. Jalambo (B) · A. Hamad The University College of Applied Sciences, Gaza, Palestine e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_62

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level and leads them to negative expectations for the results of their responses, and this may lead to their succumbing to failure ([5]: 72). A deaf person may be affected by the same factors that a normal hearing person is affected by, and in general, deaf people suffer from emotional problems more than their peers. Accordingly, the feelings of helplessness, confusion, depression, isolation, and withdrawal characterize the psychosocial responses of deaf people ([9]: 177). Upon that, the current study deals with life skills and their relationship to self-affirmation among deaf students in Gaza universities.

2 Study Questions The main research question is “What is the level of life skills and their relationship to self-affirmation among deaf students in Gaza universities?”, while the following three sub-questions are derived from the main question: 1. What are the level and dimensions of life skills (time management—communication—problem-solving—decision-making) among deaf students in Palestine? 2. What is the level of self-affirmation for deaf students in Palestine? 3. Are there statistically significant differences between life skills and selfaffirmation among deaf students in Palestine due to some variables (gender, the university, and the degree of disability)?

3 Importance of the Study The theoretical and practical importance of this study are shown as follows: A. Theoretical importance: This study is considered the first, to the best of the researchers’ knowledge, that investigates life skills and their relationship to selfaffirmation among deaf students in Gaza universities. So, It raises the cognitive level of the life and affirmative skills of deaf students and enhances their selfconfidence. It also enriches the experience of workers in the field of psychological and educational counseling for deaf students with educational counseling methods; The concept of life skills and their relationship to self-affirmation among deaf students. B. The practical importance: This study may pave the way for the development of new studies and programs. It may also benefit decision-makers, officials and stakeholders in the Gaza Strip besides the local community organizations working in the field of psychological counseling.

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4 Objectives of the Study This study aims at: 1. Identifying the level and dimensions of life skills for deaf students in Gaza universities. 2. Identifying the level of self-affirmation among deaf students in Gaza universities. 3. Knowing the nature and dimensions of the relationship between life skills and self-affirmation among deaf students due to some variables (gender, the university, and the degree of disability).

5 Limitations of the Study 1. Time limit: the second semester of the academic year 2021–2022. 2. Spatial limit: three universities were randomly selected i.e. The Islamic University—Al-Isra University—University College of Applied Sciences. 3. Qualitative limit: This research is limited to deaf students in universities in Gaza 4. Objective limit: life skills and their relationship to self-affirmation among deaf students in Gaza universities.

6 Terms of the Study Life Skills: “It is the experiences and tools that the individual needs to help him deal with his surroundings, and integrate him with others and society in a way that ensures that he avoids the dangers and problems surrounding him” ([9]: 8). The researchers define it operationally as a set of skills that a person possesses to have the ability to adapt to his community and surrounding environment to enable him to face different situations in life. • Affirmative Behavior: Social behavior enables the individual to defend his personal rights, express his positive and negative opinions and feelings honestly and spontaneously, and it is the ability to reject the irrational demands and pressures of others, and not hesitate to demand and initiate, and social interaction, so that this behavior is practiced either face to face, or through the use of social media and modern communication within a framework of wisdom, adherence to social and ethical values and standards [8]: 6). The researchers define it operationally as the individual’s ability to appropriately express his feelings, thoughts, and opinions towards others with honesty and integrity and without injustice, aggression, or violation of the rights of others. • Deaf students in Gaza universities: Deaf students are registered in Palestinian universities in the governorates of the Gaza Strip, including Islamic University, Al-Isra University, and University College of Applied Sciences.

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The researchers define them as deaf students who are regularly registered in the university, aged between (18–22), to study in the universities of the Gaza Strip affiliated with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education for the academic year (2021–2022).

7 Study Methodology The researchers relied on the descriptive correlative approach due to its relevance to the current study, aiming at identifying the level of life skills and their relationship to self-affirmation among deaf students in Gaza universities. The descriptive approach is defined as a method based on an organized scientific manner to reach the specific objectives of a social situation or a social or human problem. It follows current events and existing practices that are available for study and measurement as they are [7]. Thus, the researchers described the life skills and their relationship to selfaffirmation among deaf students in Gaza universities and analyze the relationship between its components and the opinions presented about it and the processes it includes. a. Study Population The study population consists of all deaf students in the Gazian universities (Islamic University—Al-Isra University—University College of Applied Sciences) for the academic year 2021–2022. b. The Study Sample The study sample consisted of (70) deaf male and female students in Gaza universities, as illustrated in Table 1. a. Tools of the Study Table 1 Distribution of study sample according to study variables Variables of the study Gender

The University

The degree of Disability

Number

Percentages%

Male

23

Female

47

32.9 67.1

Total

70

100.0

Islamic University

20

28.6

Israa University

22

31.4

UCAS

28

40.0

Total

70

100.0

Partial

30

42.9

Complete

40

57.1

Total

70

100.0

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The researchers used two tools to identify the life skills and their relationship to selfaffirmation among deaf students in Gaza universities. After reviewing the related literature and previous studies relevant to the problem of the study and surveying the opinion of a sample of specialized professors through informal interviews, the researchers used two scales. The first one is the life skills scale, which consists of (44) items, divided into four domains (time management skills, Communication skills, problem-solving skills, and decision-making skills). The second is the self-affirmation scale, which consists of (22) items. According to a triple Likert scale (agree, neutral, disagree), The following weights were given (3, 2, 1) so that the scores of the study sample were limited to (44, 132) for the life skills scale, and (22, 66) for the self-affirmation scale. The study has adopted three levels that were determined according to the following equation: (the upper range—the lower range divided by three levels) (3–1 ÷ 3 = 0.67). Therefore, the relative weight is 78.33 to 100 large, 56 to 78 medium, and 33.33 to 55.67 small.

7.1 Validity of the Tools The tool was presented to a group of specialized university professors, who gave their opinions and comments about the appropriateness of the tool’s items, the extent to which the items belong to the domain of the questionnaire, as well as the linguistic clarity. The internal consistency of the tool was verified by piloting the tool to an exploratory sample of (30) male and female students, and the Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated between each of the scale’s items and its total score, using the SPSS. The validity coefficients ranged between (0.408–0.782) for the life skills scale, and (0.433–0.888) for the self-assurance scale, which reassures the researchers to apply them to the actual study sample.

7.2 Reliability of the Tools The researchers ensured the stability of the tool, in two ways, namely, the Split-Half and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. 1. Split-Half Coefficient Method The scores of the exploratory sample were used to calculate the stability of the scale by the half-split method, where the researchers divided the tool into two halves, the odd items versus the even items for each item of the scale, by calculating the correlation coefficient between the two halves, then the length was adjusted using the Spearman-Brown equation as shown in Table 2.

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Table 2 The correlation coefficients of the two halves of the tool dimensions and the entire questionnaire before adjustment and the stability coefficient after adjustment Dimensions

Number of items

Correlation before adjustment

Stability coefficient after adjustment

Time management

*11

0.674

0.726

Communication

*11

0.709

0.714

Problem-solving

*11

0.746

0.762

Decision making

*11

0.627

0.628

The overall score of the life skills scale

44

0.705

0.827

The overall score of the Self-affirmation scale

22

0.933

0.965

*

Gettman’s equation was used because the two halves are not equal

Table 3 Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for each dimension and the questionnaire as a whole Dimensions

Number of items Cronbach’s alpha coefficients

Time management

11

0.753

Communication

11

0.774

Problem-solving

11

0.655

Decision making

11

0.610

The overall score of the life skills scale

44

0.859

The overall score of the Self-affirmation scale 22

0.965

It is clear from the previous table that the overall reliability coefficient of the life skills scale is (0.827) and the self-affirmation scale is (0.965), and this indicates that the tool has a high degree of stability that reassures the researchers to apply it to the study sample. 2. Alpha Cronbach method The researchers obtained the value of the alpha coefficient for each of the two scales, as shown in Table 3. It is clear from the previous table that the total reliability coefficient of the life skills scale is (0.859) and the self-affirmation scale is (0.965), and this indicates that the tool has a high degree of stability that reassures the researchers to apply it to the study sample.

8 Results of the Study I. Answering the first question of the study: “What is the level of life skills among deaf students in Gaza universities?”

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To answer this question, the researchers used frequencies, means, percentages, and the value of “t” as illustrated in the following table: It is obvious from Table 4 that communication skills got the first rank with relative weight (84.55%), followed by decision-making skills which got the second rank with relative weight (82.99%), followed by time management skills which got the third rank with relative weight (82.34). %), followed by problem-solving skills ranked fourth with relative weight (77.36%), while the total degree of life skills got relative weight (81.81%). II. Answering the second question of the study: “What is the level of self-affirmation among deaf students in Gaza universities?” To answer this question, the researchers used means and percentages, and the following table illustrates this. It is shown in Table 5 that the total degree of self-affirmation obtained a relative weight of (76.95%). III. Answering the third question of the study: “Is there a statistically significant relationship between life skills and self-assertion among deaf students in Gaza universities? Table 4 The means, standard deviations, the relative weight of the life skills dimensions, and their order on the scale Dimensions

Means Standard Relative “T ” deviation weight value

Significance Order Degree value

1 Time management

2.470

0.337

82.34

16.639 0.000

3

High

2 Communication

2.536

0.263

84.55

23.450 0.000

1

High

3 Problem-solving 2.321

0.431

77.36

10.121 0.000

4

Moderate

4 Decision making 2.490

0.355

82.99

16.250 0.000

2

High

The overall score 2.454 of the life skills scale

0.270

81.81

20.293 0.000

3

High

The overall score 2.470 of the Self-affirmation scale

0.337

82.34

16.639 0.000

High

Table 5 The means, standard deviations, the relative weight of the scale Dimensions

Means

Standard deviation

Relative weight

“T ” value

Sig.

Degree

The overall score of the self-affirmation scale

2.308

0.282

76.95

15.085

0.000

Moderate

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Table 6 Coefficient correlation between life skills and self-affirmation among deaf students Dimensions

The overall score of self-affirmation

Time management

0.403**

Communication

0.286*

Problem-solving

0.466**

Decision making

0.419**

The overall score of the life skills scale

0.519**

Tabular t at the freedom degree (68) at sig. (0.01) = 0.302 Tabular t at the freedom degree (68) at sig. (0.05) = 0.233

** *

To answer the question, the researchers tested the following hypothesis: There is no statistically significant relationship between life skills and self-assertion among deaf students in Gaza universities. So, the researchers used the Pearson correlation coefficient to find the relationship between life skills and self-affirmation among deaf students in Gaza universities, as presented in Table 6. Table 6 shows that there is a significant correlation between life skills and selfassertion among deaf students in Gaza universities. The researchers attribute this result to the strong relationship between life skills and self-affirmation, as life skills are developed by the training, learning and supervision from the side of UCAS to the deaf students, as well as guidance and counseling to acquire such skills. Ths result is also attributed to the available capabilities and practical skills and training on appropriate social responses such as the use of sign language and visual communication and training them to distinguish between aggression and self-affirmation. This result agrees with the study of [6, 11–13]. IV. Answering the fourth question of the study Are there statistically significant differences between life skills and self-assertion among deaf students due to the variables (gender, university, degree of disability)? To answer this question, the researchers tested the following hypotheses: The first hypothesis i.e. “There are no statistically significant differences between life skills and self-affirmation among deaf students due to the gender variable.” by using the “T. test” as shown in Table 7. It is clarified in Table 7 that the calculated “t” value is less than the tabular “t” value in the total score of the scale, except for the problem-solving skill, and this indicates that there are no statistically significant differences due to the gender variable. Also, the calculated “t” value is greater than the tabular “t” value in problem-solving skills, and this indicates that there are statistically significant differences due to the gender variable, and the differences were in favor of males. The researchers attribute this conclusion to the nature of males and their abilities and capabilities that exceed the females’ in terms of their tendency to adventure, bearing the burdens of life and their responsibility to secure a better future. Also, this result can be justified by the males’ keenness to possess skills more than females,

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Table 7 The means, standard deviations, and t-value due to gender Gender

The number

Means

Standard deviation

T value

Sig. value

Level of Sig.

0.619

0.538

Not significant

0.817

0.417

Not significant

2.200

0.031

Significant at 0.05

0.073

0.942

Not significant

1.278

0.206

Not significant

0.528

0.600

Not significant

Time management

M

23

2.506

0.438

F

47

2.453

0.279

Communication

M

23

2.573

0.283

F

47

2.518

0.254

M

23

2.478

0.395

F

47

2.244

0.430

Problem-solving Decision making

M

23

2.494

0.433

F

47

2.487

0.315

The overall score of the life skills scale

M

23

2.513

0.325

F

47

2.426

0.237

The overall score of the self-affirmation scale

M

23

2.334

0.305

F

47

2.296

0.272

Tabular t at the freedom degree (170) at sig. (0.05) =0 1.96. Tabular t at the freedom degree (170) at sig. (0.01) =0 2.58.

although women perform many tasks that men do. The current finding agrees with the study of [1], in which the differences were in favor of males. The second hypothesis i.e. “There are no statistically significant differences between life skills and self-affirmation among deaf students due to the university variable.” Was tested by using the One Way ANOVA test (Table 8). It is clear from the previous table that the calculated “f ” value is less than the tabular “p” value in all domains of the questionnaire and the total score of the scale, except for the problem-solving skill, and this indicates that there are no statistically significant differences due to the university variable. It is also clear that the calculated “t” value is greater than the tabular “p” value in problem-solving skills, and this indicates the existence of statistically significant differences due to the university variable. To find out the direction of the differences, the researcher used Scheffe’s post-test as shown in Table 9. It is presented in the previous table that there are differences between the students of the Islamic University and the students of the University of Isra in favor of the students of the University of Isra, and between the students of the Islamic University and the students of the University College of Applied Sciences in favor of the students of the University College of Applied Sciences, and between the students of the University of Isra and the students of the University College of Applied Sciences in favor of the students of the University of Isra.

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Table 8 Source of variance, the sum of squares, degrees of freedom, mean of squares, the value of “f” and the level of significance attributed to the university variable Dimensions

Variance

Sum of squares

Time management

Between groups

Communication

Problem-solving

Degrees of freedom

Mean squares

0.035

2

0.017

Within groups

7.799

67

0.116

Total

7.834

69

Between groups

0.299

2

0.150

Within groups

4.464

67

0.067

Total

4.763

69

Between groups

4.001

2

2.000

Within groups

8.788

67

0.131

12.789

69

Between groups

0.183

2

0.091

Within groups

8.516

67

0.127

Total

8.699

69

Between groups

0.171

2

0.085

Within groups

4.849

67

0.072

Total

5.020

69

Total Decision-making

The total score of the scale

F-value

Sig. value

Level of Sig.

0.149

0.861

Not significant

2.245

0.114

Not significant

15.251

0.000

Significant at 0.01

0.720

0.491

Not significant

1.181

0.313

Not significant

Tabular f at the freedom degree (2.67) at sig. (0.01) =0 4.94. Tabular f at the freedom degree (2.67) at sig. (0.05) =0 3.13. Table 9 Scheffe test for the educational qualification variable Problem-solving

Islamic University (IUG)

Israa University

UCAS

2.603

2.338

IUG

1.986

1.986

Israa

2.603

0

UCAS

2.338

*0.617

0

*0.351

*0.266

*

sig. at (0.01)

0

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723

The researcher explains the existence of differences between deaf university students by the individual differences between university students in Gaza. For example, Al-Isra University is very interested in focused training, various activities, sign language specialists, supplementary courses and field training through which students are exposed to practical aspects during their study. In other words, the intensive focus is on the practical side to develop the skills of the students, as is the case in the University College of Applied Sciences, which came in second place after Al-Isra University, while the Islamic University came in third place, as the results showed: that deaf students at the Islamic University possess an average level of life skills. So, the students at IUG may need more training courses to develop life skills, and more activities, unlike the deaf students et al.-Isra University and UCAS who showed a high level of life skills in their total degree. The third hypothesis i.e. “There are no statistically significant differences between life skills and self-affirmation among deaf students due to the degree of disability variable.” Was tested by the “T. test” and Table 10 shows the results. It is clear from Table 10 that the calculated “t” value is less than the tabular “t” value in the total score of the scale, and this indicates that there are no statistically significant differences due to the degree of disability variable. The researchers attribute various degrees of disability as some are completely disabled while others are with partial disability. For example, hearing disability leaves the same effects. The researchers believe that the deaf student is disabled, regardless of the degree of his disability, and that there are common characteristics that are common among the majority of deaf students, which are the characteristics imposed by the hearing Table 10 Means, standard deviations, the “t” value due to the degree of disability Dimensions

Variance

The number

Means

Standard deviation

Time management

Partial

30

2.515

0.299

Complete

40

2.436

0.363

Communication

Partial

30

2.588

0.279

Complete

40

2.498

0.246

Problem-solving

Partial

30

2.439

0.434

Complete

40

2.232

0.411

Partial

30

2.485

0.385

Complete

40

2.493

0.336

The total score of Partial the life skills scale Complete

30

2.507

0.270 0.266

Decision-making

The total score of the self-affirmation scale

40

2.415

Partial

30

2.342

0.324

Complete

40

2.283

0.247

Tabular t at the freedom degree (170) at sig. (0.05) = 1.96 Tabular t at the freedom degree (170) at sig. (0.01) = 2.58

t-value

Sig. value

Level of Sig.

0.968

0.337

Not significant

1.431

0.157

Not significant

2.042

0.045

Not significant

− 0.096

0.923

Not significant

1.423

0.159

Not significant

0.872

0.386

Not significant

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disability, which makes the hearing impaired try to get rid of the negative attitudes of others towards them. They try hard to break into the barriers of disability to be independent. The results of this study go in line with the study of [2, 4, 10].

9 Conclusion and Suggestions for Further Research This study identified the life skills and their relationship to self-affirmation among deaf students in Gaza universities, and determined the level and dimensions of life skills among those students namely; (time management—communication— problem-solving—and decision-making). The study was conducted on a sample of (70) deaf university students in Gaza, as the life skills scale and self-affirmation scale were used after their validity and reliability had been confirmed. The study results showed that the communication skill ranked first, and there were statistically significant differences due to the gender variable, as the differences were in favor of males. Furthermore, there were no statistically significant differences due to the disability variable. Also, there were differences between the students of the Islamic University and students of Al-Isra University for the good of Al-Isra University students, besides between the students of the Islamic University and the students of the University College of Applied Sciences in favor of the University College of Applied Sciences students, and between the University of Isra and the students of the University College of Applied Sciences for the benefit of the of Al-Isra University students. Believing that the results of this study may benefit decision-makers, stakeholders and local community organizations working in this field in the Gaza Strip, the researchers recommend further comparative studies to be conducted in the other universities in Gaza and the West bank to tackle deaf students and other types of disabilities.

10 Recommendations of the Study In light of the findings of the study the researchers recommend the following: 1. Helding guided workshops in universities to improve life skills and develop self-affirmation among deaf students. 2. Conducting guidance programs for deaf students to develop their life skills and self-affirmation due to their importance in their lives. 3. Conducting similar studies concerned with suggesting counseling programs to develop life skills among deaf students in the universities of Gaza and relevant local community organizations. 4. Integrating life skills with the study courses of the university students.

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5. Providing job opportunities for deaf students after their graduation in line with their abilities and capabilities. 6. Preparing guidance courses to educate deaf students about the importance of social interaction and active participation.

References 1. Abu Fadda, K.: The Anxiety of the Future and Its Relationship to the Identity Problem Among Deaf Adolescents in Gaza Governorates, Master Thesis, College of Education, Department of Psychology, Islamic University, Gaza (2013) 2. Abu Shaaban, A.: Behavioral Problems Among Children with Hearing Disabilities and Normal in the Gaza Strip, Master’s thesis, College of Education, Department of Psychology, Islamic University, Gaza (2016) 3. Al-Diri, M.: The degree of basic education teachers’ possession of life skills in Jordan from their point of view, master’s thesis, Al al-Bayt University, College of Educational Sciences, Department of Curriculum and Teaching (2018) 4. Al-Harbi, Awad.: The relationship between self-concept and aggressive behavior among deaf students, an unpublished master’s thesis, Naif Security Academy, Riyadh (2003) 5. Al-Nahi, B., Ali, A.: Learned Disability among University Students, College of Education for Human Sciences, Department of Educational and Psychological Sciences, Basra J. Iraq. 5(42), 54–97 (2017) 6. Al-Takhayna: Life skills of Mutah University students and their relationship to their ego flexibility. Educ. Sci. Stud. 45(4, Supplement) (6) (2018) 7. Atwan, A., Al-Sankari, B.: Al Wajeez in Scientific Research Methods, 1st edn, University Student Library, Gaza (2007) 8. Bashir, F.: The Effectiveness of a Program for Developing Assertive Behavior and Its Impact on Increasing Self-efficacy, Social Efficiency and Academic Performance Among Secondary School Students in Gaza Governorates, Ph.D. thesis, Institute of Arab Research and Studies, Department of Educational Research and Studies, Cairo (2016) 9. Davidoff, J.: Language and perceptual categorization. In L. Nadel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of cognitive science (pp. 240–245). Nature Publishing Group (2000) 10. Kabaja, S.: Psychological adjustment and its relationship to personality traits among deaf children in the governorates of the Gaza Strip, unpublished master’s thesis, College of Education, Department of Psychology, Islamic University, Gaza (2011) 11. Kazem, N.: Affirmative Behavior Among Students of the College of Education, Research for a Bachelor’s Degree, College of Education, University of Al-Qadisiyah, Department of Psychological and Educational Sciences, Iraq (2018) 12. Momani F.: The Effectiveness of a Training Counseling Program in Developing Self-assertion Skills Among Female Students of the Faculty of Educational Sciences, Journal of the Islamic University of Educational and Psychological Studies, Jerash University, Jordan (2019) 13. Younes, M.: The relationship of emotional balance with levels of self-affirmation among a sample of Jordanian university students, An-Najah University Journal for Research and Human Sciences, 19(3), Jordan (2005)

The Accounting Education, Between Digitalization and the COVID-19 Crisis Eman Jawad Husain, Allam Hamdan, and Ruaa Binsaddig

Abstract The study aimed to identify the nature and dimensions of digital accounting learning and to identify the foundations of the quality of accounting decision-making in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the era of digitization. And determine the nature of the relationship between digital accounting learning and the quality of accounting decision during the Covid-19 pandemic. The researcher used the descriptive analytical method. The results concluded that increasing the knowledge output resulting from the process of learning digital accounting leads to an improvement in the quality of accounting decision-making in the business environment. Keywords Digital accounting education · COVID-19 · Accounting decision-making

1 Introduction The spread of the new Corona (Covid19) pandemic around the world forced many governments of countries around the world to close educational institutions, which caused depriving (89%) of students to enroll in school seats, i.e. more than (1.5) billion students in (188) countries from accessing educational institutions to receive face-to-face education [8]. Many of these institutions have undertaken a large E. J. Husain College of Business and Finance, Manama, Bahrain A. Hamdan (B) Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] R. Binsaddig College of Business Administration, University of Business and Technology, Jeddah 21448, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_63

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unplanned experiment, which is teaching accounting courses using e-learning in emergency situations in order to limit the spread of the Corona epidemic; This has led to shock, tension and instability among students and faculty members, whether on a personal or professional level, because e-learning requires double efforts, in addition to psychological instability due to the outbreak of Corona, as well as unusual challenges and obstacles for university students: such as the lack of appropriate time, weak infrastructure, inappropriate digital content, and others [8]. The process of digital learning depends mainly on the demolition of all previous unprofessional ideas about learning. The traditional learning process used to depend mainly on indoctrination of the student only. As for the current method of education in the era of digitization, it has become remarkably dependent on enriching the student’s thought, knowledge, thinking and creativity [10]. The idea of electronic accounting education is not a new topic, and the trend towards it was not something strange, rather it was expected to happen, but the Corona pandemic hastened its emergence and pushed it to the fore and demanded its use, as the process of electronic accounting education requires a number of elements, the first is the infrastructure, and the second relates to the preparations of faculty members to provide the process of electronic accounting education, which varies from one faculty to another according to their background [2].

2 Theoretical Framework for Research Study [7] The study aimed to identify the challenges that would impede the process of transformation of the digital accounting learning system in the universities of Palestine. The results of the study concluded that there is a significant shortage in the material capabilities of Palestinian universities represented in computers and modern software, and the study revealed a significant weakness in the technical skills of Palestinian university professors and many students, which constitutes a major obstacle to the application of the digital accounting learning system in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the study recommended the need to strengthen the material, financial and human capabilities of Palestinian universities to facilitate the process of transition towards a digital accounting learning system. Study [4]: The study aimed to reveal the obstacles to moving towards e-learning in Algerian schools, and the results of the study concluded that the use of e-learning is still in its infancy in Algeria and in most Arab countries, where this education faces some obstacles and challenges, whether was it technical represented in not adopting a unified standard for the formulation of content, or technical and represented in privacy and the ability

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to penetrate, and the study recommended the need for Algeria to define a future vision regarding the educational process based on e-learning. Study [6] the study aimed to identify the awareness of faculty members in the Commercial Sciences Division of the Directorate of Vocational Education in Iraq of the importance and development of curricula through the application of e-learning to the accounting subject. The study used the descriptive analytical method. The results showed the willingness and ability of university professors, who were conducted field research, to switch towards the electronic accounting learning system. To time saving, increase productivity and reduce errors. Study The study aimed to identify the effects of COVID-19 on accounting learning in higher education institutions (public and private universities) in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the study targeted a sample of university professors in the countries of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan. Many results, the most important of which is that the Covid-19 pandemic has positively affected the transformation of accounting learning processes from the normal method to digital learning.

3 Types of Accounting Education in the Era of COVID-19 The responsibility of preparing professional accountants lies with several parties, foremost of which is higher education institutions, by adopting and keeping pace with modern education methods that focus on acquiring the professional capabilities of the learner, which has been called by professional organizations. Through what was mentioned, it is noted that accounting education is divided into two main parts, namely: 1. Accounting Education: It is the part that relates to the intellectual aspect that the learner must be familiar with in order to extend it to the applications of the operation [9]. 2. Professional Accounting Education: This part is related to the practical aspect that qualifies to practice the profession. In the same regard, the researcher (Howieson) asserts that future accountants will take a key role in knowledge on the basis that they are familiar with modern technologies because safety in techniques and technology constitutes an essential element in the skill of the accountant, until the accountant must be a gear analyst in order to be able to perform a full professional his works, and innovation in facing problems. The study confirmed that the academic professors of accounting in faculties are in dire need to take into account the current and growing digital transformation, in order to develop the skills of the accountant in the future and develop his professional capabilities [3].

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4 Characteristics of E-Learning in the Field of Accounting Education in the Era of COVID-19 The most important characteristics of e-learning in the accounting field can be summarized as follows [2]: 1. Providing a rich learning environment with multiple learning resources. 2. Restructuring the tasks of university professors and students in order to achieve developments in digital accounting learning. 3. Building incentive systems and conducting communication between the educational system, such as communication between university professors and students and with the outside community. 4. Exchange of accounting knowledge by creating channels between university professors, students and the learning community to exchange ideas and suggestions. 5. Presenting lectures in an exemplary manner. 6. Preparing an elite group of faculty members and students who have the skills to deal with technologies and information technology. 7. Develop effective communication skills for students, especially those who are shy or reluctant to participate and interact during the lecture. Learning accounting in a digital way plays an important and vital role in the learning processes of the twenty-first century and in the current conditions of the Corona pandemic, and this importance comes and stems from the great importance of accounting science and the labor market’s need for it. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare academic and professional cadres to fill the deficit and the growing demand for accounting jobs as a direct result of the continuous developments. Many scientific institutions bear the responsibility of preparing qualified accountants to keep pace with the development taking place in the labor market in the era of Covid 19. University institutions and institutions of higher education are among the most important institutions that must bear full responsibility towards providing trained individuals with a set of theoretical foundations, skills and practical experiences that stressed professional organizations The need to be available to accountants, and among those bodies that support this thought, the International Federation of Accountants, which means that the work must be. To prepare students and university professors who specialize in accounting and qualify them, to ensure that they benefit from the skills they have acquired in actual practice of work later in light of the increasing need for mastery and proficiency in digital skills in the work environment [5]. The rapidly growing development of information technology in the business environment in general and in the accounting field in particular, needs to rethink how the mechanisms, methods and strategies of digital learning are adapted in the age of digitization in line with the nature of the era of the Covid-19 pandemic. Learning in a digital way as a result of the changes that have occurred recently. The accountant

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must be good at dealing with modern digital technologies in all the different stages of education, starting from the basic education stage until obtaining a job opportunity in the accounting field.

5 Reasons for Learning Electronic Accounting in the Age of Digitization The most important thing that happens in the era of COVID-19 is not only scientific and electronic development, but rather it must continue at a constant rate. And the possibility of its impact on the activities of companies, so no one can ignore the scientific and digital influences, which can save its users time and effort to complete the work once and for all, and use the computer in all scientific and practical activities for several reasons: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Increased speed. Reduce costs. Quality improvement. The ability to store and retrieve.

The researcher believes that it is necessary to introduce electronic accounting work in various fields that require it, because of the achievement of electronic accounting and work in a nutshell, and the importance of the information that can be obtained through accounting work and the increase in reliance on computers in the field of accounting work.

6 Requirements for Implementing Electronic Accounting Education in the Era of Digitization and the COVID-19 Pandemic [1] • Employing the necessary technical elements to reduce the cost of e-learning in the field of accounting education, and consolidating the options of faculty members and students. • The presence of the basic components of university professors, students and technical and administrative support staff. • Having the necessary competencies for students and university professors to use e-learning programs in the field of accounting education. • Formulating a vision and plan for e-learning to be used in the field of accounting education in accordance with the philosophy of the curriculum and the available capabilities. • Availability of basic equipment such as: service devices and the use of the Internet.

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• Seeing the experiences of distinguished countries that have experience to benefit from their experiences in the field of e-learning in the field of accounting. • The knowledge and awareness of educational institutions of how to build the foundations of training and e-learning in the accounting field.

7 International Accounting Education Standards that Must Be Available in the Digital Accounting Education System in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic Some initiatives have emerged interested in setting e-learning standards in general, including in the field of accounting, the most prominent of which was the initiative issued by the US Department of Defense, and this initiative was known as ADL, an acronym for Distributed Advanced Learning, which means advanced, diffuse or distributed learning, and this initiative aims to provide opportunities to obtain quality education by finding quality training and educational materials that can be readily available and obtained by the individual learner to meet his needs and allow him to access them at the time and place of his choice. This initiative led to an agreement between software users and producers, which led to the emergence of a general model known as the Shared Content Model, which becomes a model jointly adopted and developed by standards institutions—known as SCORM—which is the reference model for the traditional ADL shared educational or training content. This model is considered one of the most important unified standard specifications, and it is the product of the previous initiative, which worked to integrate the characteristics and specifications of the quality of educational materials for a number of concerned institutions. This model is a standard protocol for connecting the common educational material with the learning management system.

8 The Role of Digitization in Learning to Make Accounting Decisions in Light of the Covid-19 Pandemic Technology plays an important role in the field of industry and services, and whenever the degree of technology is high, this leads to increased production quality. All units must keep pace with this technological progress, and on the contrary, it will negatively affect the performance of the units, on the one hand, and on the other hand, affecting the accounting systems used. One of the most important benefits that the company can obtain when using the computer in its work is the ability of this device to give accurate information to the company at the time of need, and here there is no doubt that any lack of information or reliance on incorrect information may lead to a problem for the unit. The process of making good decisions comes through the best alternative, and the task of making

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decisions becomes difficult when the work environment is changing, due to the presence of many and changing alternatives. It also increases the complexity of the decision-making process, and here emerges the role of information technology in this direction, as it has an effective role in Securing information with the speed and accuracy required to secure the decision-making process [13].

9 Reasons for Attention to the Quality of Digital Accounting Education During the Covid-19 Pandemic 1. The increase in the cost of education and its association with global economic crises, and the increasing interest of various parties in society in education in terms of its objectives, programs and results. 2. Universities are subjected to some social pressures in order to achieve a balance between real commitment to public accountability and maintaining creative independence. 3. The emergence of aspirations on the part of countries to enrich their competence in the scientific field and this coincides with the economic changes that accompanied scientific and technological progress. 4. Increasing the global desire to develop new knowledge digitally about quality, which prompted researchers to pay attention to quality on both the theoretical and applied levels, in order to reach more objective characteristics of educational quality.

10 Objectives of the Quality of Digital Accounting Education The quality of accounting education works to achieve a set of goals, the most important of which are [1, 12]: 1. Ensuring that quality, good work and consistency in performance are a modern and patriotic requirement. 2. Develop the spirit of continuous and collective work to benefit from all experiences within the institution. 3. Striving to consolidate the concept of quality, that there is no wrong alternative, and education for life. 4. The possibility of achieving a qualitative and cultural shift in the field of education through documentation of programs and procedures, activation of systems and directives, and upgrading the student’s level. 5. Paying attention to the level of performance of professors and administrators within the educational institution through continuous follow-up and continuous development and training programs.

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6. Attempting to raise the level of education by taking important measures and reducing the incidence of teaching errors.

11 Indicators for Improving the Quality of Digital Accounting Education in the Era of Covid 19 To improve the quality of education in the field of digital accounting and in light of the era of COVID-19, it was necessary to research and know the strengths and weaknesses in each element of the digital educational process as follows:

12 First: Improving the Digital Educational Process for the Members of the Digital Education Authority Teaching Accounting One of the main points that a university professor faces during teaching is his ability to use modern and advanced technological devices, the possibility of accessing the Internet easily, and the development of university curricula and accounting courses, in line with scientific developments in the field of accounting and everything that is It is new without neglecting the scientific foundations and old pillars, as well as its ability to reveal the student’s research capabilities. As well as his ability to provide students with self-learning abilities and skills, and he can do this through his knowledge of knowledge sources and tools such as books, periodicals, audio-visual tapes and accounting scientific publications … etc., with a distinction between primary and secondary sources, and how to analyze and judge them [11].

13 Second: Improving the Methods of Digital Education in the Accounting Field for Students It is represented in the pursuit of justice and objectivity in the selection of undergraduate and graduate students, periodically reviewing the admission requirements for the two stages, and having a plan to attract and select distinguished students who can easily deal with educational programs and modern digital applications, and encourage them to attend the university, as well as to take care of the activity of professional guidance for undergraduate students and help them choose a specialization, as well as to take care of the activity of academic guidance for students and take care of student services, and follow-up and review the digital academic achievement assessment system for students in each branch of accounting science, and study the opinions of employers on the quality and level of graduates to identify skills deficiencies and work to address and correct them [1].

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Third: Improving the Accounting Courses: This is represented in the following: Reviewing and developing the syllabus of the department and its sub-specialties, in order to be adapted to the possibility of teaching it digitally in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. With a special file for each course to follow up on the modifications taking place in the course, and to compare what is taught in each course with what is taught in distinguished universities, while making sure that each accounting course contains the environmental dimension of society. Knowing the extent to which the accounting curriculum is open or closed to courses from other departments or disciplines [5].

14 Advantages of Using E-learning in the Field of Accounting Education During COVID-19 Pandemic There are many benefits and advantages that e-learning provides in the field of accounting, which make it superior to traditional methods of education, as follows: • Reducing start-up expenses many educational institutions, and its advantages are bypassing restrictions The place and time in the educational process in the field of accounting, in addition to reducing the effort made by members of the accounting faculty in preparing and presenting lectures and changing or developing some of their axes. • E-learning in the accounting field is compatible with the precautionary measures to be followed in light of the repercussions of Corona. • Available to all individuals of all ages, where the scientific content on the university’s website can be benefited from at any time and from anywhere. • Flexibility, it is not linked to a specific time, so individuals can learn each individual according to the time appropriate for him, and each individual can reach the teacher in the fastest time. • Maximum use of time, and completely eliminate time-wasting things to get the most out of the learning process. • Making accounting education more organized and accurate in following up on students’ achievements, the ability to determine the level of students in the accounting specialization, and providing the appropriate accounting content Without being restricted by other students, as well as easy to refer back to previously passed accounting topics. • Providing more opportunities for those wishing to learn digital accounting without regard to the learner’s nationality. • Not dangerous to the environment, there is no need to use papers and office supplies, which harm the environment when they are destroyed, destroyed and disposed of, establishing websites is a sustainable process. In addition, the digital pattern of learning will be the dominant pattern in the near future of the accounting learning process. It is easy for the current generation

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to deal simply with all digital platforms, programs and modern applications. Therefore, the process of introducing digitization into the educational process has become a dominant global pattern, and dealing with all programs has become a common phenomenon.

15 The Challenges and Obstacles of Using Digital Education for Accounting The education faces many challenges, and they are: the educational dimension, the administrative dimension, and the evaluation dimension [5]. Therefore, what technology has brought about in the field of electronic accounting education is one of the biggest challenges due to what it requires to prepare qualified cadres capable of applying its requirements, as well as providing technological infrastructure, qualifying learners and high application costs, all of which are obstacles that may prevent this education and its goals, which requires providing The requirements and conditions of electronic accounting education, which are as follows: 1. Technical Requirements: represented in the provision of technological infrastructure, and special software such as education management software and organizational and administrative software that are compatible with electronic accounting education. 2. Human Requirements: They are represented in providing experts and training for the teaching staff and students in preparation for this experience in circumstances where there is a lack of technical awareness in the community. In light of the foregoing, there are prerequisites that must be met if electronic accounting learning is to be effective, scientific and different from the face-to-face accounting learning methods that take place in classrooms in Palestinian universities, and this is what happened in universities when the Corona pandemic spread and relying entirely on electronic accounting education without providing prerequisites for its use, which caused confusion for students and faculty [9].

16 Conclusion Studies have shown that many universities and training centers seek to teach their scientific contents, especially accounting, in digital form, through the websites and academic platforms of these universities and centers. The quality of accounting decisions increases with the increase of knowledge, skill and experience resulting from the academic accounting learning process through obtaining theoretical information and previous experiences of the people of specialization, and through professional training that provides the opportunity to practice practical life on the ground with close supervision of the trainee to provide him with all the foundations that help

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him To succeed in making accounting decisions. Despite the difficult circumstances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is considered a major positive turning point towards e-learning in general and digital accounting learning in particular.

17 Implications 1. Conducting more research in the future on the effects of digital accounting learning on the quality of accounting decision-making in the emerging conditions that will occur in the world in the future. 2. Preparing new scientific research that links the independent variable represented in digital accounting learning and its relationship with other new dependent variables to identify the effects that the independent variable has on many other axes within modern organizations.

18 Research Limits • Spatial limits: The research is limited to studying the relationship of digital accounting learning with the quality of accounting decision-making in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. • Temporal limits: The research is limited to studying the relationship between the independent and dependent variables during the study preparation period in the year 2022/2023.

19 Suggestions 1. Studying the relationship between the two variables, but in a different application sector. 2. Studying the relationship between the independent variable represented in digital accounting learning and another dependent variable that may be the ease of getting a job.

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References 1. Alani, S.: The quality of accounting education in Iraqi Universities. J. Econ. Adm. Sci. 28, 214–232 (2022) 2. Ahinful, G., Boakye, D.: Insights into accounting education in a COVID-19 world. (SSAC) 5(11), 11–23 (2020) 3. Berikol, B., Killi, M.: The effects of digital transformation process on accounting profession and accounting education. Behav. Sci. Interv. Organizing Improv. 16(12), 32–54 (2021) 4. Broys, R.: Obstacles to digital learning in the Algerian school. J. Arts Humanit. 7, 153–168 (2019) 5. Draissi, Y.: COVID-19 Outbreak Response Plan: Implementing Distance Education in Moroccan Universities. School of Education, Shaanxi Normal University. 6(11), 54–75 (2020) 6. Hussain, S.: Awareness of faculty members in the Commercial Sciences Division of the Directorate of Vocational Education in Iraq of the importance of curricula and their development through the application of e-learning to the subject of accounting. J. Educ. Stud. 48, 161–186 (2019) 7. Rashwan, A.: Challenges and constraints on the use of electronic accounting education in Palestinian. J. Econ. Res. 8(2), 75–89 (2020) 8. UNESCO: Distance Education in the Age of Corona (2020). https://en.unesco.org/covid19/ educationresponse 9. Voronova, E.: Digitalization and the new possibilities of accounting education. Organ. Dev. J. 6, 44–49 (2020) 10. Kamarudin, S., Shoaib, H.M., Jamjoom, Y., Saleem, M., Mohammadi, P.: Students’ behavioural intention towards e-learning practices through augmented reality app during COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. Interact. Learn Environ. 1–17 (2021) 11. Beyari, H., Hejazi, M., Alrusaini, O.: The effect of security information sharing and disruptive technology on patient dissatisfaction in Saudi Health Care Services During Covid-19 pandemic. KSII Trans. Internet Inf. Syst. 16(10) (2022) 12. Almoallem, A.: Factors affecting the quality of construction projects in Saudi Arabia during the Covid-19 period. In: International Conference on Business and Technology, pp. 1185–1195. Springer, Cham (2023) 13. Elaiw, A.M., Alsaedi, A.J., Al Agha, A.D., Hobiny, A.D.: Global stability of a humoral immunity COVID-19 model with logistic growth and delays. Mathematics 10(11), 1857 (2022) 14. Hamdan, A., Hamdan, R.: The mediating role of oil returns in the relationship between investment in higher education and economic growth: The evidence from Saudi Arabia. Economics and Sociology 13(1), 116–131 (2020) 15. Costandi, S., Hamdan, A., Alareeni, B., Hassan, A.: Educational governance and challenges to universities in the Arabian Gulf region. Educational Philosophy and Theory 51(1), 70–86 (2019) 16. Alshurafat, H., Al Shbail, M.O. and Mansour, E.: “Strengths and weaknesses of forensic accounting: an implication on the socio-economic development”, Journal of Business and Socio-economic Development 1(2), 135–148 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1108/JBSED-03-20210026

COVID-19 and Digitizing Accounting Education Noor S. J. Ahmed, Ali Alromaihi, Amina Bucheeri, Noora Kaladari, Hamad Aljar, Allam Hamdan, and Ruaa Binsaddig

Abstract The purpose of the paper is to observe whether Covid-19 pandemic had an effect on accounting education. Various literatures that were written in this context were analyzed. It was found that digitizing accounting information is accompanied with number of challenges to both students and the faculty. However, the transformation from traditional learning to online learning has also presented immediate and long-term benefits. In addition, the role of faculty members in integrating technologies to deliver high quality online education. Finally, the authors end up with suggestions for accounting education after Covid-19 pandemic. Keywords Pandemic · Covid-19 · Digitizing · Education · Accounting · Online · Learning · Faculty · Students · University · Instructors

N. S. J. Ahmed AlDafter Medical Center W.L.L, Manama, Bahrain A. Alromaihi Royal Court, Manama, Bahrain A. Bucheeri Bahrain Customs Affairs, Al Hidd, Bahrain N. Kaladari National Bureau for Revenue, Manama, Bahrain H. Aljar Gulf Petrochemical Industries Co., Sitra, Kingdom of Bahrain A. Hamdan (B) Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] R. Binsaddig College of Business Administration, University of Business and Technology, Jeddah 21448, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_64

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1 Introduction Since its outbreak back in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, Covid-19 has hit crucial areas over the world including the education area. It is the first time that education encounters such disturbance affecting both students and teachers. As part of the country’s measures to counter the effect of the outbreak of the virus to limit its spread, governments of countries decided to shut down many of their economic activities and this includes educational institutions until further notice. In a report published by UNESCO on the 11th of April 2020, it has been reported that the shutting down all types of educational institutions in 189 countries has impacted 1,542,412,000 out of the entire number of enrolled students which is equivalent to 89.4%. Including students that are enrolled in the higher education programs, the number of affected students has decreased to 1,066,817,855 in July of the same year. This digit makes up 60.9% of the entire students in around 107 countries [1]. Due to the pandemic, educational institutes shifted from traditional learning into online teaching as many universities closed their campuses as per the orders of their governments [2]. Some universities had the IT infrastructure deployed pre-pandemic; this facilitated the transition of their educational means. This was by the use of their Learning Management Systems (LMS) they had in place; Microsoft Teams and Blackboard are examples of those systems [3]. LMS facilitate the interaction between the instructors and their students either via live streaming lecture, recorded sessions, conversations, online assessments and tests, quizzes, coursework. Although many faculty members did not have difficulties to cope with the new teaching methods, it was noted that many have faced challenges with respect to new teaching techniques [4]. On the other hand, other universities, especially those who are located in developing countries, did not have the IT infrastructure in place has faced challenges to transform their traditional education into online teaching promptly. All the above measure was taken by the management of the universities to cope up with changes that are happening in the educational sector due to the pandemic. However, this was very challenging to the accounting staff as they had a short timeframe to tune their syllabus and teaching methods to match the needs of the online learning as accounting courses are practical. These methods include their teaching style, evaluation of the students, research, and in-class participation. Apart from the teaching aspects, their emotions have also changed negatively due to the pandemic developments. On the bright side, if Covid-19 has occurred ten years ago, online learning would be available to a few numbers of students. If it happened twenty years ago, it would be impossible to deliver online learning to students. Therefore, it can be argued that the delivery time of online learning was perfect as all resources are available to many students [4]. In a study conducted by International Association of Universities (IAU) to evaluate the pandemic’s effect on higher educational institutions on a universal scale. This study was in a form of a universal survey consisted of 9,670 distributed of higher educational institutions. From around 109 countries 423 higher educational institutions have fully completed the survey. As a result of this survey showed that

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all high education institutions were affected by the pandemic as these institutions reported that the learning methods has been impacted. 67% of the participants indicated that they have experienced a transition when shifting from traditional to online learning. To assure the continuation of the learning process, about 24% of participants indicated that they are in process to develop solutions to do so. Most of the participants stated that all campus activities have been canceled to limit the spread of the virus. Almost all participants reported that they have in place all the necessary arrangements to ensure effective communication with the students. 81% anticipated a smaller number of new students in rolling in their universities which will negatively affect them financially. Concerning the evaluation of students, about 50% of the participant stated that tests will be delivered as planned. From this 50%, 94% of the participants indicated that new performance measures will be taken to while only 6% will be conducting exams as the situation was pre-pandemic. The same survey touched upon the challenges faced by higher education institutions due to the quick transition from traditional to distance learning. The first challenge was the infrastructure as some participants located in low- and middleincome countries have stated that students have lack internet access because they cannot pay for its cost. On the other hand, institutions located in the high-income countries stated that the challenge accompanied by this transition is the high cost of investing in LMS. Other institutes expressed their concerns due to unequal learning opportunities as some may have good internet access while others may not. The second challenges were competence and pedagogical challenges. As the timeframe of the transition was very short, educational institutions expressed that online learning entails a unique pedagogical method to ensure online learning quality is similar to traditional. The underlying reason behind this concern is that there is that it will cause incompetence between faculty staff as they were not prepared for the new techniques of online learning. Another challenge reported is that electronic learning cannot be effectively delivered with all majors of study. Examples of these are courses that require the use of laboratories such as medical students [4]. All the above proves that universities around the world have been affected intensely by the Covid-19 pandemic to provide effective and quality learning education in this pandemic. Although many universities have the proper infrastructure for distance learning, the quick notice of shifting to e-learning particularly in low income countries. Finally, if learning accounting was affected due to the pandemic, this will result in bad consequences for the profession. Therefore, the aim of the study was to assess the impact of the pandemic on learning accounting with respect to digitizing accounting education, students evaluation, the readiness of the faculty and the post Covid-19 accounting education through analyzing literature review in this context.

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2 Literature Review 2.1 The Effect of the Pandemic on the Educational Sector in the Gulf Region Dawadi et al. [5] explained that impacts during the COVID-19 by including different sectors and specially the education sector, proposals for mitigating the impact through education institutions responding differently to closure in diverse contexts with a range of options for students, instructors, administrators, and parents, depending on resources such as modern technology and professional skills of instructors and administrators in various departments of quality management and higher education. The article examined the condition of education in the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) during the COVID-19 shutdown of schools and universities, as well as the positive and negative effects on the education sector in particular. The consequences of the pandemic on school education were examined via some of the problems resulting from school closures, and some solutions and measures for mitigating the effects were proposed. The purpose of this paper was to examine the influence of COVID-19 on the GCC education system, with an emphasis on university education. The essay presents a critical analysis and reflection on the potential and difficulties offered by the pandemic for the digitalization of education systems based on public papers, reports, and news commentary. The GCC has the strongest strategies to expand their chances for the educational level, by training the instructors and their employees in the universities to learn more and expand their knowledge with respect to the new emerging technologies. The GCC approach was totally different than other countries; they are conducting specific research and analysis during the pandemic to understand the risk that impacts directly the students for higher level of education information and technologies. Abushammala et al. [6] investigated GCC’s government and their commitment towards new regulations set by their Ministries of Health. There has been a great impact on higher education in all the GCC countries through the commitment to social distancing and making educational institutions more oriented towards distance education and modern e-learning. The most important thing is that they face many challenges in terms of educational curricula and methods of distance learning and the preservation of science as a main reason for the continuation of distance education. However, many difficulties were encountered at the beginning, especially for universities or government/traditional schools that are completely far from digital education. Nevertheless, some universities and schools had the ability to face the new challenges due to the presence of experience and knowledge of digital education in the most modern technological world ever. On the other hand, external problems and factors affecting parents in terms of costs for distance education, digital computers, other requirements and the need for a fast Internet were encountered. Kumar [7] analyzed in a case study the impacts of COVID-19 on GCC education sector that was affected directly by Microsoft teams, Zoom, the universities’ website’

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and to communicate with the students as well. It can be improved by the human resources department as well to improve in education systems for the education sector in GCC. On the other hand, the author explained in the case study about how COVID19 has really affected the education sector and the students of the different level in the GCC with a concentration on how they can enhance their teaching technique and the difficulties that students experience when using online e-learning systems. Jojoa et al. [8] analyzed evidence of the pandemic’s impacts on many areas of the quality of life of university students and employees in GCC. Despite the fact that the consequences of the pandemic may be represented particularly in national settings, the findings demonstrate that university-related population factors influence them in areas such as learning, work performance, and educational quality. The lack of interaction between the instructor and their students is one of the drawbacks of emergency remote learning. The GCC took the initiative to improve the distance educational experience by utilizing additional channels such as social media platforms, emails, telephone and even the post office.

2.2 Going Fully Digital with Accounting Education According to Arbaugh and Stelzer accounting is one of the disciplines that has remained within the traditional learning arenas for the longest time, despite the advancements in technology, teaching accounting had remained behind those advancements, this technological advancement of course, does not belittle the value of the knowledge gained within the accounting discipline. However, it does affect its relevancy in relation to the fast pace of which technology is granting businesses towards their growth and marketing positions. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly paved the way to the digital transition, without much preparation time leaving different institutions in around the globe at various states and levels of readiness putting the already available digital learning infrastructure challenged by issues such as internet connectivity, reliable technical troubleshooting, student attendance, fair assessments and grading, the availability of suitable learning spaces and environments at home during studying time. Furthermore, despite all the challenges that transitioning from traditional to digital may present, one also cannot discount the beneficial changes that were introduced as a result of being in the middle of an entirely different learning and assessment environment, one of which is ‘Flexibility’ and ‘Low-cost Education’. As explained by Arbaugh, J. B. and Stelzer, L. ‘Flexibility’ and ‘Low-cost Education’ were very attractive benefits to both the students and the educational institution and led to a widespread of digital learning. However, a byproduct of this spread was also the lack of human interaction, and that became a concern to many as to how it might affect the students future working environment prospects.

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2.3 Accounting Student’s Evaluation During COVID19 The generic skills are vital in accounting education which recognized through a professional group, which have established standards that compel collages to integrate general skills in this syllabus, (ICAA and CPA, 2009, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), 2011, the quality assurance framework considers learning and teaching activities which involve general abilities like: leadership, interpersonal and the ability to work successfully within a group as vital aspects (ICAA and CPA, 2009, para. 1.2.1) for the sake of accreditation requests which must describe how those general competencies are evaluated with the program. The impact on student’s performance is one of the negative consequences of the pandemics fast spread to online education. In relation to its influence on student’s performance, the effectiveness of online education was one of the primary areas covered in various articles. This research provided varied results indicating a beneficial impact on student performance. On the other hand, the remaining results indicated no influence. However, no studies indicating a negative impact was found in this regard. According to a study conducted in 2014 by Al-Hadrami and Morris on the primary characteristics that impact performance of students in accounting courses delivered by a web-based manner conducted in a university in Jordan. A variety of research methodologies were taking on board by the researchers including questionnaire and interviews. The findings of the research showed that environmental elements such as instructor’s interaction, efficient COVID19, digitizing accounting technology use and the education environment have a strong and key influence on the student’s performance as determined by their final score. In other researches, the students’ performance was compared in traditional learning and e-learning. Thus, the results revealed that there with no major differences between the performance of students in the two aforementioned methods of learning (Gagne and Shepherd 2001). 1. Accounting student’s evaluation methodology The assessment of a group of students may be conducted in one or more ways like the student completing the group work activity (self-evaluation) or the student’s peers in that group (pee assessment) and faculties are all options for assessing group work. The students analyze their contribution to the group work activity during self-assessment. Peer assessment, on the other hand, is when the group members assess the involvement of individual group members to the group. Faculties can grade the group’s member work using whichever the group solely or the varied incentive models. Faculties assign a single score to the whole group on the group only model. Individual accountability is discouraged since the different contributions of group members are ignored, in the end, the outcome is evaluated not the teamwork approach that was employed to create it. Since a group is made up by group members individuals that have their own strengths, this will cover any individual inadequacies, this could lead to grade inflation.

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Although working in a group has many advantages such as finishing an assigned group project, nevertheless they will non be able to work together as a team. The person final grade in a mixed incentive model is efficiently a combination of the individual and group marks to attain individual accountability, group work projects and evasion must endure that each individual in the is being accountable for their involvement in the work. 2. Types of assessments methods To measure whether the students are learning effectively or not, it is critical to have in place and efficient assessment system to evaluate them. There are two types of assessments in order to evaluate the students which are: (a) Summative assessments: Students are evaluated to see how far they have progressed toward their learning objectives. (b) Formative assessments: Is the faculties led continuous evaluation method to better understand the needs of students, because all educational institutions are currently closed, it is more vital than ever to employ additional formative assessments to achieve the greatest possible knowledge of student’s learning. With regards to the evaluations amid COVID19 pandemic, a recent survey conducted by UNESCO that was distributed to around 84 countries to gather data on the manner that higher educational institutions handled their final examinations. Therefore, rescheduled or postponed exams had been indicated by 58 countries, while others provided alternate assessment techniques like home-based tests, online assessments or canceled all exams and replaced them with other evaluation methods such as projects, assignments and course work. 3. Student Evaluation In an exercise conducted in a form of pre and post surveys that target corporate accounting students to evaluate their learning experience of their course instrument. These students were asked to submit their names and their student’s IDs in order to be able to identify them for matching determinations. Once the matching is performed by the use of SPSS, the identifier will be removed. The pre-post-eating tool included two questions about the student’s attitudes about group evaluation and the fairness of group activity. With regards to the demographic aspects, a total of 32 students which about 20.4% have used SPARKPLUS for their group assignment in a previous semester. Whereas a total of 126 students which about 80.3% participated in group assignment in the previous course. Therefore, the results show that despite most of the students have collaborative experience, but they did not used SPARKPLUS. Although most of the students did not use SPARKPLUS which are enrolled in an undergraduate corporate accounting course. They were provided with a survey form to fill out on the student’s views about group work and the impact of this tool are evaluated using survey result and chosen quantitate data for the online self and peer assessment (SPA). This is perceived the new trend comprising of various models that have been done defined and evaluated in previous literature, it’s possible that

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they employed other guides or computer-based SPA methods. As a result, earlier experiences may have influenced student evaluation. The research adds to our knowledge of how an online model for measuring intermediate-level accounting collaboration abilities is used and how it works. The necessity of universities recognizing the relevance of general skills in accounting education and implementing a quality assurance system which displays teaching and learning activities as well as evaluation for collaboration skills, particularly in international accounting education.

2.4 Performance and Learning Outcomes of the Students in Remote Learning One of the areas examined in remote learning in many researches was how distant learning influences student performance. These results of those researches showed that there was no negative impact on student performance. However, results were also split between a positive impact and neutral impact. According to researches that compared student performances in terms of “remote and traditional learning, it was revealed that there was no noticeable variance in performance in students who were in engaged in distance and traditional education (Gagne and Shepherd 2001).”

2.5 Challenges Faced in Online Teaching Although many students, as well as faculty members, were both excited to shift from traditional learning to online learning many challenges arise [2]. The excitement felt is derived from the idea that some believe that it is a more convenient manner of delivering lessons and because both students and faculty want to try a new experience of teaching. Some of the challenges faced by the faculty are that a number of them are not tech-savvy due to age or other underlying reasons. Therefore, there is a burden on the university which is the employer of the staff to provide training courses on using the electronic platforms before the commencement of the courses [2, 9]. Another challenge faced by the faculty is the assessment and evaluation of the student that is studying remotely as some courses were designed only for face-to-face teaching such as courses with lab hours. Therefore, teachers must restructure their assessment material to fit the online teaching that will result in a proper mean of assessment while ensuring that the same students are not cheating or not someone else performing the exams on their behalf, therefore, the quality of online learning arises here [2]. Moreover, the accounting students faced many different kinds of challenges in order to improve their skills in doing the practical study and distance training. The

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pandemic had an impact on direct education and the need of practical and direct training between instructors and students, particularly those who require teacherinstruction. The author assisted pupils in practicing distant learning, since digital education allowed education to continue even during the pandemic. The e-learning framework is becoming more popular. E-learning is a new paradigm of online learning that is based on information technology. Academics, educators, and other practitioners are keen to discover how e-learning may improve results and academic accomplishments in comparison to traditional learning. The solution can only be found by assessing student happiness and performance [8, 10].

2.6 Mental Health Many factors can affect the mental well-being of a human being. In our case, the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the lives of millions of humans globally due to rapid rise of positive cases and death tolls. This is because both factors created a feeling of uncertainty in people regarding the future. This also created high levels of stress for students that are in universities for both faculty and students. High levels of stress may have negative effects on the learning and the physiological well-being of students especially international students as sometimes they are not only worried about their wellbeing but the lives of their relatives that are living back home [2]. To complete the picture, the mental health of the faculty should be looked at. Sangster et al. [11] wrote a paper which was a collection of personal reflections based on their experience of the impact of the pandemic in accounting education which was collected from 66 contributors, it was highlighted that the main reason for the high-stress level that was experienced by the accounting faculty was because they lack preparedness for online learning. According to an article published by Al-Rabiaahab A, Temsahabc MH, Al-Eyadhy AA in 2020, the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome CORONA Virus (MERS-Cov) in 2014 has a similar effect to the current pandemic as both were associated with high-stress levels in the affected countries. The authors supposed that media speculations increased the stress levels as people tend to monitor regular updates on the situation in those times. People and staff working in the frontlines physiological needs during the pandemic must be addressed properly with the means of physiological support programs [12].

2.7 Faculty Members Performance in Online Teaching One of the most significant elements influencing a faculty’s performance in educational methods is teaching self-efficacy, which predicts an instructor’s skill to deal

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with the unavoidable difficulties that come with online learning [13]. Faculty performance is very crucial in the virtual learning environment to complete the duties that fall under them effectively [14]. According to Zheng et al. [15], the readiness of organizational support, such as adequate technical assistance and training, is most significant element that boosts faculty self-efficacy regarding the LMS. Number of studies were done before the pandemic to discover contests that faculty members face in the distance learning. The results of those studies showed that digital challenges such as technology reliability, readiness of technical support, technology capability and skills of the faculty and their students, enormous workload due to time constraints as well as the lack of human interaction were the most significant difficulties (Liu and Shea 2007). The usage of technology in an effective manner is largely dependent on the acceptance and awareness of these technologies by the users, particularly in the educational process. Lee and Tsai [16] investigated the self-efficacy of the instructor’s in utilizing internet usage in the classroom. They discovered that instructors with more Web expertise have better self-efficacy. Even though most institutions globally do have LMS, faculty members are not well prepared to deliver online courses due to the rapid shift from traditional to e-learning. As a result, the rapid transfer of education to e-learning may pose danger to the quality of education due to a lack of teaching self-efficacy among teachers [13, 17]. The faculty general philosophical beliefs and faculty confidence in effectiveness had a large role in the statistical variations in faculty members’ online-teaching decisions. Faculty with strong views in their ability to use online technologies to publish course materials, build course web pages and make online exams were more willing to devote time and use their skills to do so. Therefore, faculty who feel that teaching online is an alternative method and that students can learn same as or better than face to face teaching will be more likely to overcome time limitations and be motivated to utilize the technology successfully than those who do not. Many instructors are now aware of the importance and efficacy of online learning as many faculty members employ web-based technologies in their teaching after receiving training and assistance [18]. Miller idea that higher education institutions should promote and assist faculty to use technology in their teaching and learning processes. At the university level, emphasis should be placed on technological professional assistance, monetary support and computer resources, which should be made available to all faculty members. Parker indicates that institutions should award promotion, bonuses and awards to instructors that use or integrate technology effectively in their learning and teaching activities.

2.8 Accounting Education in the Post-COVID World The pandemic has enhanced many areas, as technology has apparently opened a variety of new accounting content to be teach and learn [19].

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The pandemic has ‘changed everything,’ as everyone claims. As a result, teaching and assessment methods quickly migrated online. Academic integrity is critical for educational institutions’ credibility and reputation, regardless of how they educate. Accounting students are frequently victims of plagiarism, especially in online contexts, and as a result, they violate the core values of integrity and honesty that should be ingrained in accountants. Therefore, it is important that instructors raise their students’ knowledge of and understanding of plagiarism. The Biological Sciences Curriculum Study 5E (BSCS 5E) instructional model is used as a frame of reference for accounting educators to promote their students’ awareness of plagiarism while simultaneously improving their skills. Both theoretical and practical contributions are envisaged through the application of this constructivist, student centered approach. However, we would argue that the pandemic framed accounting education as the Mirror of Erised, which allows one to see one’s true goal, as described by Rowling in one of the Harry Potter novels. Once one dismisses the past’s potential to continue indefinitely, we must navigate an uncertain future in which physical presence is a luxury and we must learn to envision the inconceivable. We had no idea what we were looking for. Perhaps we need to value what we have and distinguish between the important in accounting and the extraneous. Now is the moment to move quickly. It’s the beginning of the planning process, which necessitates financial commitments. Universities should look for other institutions that have had significant success with e-learning especially in business administration universities. Institutions must improve accounting instructor’s capacity in the basics of producing and uploading accounting content for online education during the next two years. No new universities should be recognized until they can demonstrate that they are using technology to teach. At least 40% of material delivery should be available online. In addition, Universities should use a blended or hybrid accounting teaching and learning strategy during the next two and three years. They should be evaluating the resiliency of various tools and technologies utilized in virtual education during this time. Any difficulties in offering online accounting programs in academic disciplines requiring actual investigation would have to be addressed. At least half of all current universities’ lessons including accounting courses should be available online. In the long run at the very least, in five years, all universities should offer virtual material, and the governments should have substantially invested in virtual learning infrastructure [20].

3 Conclusion The global health crisis that was brought about by COVID-19 outbreak has certainly forced those in the accounting discipline to cope with new learning variants, which also have revealed long overlooked aspects of not only teaching accounting but as to how to assess the efficacy and relevancy of the taught material in relation to the resources and skills used to deliver the information in addition to possessing the skill

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to navigating the technology while conveying the information. However, students receiving this kind of accounting education, which is transition from traditional to digital learning certainly presented challenges such as coping with the fact of not having to be physically present in class in order to receive the information, having the adequate, suitable and affordable technological mediums to facilitate learning. At the end, going digital has also presents immediate and long-term benefits, such as time flexibility, lower-cost education as short-term benefits. Furthermore, on the broader context, grade determination and grading had to be reimagined, where student’s assessment was shifted from being summative, examined to evaluate students and achieved learning outcomes to a more of a formative approach. In the formative approach, assessments are not benefiting more than open book assessments and online group assignments, where students still get the opportunity to collaborate simulating the same traditional working environment.

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The Agile Adaptivity of Educators and Their Strategic Influence on the Learner During COVID-19 Pandemic Noor S. J. I. Ahmed, Maria Akbar Saberi, and Zaher Abusaq

Abstract Although much damage has come from the COVID-19 Pandemic, the world has simultaneously changed to better in various sectors such as the education sector. In early 2020, education systems across the globe were rushed to migrate to whatever digital technology available in record time. During this transition, educators were noticed to have a positive impact on learners through the quality of academic support provided. One reason for this positive impact is the educator’s ability to think outside the box and immediately come up with creative solutions to adapt to the sudden changes in the environment hence motivate the learners to improve their performance quality through highly coordinated supervision. On a larger scale, such agility has lead to educational institutions’ strategic agility hence adjusting and adapting to new innovative ideas. Recent research has demonstrated that such an approach to sudden and drastic changes are successful. Through a critical review, this theoretical paper examines recent studies related to the role of educators and administrators in educational institutions as change catalysts in schools and universities during times of crisis, such as the present pandemic. Results show the primary role of educators in the success of the e-learning mode of study imposed during the pandemic. Educators who were able to swiftly come up with creative ideas to engage learners, while on unfamiliar and unprecedented online platforms, caused better learners’ achievement. Therefore, the agility of educators in educational institutions has been found critical to creating a sense of change in other direct and relevant parties such as the university presidents and school principals, as well as alumni affairs, learners’ admission, and the human resources department. This paper also clarifies the possible consequences of education systems ignoring the importance of adding virtual learning to the educational methods mix. Keywords Strategic agility · Education · COVID-19 pandemic · E-learning N. S. J. I. Ahmed · M. A. Saberi (B) Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] Z. Abusaq Jeddah College of Engineering, University of Business and Technology, Jeddah 21448, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_65

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1 Introduction Educational techniques have evolved in recent years as a result of changing circumstances. This has allowed educational institutions to persist in achieving ongoing success because of the great value education brings to all its patrons [3]. Educators have always had a profound and long-lasting influence on learners. This influence has not only been on developing specific academic skills, but has had a positive impact on learners’ self-esteem [42]. Self-esteem reinforcement in the classroom has been linked to enhanced motivation with learning. One example is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the educational systems world-wide. During this time, the abundance of digital educational resources has placed new demands on higher education systems and institutions [8], including the development of innovative curricula, alternative educational higher education methods [38]. During COVID-19, educational institutions all around the world were shut down, affecting most learners and causing a significant disruption in the education system. During COVID-19 Alqahtani and Rajkhan [5] found that there were success elements for e-learning that shifted learners’ perspectives, such as analysis and academic writing [7]. Furthermore, managing change requires continuity and discipline at work, because people in general do not agree with change [40]. Therefore, resistance to institutional change occurs, such as in the education sector. learners believed that e-learning are among the most difficult experiences in their academic life [20]. However, the reality has shown to be completely different. The importance of elearning was proved even in its role as a contributor to the increase of the number of entrepreneurs due to e-learning. In addition to making enrolling in academic or professional courses easier, COVID-19 has assisted in bringing change and helping learners develop intellectually, acquire many new skills, think outside the box, and work with a team spirit under the guidance of the teacher.

2 Literature Review This chapter discusses current research on educational institution educators who operate as owners of cutting-edge techniques for dealing with a variety of learners. Following are some key considerations concerning the significance of effectively managing change in light of the COVID-19 pandemic circumstances.

2.1 Strategic Agility The education sector’s ability to stay competitive in their business by adapting to new innovative ideas is referred to as strategic agility. Hunt and Taylor [16] in the

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education sector, innovation capacity link between strategic resilience and organizational performance. Ibrahim and Al-Hawary [17] examined that there is a significant impact of strategic agility on organizational performance and the ability to innovate in e-learning. Additionally, the ability to innovate significantly improves the relationship between strategic flexibility and organizational performance, giving employees in the education sector the ability to learn, change, and face a variety of challenges through innovative ability in education, as well as learning continuity in a variety of situations [6]. Mace [22] focused more on the most innovative business model, business model enablers, and strategic agility are terms that are explicitly evaluated by practitioners until they have been applied in the educational sector. Sarah and Simon [39] investigated by introducing the concept of strategic agility. According to Ibrahim and Al-Hawary [17], strategic agility is defined as a company’s capacity to make strong strategic commitments while being agile enough to handle and react to constant change brought on by rising strategic disruptions. Strategic pacing refers to educational management’s capacity to continually recognize the necessity of improving the educational environment through strategic actions, as a result, adjusting the organizational configuration required to ensure effective implementation [22]. Agile institutions were proposed to be strategically well positioned to navigate the various educational departments and thus to manage the sustainability of educational institutions through strategic agility that has the advantage of the ability of educational institutions to develop innovative ways to create more educational value for the various educational departments [39]. In addition, another idea is that all agile educational institutions rely strategically on all of these descriptive qualities to navigate the road to the institution level, accept change. Mavengere [26] discussed the means of strategic agility, which includes strategic sensitivity, strategic responsiveness, and collective skills. Sarah and Simon [39] discussed the availability of a number of organizational variables for organizations to achieve their goals, the most important of which is strategic sensitivity in the organization that affects employee performance.

2.2 Education During COVID-19 Most of the education sectors have been impacted during COVID-19 and have changed their strategies and their teaching techniques to the learners [18] and the goal of this systematic review was to identify the most effective teaching techniques for teaching evidence-based practice to undergraduates that have been used in educational institutions over the last several years. Also, Nimavat et al. [31] focused about that they have chosen e-learning technology as the best choice for distant learning or contact with learners and parents via the educational institution’s official social networking sites. Tuck argues that e-learning can improve their communication skills and encourage them to learning more about the technology and searching international websites that help them achieve the right way of learning [41]. Knowledge and skills in the field of information and communication technology have become

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a necessity and an integral part of preparing modern education for all learners to be adequately qualified to use a variety of information resources effectively and efficiently to best practice future job tasks [4]. On the other hand, there are negative impacts in e-learning that results in learners taking all the information from the Internet and that will lead to less valuable learning skills to the learners. Lack of development in learners [13] even if a learner has outstanding academic knowledge, he or she may lack the ability to convey such information to others [24]. Ahmed et al. [1] the research investigates the contribution of educational management [37] higher education to effective educational institutions as change agents and argues that change of management in a crisis such as the COVID19 can be well handled by administrators of educational institutions, who are essential components in the stability. With the emergence of the COVID-19 [12], educational organizations around the world have strived to adapt successfully to change because education continues even during times of war or unforeseen circumstances. De Klerk and Palmer [10] the impact of COVID-19 on the most disadvantaged communities is more difficult to analyze and shows numerous structural inequities, or affecting their education level, forcing them to discontinue or delay studies owing to a lack of sophisticated technology and expensive costs. In order to provide quality education, developing countries need to be able to adapt [16] and be prepared for various circumstances. Ahmed et al. [1] discussed in their paper about during the COVID-19 pandemic [25], taking into account international mandates, including legislation. The sustainable development goals have become clearer and easier to promote equitable and inclusive education for all. Furthermore, education is essential for current and future generations. Niemczyk et al. [30] explained about the challenges that will arise in interacting with business and education if education is not maintained. Salcedo-Lagos et al. [40] During the COVID-19, they examined educators’ expectations and perceptions on learners’ sentiments in virtual lectures. COVID-19 has enhanced and accelerated the growth of virtual education in the last couple of years [40]. Educators’ expectations of their learners’ sentiments during teaching [44], strategies to organize study and care for learning rather than wasting time in virtual lectures, were investigated. Niemczyk observed that teamwork and inventive work are imperative to learner empowerment and ease of giving help from educators in these unexpected moments of crisis during COVID-19 for educational e-learning systems. The unique challenge of e-learning was monitored through websites, [32] that was provided between the educational institution and the learners to ensure that everyone’s health was preserved and that all instructions from the Ministry of World Health and the country’s Ministry of Health were followed. Many researches agreed with Shahmoradi et al. [41] in their research that the great improvement led by e-learning strategies and understanding the right decision that will be taken for solving any problem and changing the educational techniques or any of the methods that will make them stronger and using the e-learning system to face the challenges that learners will learn from it and the communication skills with their educators [12]. Moreover, they examined university

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learners’ and educators’ attitudes toward translation as a tool in reading comprehension. Many learners, especially first year learners, are at a lower level than learners who are already in advanced years of specialization due to the lack of complete knowledge of the new terms of the specialization that the learner will study, which makes them use translation programs to help them understand the new terms [33]. Further, the new educators who have been employed for e-learning have been assisted by advanced technology through the use of translation sites, in order to understand some new key words. Manuti et al. [25] the importance of the HRM during COVID-19 has becomes more focused and wanted to increase the employee’s performance, the time is very appropriate for change, as some corporations have managed to re-evaluate and restructure employees, especially in the administrative human resources department, because they are the most important in affecting the educational institution positively or negatively. The employees and officials in the human resources department have the ability to [3] develop employees’ skills, support and motivate them to learn from, in order to achieve their goals [21] during the COVID-19 period that has lasted for almost two years and changed strategies thanks to the managers of the active and effective human resources. In addition to that, according to the findings of the research paper, there is an impact on the critical role that sustainable human resource management [20] practices play in capitalizing human resources and organizational performance in a time of great uncertainty and global crises like COVID-19 and other unforeseeable future crises’.

2.3 E-learning Challenges that Faced Educators and Learners Thakker et al. [43] e-learning platforms have helped the education sector solve the challenges that learners face during COVID-19. When educational institutions began to face the challenges posed by COVID-19, e-learning came to the forefront as the best practical and successful technology and strategy. It aims to provide solutions that will help enhance the e-learning [19] experience not only in times of COVID-19 but also in the long term, as learning continues in all circumstances and unexpected actions. E-learning will remain continuous for the coming years and for new generations. Ali et al. [4] explained about the technological development is developing very quickly due to the culture of generations and their openness to science and learning. Parks [35] mentioned that COVID-19 brought about many changes in directions and regulations in sectors including, political, government, and education rules [5]. Research by Rao [38] has explained that the different types of challenges during COVID-19 between the educators and the learners through the e-learning educational systems. It has been focused more in the advantages that leads educators to prepare in advance and [27] using the e-learning systems easily without facing the difficulties during the lectures. One of the most important challenges faced by users

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of Internet networks is the weakness of Internet networks or their sudden interruption, which makes them learn ways to deal with these problems [2], providing the necessary training for employees in educational institutions [36] or free programs to communicate with learners [4]. Mendonça et al. [29] The need to enhance lecturer awareness [45] and distribute class assignments among learners so that they may work together as a team, [28, 47, 48] encourage them to support each other. Additionally, presented on the educators’ perceptions and how they improve their experiences [42] or increase the quality of their performance by recording online lectures and having them reviewed by a competent authority from the Ministry of Education or the State’s Education and Quality Assurance authority, and most importantly, the presence of an academic advisor who helps learners to answer all their inquiries through [15] e-mail. COVID-19 has assisted many smart educators with upcoming goals to devise several classroom activities that develop learners’ skills [11], sometimes it encouraged many of the academically skilled educators to give them opportunities for expansion innovation in e-learning [14, 49].

3 Research Methodology A critical literature review methodology [3] has been adapted by this systematic research paper. The importance of e-learning, the benefits of learning for learners and educators with the impact of technology on various societies and sectors, including the educational sector, which is one of the most important sectors for state renaissance, business continuity, and knowledge, scientific, and cultural development. The world has changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic [12], and there will be no going back to the past or to prior traditional tactics; nonetheless, the significance of growing learners’ skills, coping with different levels, and obtaining and developing new talents will remain [23]. The main variables in this research are, the technological development that helped the new educators and the renewal in the routine of work and education with the new changes in the world, which made the foundations of education change and the general assessment contributed to the diversity of innovations differently from the previous one. Variable resistance to change through learners’ understanding of the importance of the main role of learning and developing literacy skills and scientific research [1], which increased their cultural and educational awareness, learners need confidence to move towards the world and the new change of different and diverse cultures from the pre-COVID-19 era [1].

4 Conclusion This paper shown that strategic agility [26] is saved educational institutions during COVID-19 pandemic and who was not have the strategic agility and plan to be agile

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faced many difficulties because the agile practices is needed. Much research has proven the positive impacts on education sectors. The learner’s self-direction scale has guided self-education to positive effects, support for open distance [46] higher learning programs involving the learning environment [9], developing advanced strategies, directing employees in educational institutions. As of the distinctive advantages of e-learning [9], the ease of practicing their lives better than before, working and studying at the same time, the flexibility of teachers with learners, which made learners develop their academic, intellectual skills. Learners’ success is dependent on the presence of a successful lecturer, one who is disciplined at work in a variety of situations and can manage change for learners in a way that is indirect or acceptable to everybody [1].

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The Impact of COVID-19 and Digitizing Accounting Education Ebrahim AbdulRahman Bahlool, Abdulla Husain Al Sada, Ali Khaled Al Shaer, Manal Khaled Aldoy, Allam Hamdan, and Qadri Al-Jabri

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted various aspects of the human civilisation as aspects such as the society, the economy as well as the education. This empirical research paper focuses on the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the education system around the world. Similar to the other education or learning, the accounting education was also disrupted amid the pandemic. This paper examines and discusses how the digitisation of the accounting education has simplified the accounting education as well as ensured continuity. Keywords Accounting · Education · Digitisation · COVID-19 · E-learning

1 Introduction 1.1 Introduction The COVID-19 epidemic has created the most significant educational disruption in history, with almost universal effects on students and instructors throughout the globe. The educational system was not immune to this epidemic, which had ramifications in every country and region. On the 1st of April in the year of 2020, UNESCO stated that 189 nations had declared the closure of educational institutions of all kinds, affecting 1,542,412,000 of the total number of students enrolled (89.4%) [22]. Those students, including those at postsecondary institutions, decreased to 1,066,817,855 by the end of July 2020. In 107 nations, this figure equals 60.9% of the student population. E. A. Bahlool · A. H. Al Sada · A. K. Al Shaer · M. K. Aldoy · Q. Al-Jabri College of Business and Finance, Manama, Bahrain A. Hamdan (B) Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] E. A. Bahlool Business and Technology, Jeddah 21448, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_66

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1.2 Background of the Research Online learning has replaced conventional face-to-face instruction at colleges worldwide, while all on-campus events have been cancelled or delayed indefinitely. Since most institutions have invested in LMSs, they are well-prepared to provide online courses (such as Microsoft Teams and Blackboard). It is now possible for lecturers and students to communicate digitally using learning management systems (LMSs). Certain staff members and students may have difficulty adapting. In addition, several universities were worried about the disparity in learning possibilities among students, with some having easy access while others do not [18]. To retain the quality of faceto-face learning, numerous institutions have found that distant learning necessitates a distinct pedagogical approach. However, due to the abrupt shift, they could not adequately educate their staff on this new method. Professors were left without the skills they needed because of this. Accounting is a popular topic of study for high school and college students worldwide because it provides the foundation for the highly qualified and creative accountants that the industry demands. Because of this, any detrimental impact on accounting education will hurt the profession.

1.3 Problem Statement The pandemic made it very difficult to progress studies in the education sector. It was not easy to makegood progress in the education field. Education that incorporates technology is known as technology-enhanced learning or e-learning. To generate better accountants, the Accounting Education Commission (AEC) has long advocated the significance of rehabilitating accounting education to reflect the profession’s needs better [17]. The primary reason for the research is to be able to understand and analyze the effect of the pandemic on the decreasing effect of education and how it can be solved again. The problem statement gives rise to the primary research aim and objective formation. The research targets define the use of the digital model in the education accountancy process in the educational fields.

1.4 Research Aim The primary aim of the research is to analyze and understand the significance of digitization in accounting education, and the empirical research is done based on the available data from the research journals.

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1.5 Research Objectives • To understand the opportunities created by the COVID 19 pandemic in digitizing accounting education. • To identify the process of accounting education using digitization • To understand the factors affecting the digitization process • To understand the limitations of the digitization process in accounting education

1.6 Research Questions • What opportunities were created by the COVID 19 pandemic in digitizing accounting education? • What is the process of identifying accounting education using digitization? • What are the factors affecting the process of digitization? • What are the limitations of the digitization process in accounting education?

1.7 Significance of the Research There must be a reliable way to gauge whether or not students are gaining new knowledge in the class. Summative and formative evaluations are the two basic kinds of assessments. During the assessment which is summative, pupils are assessed to state the degree to which objectives of learning have been attained. Instead, formative assessment is a teacher-led approach used to understand each student’s requirements better while being assessed [22]. More than half the nations involved in the survey reported that exams had been moved or postponed; some offered substitute assessment options like home exams and online tests; and others cancelled all tests in favour of alternative assessment options such as project work and other course work. For technology to be effective, it must be accepted and seen positively by the intended audience, particularly in the educational setting [24]. Work assessment techniques were researched to examine teachers’ self-efficacy for utilizing the internet in the classroom. According to the researchers, teachers with more excellent expertise utilizing the Internet had higher levels of self-efficacy.

1.8 Research Structure The research is segregated into three chapters. The first chapter states the introduction of the topic. The importance of the research is stated in the first chapter, followed by the aim and objectives. The research questions are formed based on the research objectives and need to be fulfilled based on the research. The need for the

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research and its central importance is also stated in the chapter, followed by the main problem statement, which needs to be covered. The second chapter states the literature review, which comprises o the aim theories and models discussed. The primary model and theory have been stated in the paper, followed by the Empirical research and methodology. The theory and model have also been stated in the process by which the research is carried out in the chapter. The conceptual model gives a brief idea of the variables that have been researched in the research. The final chapter states the conclusion of the paper. The research has also stated the literature review summary and the variables chosen for the research. The implications and future scope of the study are also mentioned in the research. The limitations of the research are also mentioned in the final chapter.

2 Theory and Literature Review 2.1 Introduction The chapter states the literature review with the chosen journals and articles. The articles and journals have been carefully selected, and analysis and empirical research have been done based on them. The scope of the study and the variables have also been selected based on them. The limitations of the study are also mentioned in the research. The onset of covid-19 pandemic has led to profound change in every nation around the world. Health system, lives of citizens and economics of various nations have changed in a myriad of ways that was unimaginable at the starting phases of covid-19. The higher education sector has faced profound changes during this covid19 pandemic. Accounting education being a professional degree course requires practical knowledge and learning environment but during the covid-19 pandemic, it was not possible. In this research work, how accounting education affected by the digitisation of accounting education has been critically evaluated (Fig. 1).

2.2 The Process of Accounting Education Through Digitization 1. The majority of colleges throughout the globe are now investing in LMSs. Combining the internet with accounting education is a good tool for teachers to evaluate pupils and offer e-feedback electronically. In general, the E-learning and accounting education, in particular, has grown tremendously due to this. The ease with which students and instructors may access e-learning at any time and from any location is one of the primary reasons for its rapid expansion [5]. However, instructors may be worried about students’ learning and understanding if accounting instruction is digitized. Students’ performance may be impacted

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Fig. 1 Prisma model. Source Self-created

due to the pandemic’s quick shift to online learning. Studies about the effect of learning by online method on the student achievement have focused on the efficacy of this medium in recent years. A UNESCO study recently issued to 84 countries collected data on how educational institutions administered semesterending examinations amid COVID-19 crises. It was stated that examinations had been moved or postponed in 58 countries; other countries offered alternative assessment techniques, including home-based exams and internet tests, while other countries just cancelled all tests and replaced them with coursework evaluation methods such as project work [4]. 2. An investigation of teachers’ self-efficacy about utilizing the internet as an educational tool was conducted. They discovered that instructors with superb online experience had higher levels of self-efficacy. Since this new mechanism may lower a student’s cumulative grade point average (CGPA), it is expected to remain unchanged [26]. The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education has told Saudi Arabian universities to use the student’s semester average mark or last year’s average grade to calculate grades rather than using the new mechanism. Therefore, the digitization process became one of the most sought-after situations in the process, becoming one of the most supported systems in efficiency [6]. As a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, lower-cost education is likely to improve the accounting profession. Students will benefit from this move to online education by saving

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money and time. Several issues might impair the quality of accounting education amid the present economic crisis. Students’ assessment processes, faculty self-efficacy, accounting education digitization, lecture time, and instructional methodologies all fall under this umbrella. Many higher education institutions (HEIs) declared that all campus activities were cancelled. 3. Ninety-one percent of the schools reported communicating successfully with students and staff. Eighty-one percent of the schools questioned predicted low new student enrolment, which would have a significant financial impact on their organizations [14]. Moreover, half of the institutions said that tests would be scheduled; 94% of these institutions stated that they would use new performance measures, and just 6% stated that they would conduct the examinations as usual.

2.3 The Opportunity of Digitization in the COVID-19 Pandemic in Educational Sector Watermeyer et al. [28], COVID-19 pandemic has made the closure of school and university campuses worldwide, as a result, migration of all assessment, learning, and teaching into the digital domains. However, some opportunities have emerged during this pandemic period that seems fruitful for the students as well as for teachers. Technical inclusion in the higher education sector has enhanced inclusivity and social connectivity. As a result, higher education has become more innovative and modern due to the easy accessibility and inclusivity of the learning environment. As per the view of Watermeyer et al. [28], A survey with different faculties of UK universities has revealed different facts that they have experienced throughout the online journey of their educational career. Some faculties expressed that the transition to online mode of teaching seemed to her like “a renaissance” as managing teaching material, controlling classes over online platforms, were much easier with technology [28]. According to Fogarty [10], challenges during covid-19 have emerged as new opportunities. Inclusion of technology in the accounting classes was not mandatory prior to covid-19 pandemic; rather it was a choice of educators. However, after the covid-19 pandemic, the adoption of technology became mandated in the accounting classrooms [2]. Covid-19 pandemic has introduced a new culture of online payment. Moreover, governments are now investing more in digital infrastructure in order to support digitization in educational sectors. In a survey, most of universities around 91% have announced that they are well-equipped to communicate properly with their students and university staff during the covid-19 [22]. A survey with 1148 academics who work in UK universities indicates that 72.7% of accounting educators agreed on that they got proper support in online teaching from their institutions, 81.7% of them had access to technology properly to support their online teaching, learning and assessment (Watermeyer et al. 2019) (Fig. 2).

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Fig. 2 Response of accounting faculties on statement on LTA (learning, teaching and assessment). Source Watermeyer et al. (2019)

2.4 Digitisation of Learning System and Implementation of Technology in Teaching and Assessment of Accounting Education As per the view of Alshurafat et al. [1], the Universities and schools worldwide have dealt with numerous difficulties in terms of continuing education in a traditional way face-to-face. Thus, a digital learning system has become an indispensable solution for the continuation of studies in all universities. In accounting curricula, technology is a very crucial part and many technologies like blogs, wikis, electronic mail, audio podcasting, bulletin board systems, chat rooms, video podcasting, and video conferencing are used in accounting education. According to Kotb et al. [15], information technology represents an extensive area that needs to be covered within the curricula of accounting in order to identify modifications within the marketplace as well as to promote the employability among accounting graduates. In assessment, the implementation of technology and digital learning systems has been appreciated by the accounting students. Study has found that technology is the seventh most crucial competency that should be within efficient accounting recruiters. The benefits of an online learning system can be observed from lower cost of educational process, and flexibility in accessing institutional material. However, Turnbull et al. [25], argued that online learning has some constraints like high cost in implementing a digital learning system, and requires a high level of collaboration and coordination between students and accounting instructors. Moreover, several other challenges in relation to adopting of digital learning systems such as lack of trust, financial support, technological challenges and managerial problems have also been reported. Henceforth, the sudden adoption of a online learning system has received mixed reactions regarding the influence of technology in

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teaching and assessment during the time of covid-19 pandemic from both accounting instructors and accounting students. Proponents of digital learning systems trust that it has a potential impact on increasing the faculty productivity as well as reducing the instructional costs without any compromise with the academic integrity. A study in the universities of Jordan has revealed that current adoption of digitalisation in accounting education and other business departments has negatively impacted the educational process as most of universities in Jordan were not able to fully adopt digital learning system before covid-19 outbreaks [1].

2.5 Digitization of Accounting Education During the Covid-19 Pandemic According to Sarea et al. [22], digitalisation of accounting education refers to inclusion of technology in delivering accounting knowledge to the accounting students. “the Accounting Education Commission (AEC)” called for the significance of rehabilitating education of accounting to be more relevant to the practice, in order to generate more qualitative and effective accountants. One of the major reforms is inclusion of technology in the sector of accounting education [23]. Incorporation of technologies in accounting education has become a major priority for the betterment of this profession. Moreover, in view of increasing interest in the segment of virtual education, the digitisation of accounting education is also very feasible and required. In recent times, most of the schools and universities worldwide world are investing in learning management systems (LMSs). The relation between accounting education and the internet is found as a supportive way to the accounting instructors to evaluate the performance of students digitally as well as in conveying e-feedback (Alhadrami and Taufiq-Hail 2021). Therefore, it can cause boundless growth in the e-learning sector in particular as well as in accounting education also. With the adoption of technology in accounting education, it enables accounting educators to get on-time and constructive feedback from students about the fruitfulness of the learning and teaching methods utilized in delivering the educational material [8]. As per the findings of Helfaya [12], students are found to appreciate the use of e-assessment tools and e-feedback techniques in assessing the performance related to accounting. Another most effective advantage of digitization of accounting education indicates that the flexibility of digital learning in terms of place and time for both pupils and faculties led to the fast growth of this kind of learning process. In view of the huge benefits of digitization of accounting education, at the time of covid-19 pandemic, different universities and higher educational sectors have adopted digitization in accounting education. A study revealed that 75% of accounting educators found it effective to use online teaching methods to evaluate the performance of accounting students (Alhadrami and Taufiq-Hail 2021) (Figs. 3 and 4).

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Fig. 3 Graph on educator’s choice of students’ performance evaluation with online teaching methods. Source Alhadrami and Taufiq-Hail (2021)

Fig. 4 Online software used by faculties during covid-19 in delivering education. Source Alhadrami and Taufiq-Hail (2021)

From the above-mentioned study, it has been evaluated that during the covid-19 pandemic, different online software tools gained ground as educators used them to provide online sessions. Among them, Microsoft teams, Zooms, Google classrooms were the most popular ones (Fig. 5). From the above-mentioned study, it has been found that before covid-19 pandemic, 34% of lectures used 9–12 h. 18% of lecturers used 3–5 h, and 48% of educators used 6–8 h for teaching per week. However, during the covid-19 pandemic, lecturing time was reduced notably from the previous scenario as most of the faculties (38%) have taken only 3–5 h while teaching through virtual medium (Alhadrami and TaufiqHail 2021). Henceforth, it can be interpreted that digitisation of accounting education has made the accounting education faster as educators are now required less time for teaching and lecturing. it may be caused by the fact that the educators are more efficient in preparing their online class and in managing their lecture time, in addition

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Fig. 5 Learning hours over online platform before pandemic. Source Alhadrami and Taufiq-Hail (2021)

Fig. 6 Lecturing time during covid-19 pandemic. Source Alhadrami and Taufiq-Hail (2021)

the reduction in lecture time may be due to the fact that accounting educators did not put the equal efforts after the covid-19 pandemic in comparison to efforts that they put before by the pandemic like removing different assessments and activities, like formative assessments due to the lack of interaction in face-to-face (Fig. 6).

2.6 Challenges Faced by Accounting Students During Covid-19 As per the view of Sangster et al. [21], During the global pandemic caused by covid-19, accounting students as well as accounting educators throughout the world have faced numerous challenges for continuing accounting education through the

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digitization process. A review from 66 contributors has responded to the influence of covid-19 in accounting education in 45 different nations around the globe. Different key structural issues have been faced by accounting students during covid-19 period with digitization education. Different issues such as internet access related issues, including affordability, instability of power supply, students having no suitable equipment, learning resources accessibility issues like specialist software and to libraries and many more. In addition, some technical issues were also faced by accounting education while taking classes through online mediums like overload issues with broadband bandwidth. Henceforth, overall learning experience over online platforms was not that satisfied for all accounting students during the covid-19 period (Fig. 7). Some issues have been mentioned in the above-mentioned picture that is commonly found with the majority of respondents during the survey. As per the view of Sangster et al. [21], Among them, 44.4% respondent said that during covid19, stress of accounting educators increased sharply while 37.8% respondent said that student stress also increased. Moreover, 33.3% respondents said that students were less engaged in online platforms while taking notes. Apart from that, lots of other factors are also identified that hinders students’ engagement in the online classes like power cuts, workload increases, lower online attendance than face-to-face, students’ inability to join online class because of family issues, larger training required for students in online -v- face-to-face and many more [21] [Refer to Appendix 1]. Accounting educators are also confronted with lots of issues. Accounting educators have experienced severe stress and uncertainty concerning their job during this crisis of covid-19. Stress related to sudden change in the learning environment,

Fig. 7 Issue faced by students and faculties during covid-19 pandemic. [21] Source Sangster et al.

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lack of guidance from institutions, unclear goals, lack of competency with digital tools and platform, concerns for pupils’ wellbeing and issues related to technology. Accounting educators have expressed that they faced huge difficulties in balancing their personal and professional life during covid-19 [28]. Unequal access to online educational material was another challenge for many accounting students at the time of covid-19 [16]. Students belonging to marginalized or lower middle-class families faced huge difficulties in managing their education during the covid-19 as they were unable to access digital resources to continue their lesson. As per the view of Grubic et al. [11], Mental health issues were also found among students as they were forced to stay at home and continued their learning at a distance. In addition, lack of clarity about their learning and anxiety about their current situation led to mental stress among accounting students during the covid-19 pandemic. According to Essadek and Rabeyron [9], an online survey with 59, 931 students Lorraine university of French on the impact of covid-19 pandemic on students’ mental health revealed that 43% of students suffered from severe depression, 39.19% have experienced from severe anxiety and 42.94% have experienced distress [Refer to Appendix 2]. Henceforth, it can be evaluated from the gathered knowledge of literature that covid-19 pandemic has impacted the accounting students as well as educators considerably from having difficulty in technology to suffering from huge stress in relation to job security or mental issues.

2.7 Theoretical Foundations Situational leadership theory As per the view of Cuaresma-Escobar [7], the situational leadership theory defines those leaders who approach different leadership related styles as per the situation and level of development of their team members. Situational leadership is a constructive way of leadership as it considers the major needs of the team members and sets an impactful balance within the organization [27]. In this regard, one situational theory can be interpreted that is House’s Path-Goal Theory that indicates an employee’s perception related to expectancies between performance and his effort are considerably influenced by the behavioural aspects of a leader [3]. Based on this, the organizational leaders support team members in attaining rewards and punishments as by clarifying the way towards goals and eliminating obstacles to effective performance, leaders can make the path wider for attaining rewards. In contrast, lack of support from leaders leads to decreased productivity and employee performance. In this context of covid-19, the leaders of educational institutions can adopt this kind of situational theory to actively promote students and educator’s productivity through the adoption of technology in education by removing obstacles that hinders the learning process over online platforms.

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Fig. 8 Conceptual framework. Source Created by author

2.8 Conceptual Model See Fig. 8.

2.9 Hypothesis H 0 : During the transition of accounting education to an online platform for covid19 pandemic, educators got proper support and enjoyed online learning A survey with 1148 academics who work in UK universities indicates that 72.7% of accounting educators agreed that they got proper support in online teaching from their institutions (Watermeyer et al. 2019). Moreover, some found it is renaissance of education as managing teaching material and controlling class was very easy with digital platforms. H 1 : Transition of accounting education into online platform was not easy rather filled with huge challenges 44.4 and 37.8% respondent said that during covid-19, educators and students revealed that they were feeling huge stress in online education. Moreover, issues like less engagement, technical competencies, resources accessibility, were also found during covid-19 in online accounting education [21].

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2.10 Scope of the Study The study has covered different aspects of digitization in accounting education and how it has influenced during the covid-19 period. The study focuses on the challenges, opportunity of the digital learning system along with the effectiveness of technology in rendering accounting education.

2.11 Limitations The study only covers the context of covid-19 and its impact on accounting education so other influences affecting accounting education have not been covered under the research work.

3 Conclusion 3.1 Conclusion The study’s findings highlight the importance of the COVID-19 mentioned in the digital transformation of education in accounting and general particular. In the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic, accounting instructors have adapted their teaching approaches to the new delivery modality. In contrary, the use of the online method of learning in accounting school as a consequence of this epidemic enhanced efficiency of lecturer in the managing of their own time since the time of weekly required for preparation and lecturing has decreased. Before the pandemic, vast respondent majority said that they required more time than they did during the crisis. Study findings show that educational institutions worldwide rely on interactive LMS like Zoom and Microsoft Teams to create a support of the process of e-learning since these mentioned systems allow the institutions to communicate with their respective students and suit their demands. According to the findings, most teachers said this epidemic raised their children’s responsibilities due to their own experiences with COVID-19. Despite their claims that they have the requisite technical abilities, the respondents said they must work harder and acquire new methods to reach the objectives of organization and targets to satisfy their educational objectives.

3.2 Summary of Literature Review As a result of these benefits, the argument goes that online learning systems are superior to traditional classrooms in various ways. The increased cost of deploying

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the system of online learning systems might be one of these impediments. Students and instructors must work closely to make the most of an online learning system. Accrediting authorities also do not support conventional university teaching or online learning. In accounting classes, there is a strong correlation between the total time the students spend on the online learning platforms and their final test scores. Students will be more willing to utilize the online learning system if teachers and educators demonstrate its benefits. As part of the online learning system, students should be taught how to utilize the many resources available. Third, designers of the online system of learning should create simple and user-friendly systems because userscan effectively adopt themethod of online learning system if they find it easy to use. Jordanian authorities must embrace new rules and regulations to boost the uptake and usage of system of online learning. University training classes explaining the advantages of using online learning systems and helping students improve their IT abilities are needed to encourage students to embrace online learning.

3.3 Implications In addition, many people were hopeful that the crisis would lead to beneficial future improvements, such as avoiding returning to old “chalk and talk” didactic teaching methods. Nonverbal signs between students as peers and faculty members have also been shown to be helpful in a manner previously unappreciated by the academic community, according to several of the contributions. Perhaps this is the case partly because they disappeared from the internet. In light of each of these challenges, academics must pay attention. Despite this hope, there were severe worries. Professors and students in the accounting field often suffer from stress and other adverse effects due to a lack of previous planning. In Taiwan, where there was a significant deal of preparation, the results differed from those recorded elsewhere. If COVID-19 had occurred ten years ago, just a few people would have been able to participate in the event online. It was unthinkable twenty years ago. This time, online distribution was accessible to many people. However, the effect on accounting staff and students implies that we were not prepared for a shift of this magnitude when it occurred. If this happens again, accounting teachers’ and students’ health and well-being would be in danger. This has to be addressed immediately.

3.4 Limitations of the Study The significant limitation of the research is the large time consumption. The time limit required for the research is very high; therefore, the study must be done on a high note. It has also been said that the research is not cost-effective. Data collection is brutal, and it becomes challenging to manage the information. The lack of evidence and research subjects related to the study is very high, and this causes problems

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in the final analysis. The research’s limitations also state the evidence that is not present in the research. It is also mentioned to be very wrong in the given domain; therefore, the correct information is not present in the research. According to many, empirical research is the most reliable and accurate method. Many experiments and observational approaches are used to increase the internal validity of conventional research. The past data cannot be interpreted based on the available data in the given domain. It cannot be continued with the proper accumulation of the data and therefore needs proper scope in the research. These are the limitations of the research. These are the limitations of the research.

3.5 Future Scope The future scope of the study would understand the digitization process and how it plays a critical factor in the research. It also states that the students and the professors can carry out the work in the proper manner. It has also been stated that the future scope would be in the correct direction, which would help to make the correct decisions. The implications also pose that the future would be done correctly. The research can also be done so that the preliminary study and data cent are collected and used correctly to get the final results. It also states the future scope of the research in the proper direction and how it can be helped to form the correct results. The impact of COVID-19 and university community online migration is enormous. As a result, we are still in the very early stages of recognizing and comprehending these consequences on academics’ roles and the future of higher education worldwide. Numerous follow-up inquiries should be made. Depressingly many ailments have been reported by our responders related to emergency online migration, obscuring the benefits of digital pedagogies. Furthermore, there are obvious indications that the benefits on offer may not come to fruition because of the severity of projected cutbacks to the industry.

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Appendices Appendix 1: Issue Faced by Accounting Educators and Students in Online Learning

Appendix 2: Mental Health Assessment of Students During Covid-19 Pandemic

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Internet-Hosted English Learning at UCAS: Licensed Ticket Towards the Future Kholoud Balata, Mahmoud O. Jalambo, and Ahmed Elqattawi

Abstract The current investigation reveals the relationship between the students’ perceptions of a sense of community, success in the team development process, and their preferences for studying in teams in an online English language course during the academic year 2022–2023. The study mainly concentrates on whether the online sense of community can be used as a predictor of success in the team development process to identify the patterns of studying English language courses online. The descriptive-analytical approach is adopted, as the instrument of the study is a googleform questionnaire that was sent to all the enrolled UCAS students. The main findings of the study highlight that the domain of community sense ranked first, followed by the domain of success in the team development process. The results also show a positive correlation between the perceptions of UCAS students’ sense of belonging to the community and success in the team development process. additionally, the students’ tendencies are towards both individual and group work in a virtual learning environment, while variables like gender, academic level, and deanship fell short of denoting significant indicators when measuring the students’ sense of community and their success in the team development process, and their preferences for studying in online groups. Keywords UCAS · English language · CALL · Sense of community · Connectedness · Online learning · Higher education

1 Introduction Thanks to the boom of the internet, delivering knowledge is no longer confined to traditional means [14]. In the aftermath of the outbreak of the coronavirus in the Gaza Strip, a curfew was imposed. This brought about the concept of online teaching and online classrooms for almost the very first time in the educational system. This can be attributed to several factors, the major of which is the grinding poverty all K. Balata · M. O. Jalambo (B) · A. Elqattawi The University College of Applied Sciences, Gaza, Palestine e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_67

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over the Strip; i.e., not every student could secure an internet connection and a laptop. However, despite the lack of possibilities, several teaching institutions started adopting an online teaching system. The University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS) was a pioneer in the field. The e-learning Unit at UCAS established a committee to manage the e-learning system. That committee was mainly responsible for training students and teachers on how to benefit from the e-learning process fully. Additionally, they integrated a set of tools into the system, most remarkably Google Meet [20]. The experience was of pleasant results, which, in turn, encouraged the UCAS with its academic staff and departments to enforce online teaching and promote the concept among its students. Therefore, for this academic year, even though, the curfew has ended and students are back to their traditional learning environment, UCAS is still enforcing the online teaching environment using virtual classrooms, and adopting the blended learning approach. Given the significant role of the teaching environment in affecting learning English [17] and the promising future of the teaching virtual environment at the UCAS, the researchers, who are English teachers, will examine the students’ views and attitudes on the online environment of teaching English focusing on connectedness and learning as key factors that promote and refine the teaching environment [15]. Based on Rovai’s measurement for classroom community, there are two major determining factors: connectedness and learning [15]. In this paper, researchers are adopting the very scale Rovai’s study resolved as an effective measurement tool so that they develop a better understanding of the needs of English learners in the online environment. The problem of this study derives from a plethora of issues associated with second language learning, especially, among learners of different majors whose sole concern is to pass the English requirement course. However, the English language is almost a life-essentiality nowadays; thus, close attention should be paid to it. Since UCAS is witnessing a major shift and might eventually dedicate its online platforms to requirement courses, English courses included, it’s right to think of measuring the potential of the classroom community for English learning in a purely online-based environment. The study sheds light on the relationship between the UCAS learners’ perceptions of a sense of community and success in the team development process. Moreover, it pinpoints the preferences and opinions of UCAS learners on teamwork and their recommendations on how to perform teamwork more effectively. Lastly, the study examines the relationship between learners’ preference for studying in teams and their perceptions of a sense of community, and success in the team development process. In this descriptive study, the researchers question the sense of community among UCAS learners of English as a second language as marked by two main factors; i.e., connectedness and learning. Other factors such as year of study and gender are also examined closely.

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2 Definitions of Terms Second language learning: refers to the formal teaching of language in a classroom environment; it’s the conscious process of learning a second language during which students interact and perceive the language’s grammar [21]. Online learning: Internet-hosted learning. According to Dhull and Sakshi [6], online learning revolves around employing the various range of technologies available. It also presents the teacher as a facilitator rather than a transmitter of knowledge. Courses could be delivered either partially or fully online (Mason 1998 in Lee 2000). Connectedness: The feeling of belonging to the whole is promoted among learners. The members of a community must trust each other and have mutual expectations so that they are said to possess a team spirit, harmony, and interdependence (Gibbs 1995 in Lee 2000). These qualities will foster a sense of being part of the educational system, as well as being part of the group. Learning: students’ willingness to interact and participate effectively in the classroom. Rovai [22] illustrates that the community environment plays a major role in enhancing the acquisition of knowledge and understanding. This is how the educational needs of the learners are met (Bryk and Driscoll 1988).

3 Online Sense of Community The virtual teaching environment is featured by the physical separation of students and therefore lack of opportunities to get to know each other and eventually, a lesser sense of interaction and communication among them. Comeaux [25] concluded that “we know considerably less about such interactions in an interactive distance learning network”. Thus, in the last century, a lot of research has been dedicated to how to foster a sense of community among learners in online contexts. McMillan [26] concluded that there are four indicators of possessing a sense of community among learners. These include spirit; a sense of belonging and acceptance of being part of a whole, and trust among the group’s members. Third, trade, which refers to mutual interest, and finally art, a shared emotional connection. In theorizing their definition of a classroom’s sense of community, Rovai and Lucking (2000) proposed that these factors are also four and include: spirit, trust, interaction, and learning. Thus, there’s a general consensus that to establish a healthy sense of community, members are expected to have shared goals and values. Reference [15] considered the feeling of connectedness as a requirement for a sense of community. There are various reasons why fostering this sense of belonging and interaction matters. These include, it promotes the success of learners as they share knowledge. Also, it gives more space and time for reticent students because the environment is less intimidating than that of a real physical one. However, the absence of connectedness and trust among learners in a virtual environment would accumulate in the failure of the online system of teaching.

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Table 1 Distribution of the participants according to gender, academic level, and deanship Number Perc. %

Variables Gender

Males Females

Academic level

117

62.6

70

37.4

Total

187

100.0

First-year

159

85.0

Second year

28

15.0

187

100.0

50

26.7

Deanship of Information Technology

83

44.4

Deanship of Nursing and Health Sciences

21

11.2

Deanship of Humanities and Media Studies

17

9.1

Total The deanship in which you study (to Deanship of Engineering and which your department is affiliated) Intelligent Systems

Deanship of Education Deanship of MBA Deanship of Community Service and Professional Diploma Total

3

1.6

12

6.4

1

0.5

187

100.0

4 The Study Methodology The researchers followed the descriptive-analytical approach, through which they described the UCAS students’ sense of community as well as the patterns of work they prefer in English language courses. To address the analytical aspects of the research, the researchers resorted to collecting primary data through the tool represented in the questionnaire as the main tool designed specifically for this purpose. The data were analyzed using the statistical program “SPSS”. The study population consists of all UCAS students’ who were enrolled in the General English Language course during the second semester of the academic year 2022/2023, who are (319) male and female teachers, according to the statistics of the UCAS Registration and Admission Office for the academic year 2022–2023. The original sample of the study was distributed as follows (Table 1):

5 The Tool of the Study Based on reviewing the related literature, an online questionnaire was adapted and redesigned. The number of questionnaire items reached (20) distributed over two sub-domains, where each item was given a weight according to a quadruple gradient

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scale (strongly agree, agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree). The weights were given (1, 2, 3, 4). It is worth mentioning that the study was based on four levels that were determined according to the following equation: (the upper range − the lower range ÷ four) (4–1 ÷ 4 = 0.75). The online questionnaire was divided into three sections. The first of which inquiring about the biographical data of the study sample, while the second section questions the online study and work patterns among UCAS students in the English language courses. The second section is made of (20) items distributed over two sub-domains; i.e., sense of community (10 items) and success in team development (10 items). The third domain of the online questionnaire contains the second area of student preferences for studying online.

6 The Validity and Reliability of the Questionnaire (9) referees who are English language instructors of Palestinian universities were consulted. In light of the comments of the referees, some items were deleted, added, or modified. Next, the validity of the internal consistency of the questionnaire was verified by applying the questionnaire to an exploratory sample consisting of (25) male and female students, and the Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated using the statistical program (SPSS). The analysis shows that most of the correlation coefficients between the items, and the total score of the scale are statistically significant at the level (0.01) which suggests that the items and the domains are related to each other and then to the structure of the questionnaire. This confirms that the questionnaire is of a high degree of internal and structural consistency, which reassured the researchers to apply it to the real study sample. The reliability of the study tool was verified by two methods, namely, the Split Half Method and Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient. Adopting the Split Half Method, the value of the modified correlation coefficient (Gutman) is (0.614) which denotes a statistically significant value. Thus, the researchers have confirmed the reliability of the scale. Also, the value of the coefficient Alpha Cronbach for the total degree of the scale is (0.602), which is a high value. This indicates that the stability is high and statistically significant.

7 Results, Analysis and Discussion Question (1): the perception of students on the sense of classroom and success in the team development process To answer this question, the researchers used frequencies, means, and percentages, as the following table illustrates: It is evident from Table 2 that the domain of community sense ranked first with relative weight (62.75%), followed by the domain of success in the team development

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process, which ranked second with relative weight (61.25%), while the total score of the questionnaire accounted for a relative weight (62.0%). To explain these results, the researchers documented the means, standard deviation, relative weight, T value and probability value for each of the 10 questions raised to measure the perception of each domain, as illustrated in the following tables: The first sub-domain of community sense It is clear from Table 3 that the highest two items in the domain were items 1 and 2. Item (1), which states, “I feel that students in the English language course care about each other” as it ranked first with a relative weight of (70.5%), and the researchers attribute this to the significant role of the English language course instructors in strengthening the culture of teamwork in the classes, which consolidates concepts of the spirit of cooperation and the initiative among the UCAS students to meet the aspirations of the students to benefit from each other. Also, item (2), which states “I feel connected to others in the English language course” ranked second, with a relative weight of (70.5%), and the researchers attribute this to the teaching methods used by the instructors of the English language courses at UCAS as such methods activate the conversation and dialogue skills and English language interaction in addition to enhancing interaction and embracing students virtually through composing interactive and educational groups on social networking websites as well as educational applications which in turn enhances students’ ability to interact with their colleagues and share and present their ideas. On the other hand, the lowest two items in the domain were 5 and 8. Item (5), which states, “I feel isolated in this online English language course,” ranked penultimate with a relative weight of (52.25%), and item (8), which states “I feel that the rest of the students in the English language course depend on me.” ranked the last with a relative weight of (51.5%), and as for the total score for the field, it got a relative weight of (62.75%). According to research studies (e.g. [14, 19]), there is a strong positive relationship between the sense of community and achievement, satisfaction, and course performance. For instance, students indicate that their attitudes towards learning will be higher if a sense of community is fostered and they experience less isolation in a learning environment. Consequently, one can’t ignore the significance of recognizing the students’ level of feelings of sense of community. Table 2 The frequencies, means, standard deviations, and the relative weight The domain

Means Standard deviation Relative weight T value P value Rank

1st Sub-domain: Sense of community

2.51

0.33

62.75

0.438

0.662

1

2nd Sub-domain: 2.45 Success in the team development process

0.36

61.25

1.741

0.083

2

The total score

0.26

62.0

0.768

0.444

2.48

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Table 3 The frequencies, means, standard deviations, and the relative weight of each item The items

Standard deviation

Relative weight

T Value

P value

2.82 I feel that the students in the English course care about each other

0.73

70.5

5.999

0.000

1

Agree

I feel connected to others in the English course

2.82

0.71

70.5

6.185

0.000

2

Agree

I don’t feel like 2.26 a team spirit in the online English course

0.88

56.5

3.583

0.000

8

Don’t agree

I feel like I’m 2.79 with my family in the English course

0.83

69.75

4.887

0.000

4

Agree

I feel isolated in this learning English online course

2.09

0.94

52.25

5.840

0.000

9

Don’t agree

I trust others in 2.80 my English course

0.75

70.0

5.595

0.000

3

Agree

I feel like I can 2.38 rely on others in my English course

0.81

59.5

1.939

0.054

6

Don’t agree

I feel that the rest of the students in the English course depend on me

2.06

0.74

51.5

8.000

0.000

10

Don’t agree

I feel unsure online about other students in the English course

2.33

0.74

58.25

3.089

0.002

7

Don’t agree

I feel confident 2.71 that others will support me online in my English course

0.83

67.75

3.476

0.001

5

Agree

2.51

0.33

62.75

0.438

0.662

The total

Means

Rank

Approve degree

Agree

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K. Balata et al.

8 Domain Two: Success in the Team Development Process It is evident from Table 4 that the two highest items in the second domain were 3 and 8. Item (3), which states “I feel that I receive online feedback in a timely manner during the English language course” ranked first with a relative weight of (75.0%). The researchers attribute this to the task of giving feedback that has become not linked to the teachers only, as the students themselves give feedback to their colleagues, and the teacher’s task, in this case, is to be the facilitator with continuous follow-up of male and female students. This resonates with the findings of previous studies (e.g., Dole, et al.; Brown 1999 in Lee 2000). Both studies introduce the concept of the facilitator teacher, as s/he isn’t the only source of information and that of the explorer student. Also, Ahmed (2019 in Suputra 2021) approved the importance of adopting instant messaging to provide feedback from learners themselves, in his study, exchanging their writings, each student learned from their colleagues’ mistakes. Besides the English language instructors at UCAS hold regular meetings to follow up and raise some student issues related to the English language courses and provide solutions and suggestions to develop the teaching–learning process. Additionally, item (8), which states, “I feel that I have great opportunities for online learning in the English language course” ranked second with a relative weight of (74.5%), and the researchers attribute this to the orientations and aspirations of the new generation in general and at UCAS, in particular, to keep pace with advanced technology and benefit from it in the educational process. Moreover, in addition to the tangible results for both students and instructors of employing online education, each section has a virtual class (Google Classroom) through which the recorded lectures of the course are shared and posted, which enhances the access of students directly and follow-up of the lectures whenever and wherever, especially since many students have become followers of e-learning in the first place in light of the spread of the Coronavirus. On the other hand, the two lowest items in the second domain were 9 and 10. Item (9), which states, “I feel that my online educational needs are not being met in the English language course,” which ranked penultimate with a relative weight of (52.75%), while item (10) which states that “I feel uncomfortable expressing my lack of understanding. And my online comprehension in the English language course” it ranked last, with a relative weight of (51.25%). As for the total score for the domain, it got a relative weight (61.25%). This is attributed to the interactive online learning strategies that UCAS English language instructors use as the majority of them are IT-oriented and have received international training courses for teaching online. According to Young and Lagunas [18], as the pandemic changed the teaching style of why and how teachers teach, teachers are living in a time where a paradigm shift is needed. For instance, it is hoped that such paradigm shifts include future teams and individual instructors where they continue to remodel thinking and keep

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Table 4 The frequencies, means, standard deviations, and the relative weight of each item The items

Means

Stand deviation

Relative weight

T value

P value

Rank

Degree of approval

I feel encouraged to ask questions online in the English course

2.92

0.75

73.0

7.739

0.000

3

Agree

I feel it’s hard to 2.17 get help online when I have a question in an English course

0.84

54.25

5.229

0.000

8

Not agree

I feel that I receive online feedback in a timely manner during the English language course

3.00

0.73

75.0

9.378

0.000

1

Agree

I feel that the English language course enhances the desire to learn online

2.19

0.94

54.75

4.352

0.000

7

Not agree

I feel hesitant to speak frankly online in an English course

2.25

0.89

56.25

3.797

0.000

6

Not agree

I feel that the online English course only contributes to mediocre learning outcomes

2.53

0.74

63.25

0.634

0.527

4

Agree

I feel that other students are not helping me online in my English course

2.27

0.79

56.75

3.917

0.000

5

Not agree

I feel that I have great opportunities to learn online in the English course

2.98

0.82

74.5

8.130

0.000

2

Agree

(continued)

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K. Balata et al.

Table 4 (continued) The items

Means

Stand deviation

Relative weight

T value

P value

Rank

Degree of approval

I feel that my 2.11 online learning needs are not being met in my English course

0.85

52.75

6.083

0.000

9

Not agree

I feel uncomfortable expressing my lack of understanding. And my online comprehension in the English language course

2.05

0.91

51.25

6.623

0.000

10

Not agree

The total

2.45

0.36

61.25

1.741

0.083

Agree

looking for new paradigms. This will lead to pedagogical innovations as different teaching modalities are approached. Question (2): the relationship between UCAS students’ perceptions of a sense of belonging to the community and success in the team development process The Pearson Correlation test was used to discover the relationship between UCAS students’ perceptions of a sense of community and success in the team development process. The results were as follows (Table 5): It was found that the probability value (0.001) is less than the level of significance (0.05 ≥ α), which indicates the existence of a positive correlation with statistical significance between the perceptions of UCAS students about the sense of belonging to the community and success in the team development process. The researchers attribute this to the nurtured environment at UCAS as the instructors’ respect and accept the students, their views, and aspirations, to serve the teaching process on an ongoing basis. In addition to outstanding academic performance in general, which seeks to employ the philosophy and the culture of teamwork and enhance interdependence among students. These results are also in accordance with the literature (e.g., Rovai [27]; Boettcher and Conrad [24] etc.) [6]. Table 5 Correlation coefficient between UCAS students’ perceptions of a sense of belonging to the community and success in the team development process Domain

Statistics

Success in the team development process

Sense of community

Correlation coefficient

2.36

Probability value

**0.001

**

statistically significant at α ≤ 0.01 * statistically significant at α ≤ 0.05

Internet-Hosted English Learning at UCAS: Licensed Ticket Towards … Table 6 Students’ preferences and opinions about teamworkpercentages%

Students’ preferences and opinions Individually

Frequencies 32

793 Percentages% 17.1

21

11.2

Both

134

71.7

The total

187

100.0

In groups

The results from our study are endorsed by Cobb [5] as he underscored that team-based structures were a helping tool to facilitate a sense of belonging and community in classrooms. Thus, applying collaborative, team-based strategies are considered a fruitful pedagogy for showcasing learning and scaffolding community even in the most difficult times of disruption and displacement speaking of Covid19. Additionally, it was supported by Le Bourdon [12] who states that employing the senses within the educational process can achieve goals beyond socio-cultural barriers where students express their feelings, which in turn leads to leaving a lasting impression on those around them. Question (3): the preferences and opinions of UCAS students about teamwork The answers yielded the following results (Table 6): The results revealed that the students’ tendencies were towards both online individual and group work, where the first and second items topped in rank at a rate of (71.7%), and the researchers attribute this to the fact that the content of the English language courses at UCAS requires both individual and group work. In other words, some tasks require individual responsibility, through which the student proves her\himself in the individual assessment, which is sometimes more accurate. However, that type of assessment alone is not enough and the group-work tasks in e-learning are greatly required due to the diversity and multiplicity of tasks that are easy to accomplish through the distribution and sharing of responsibilities. It is worth mentioning that in group-work activities the role of the students themselves in providing feedback to their colleagues and benefiting from them, which enhances the concepts of trust and interdependence between them. According to Jalinusa et al. [8], joint project task permits students to provide support for each other and bring their projects to function well While executing their projects, many students get technical and non-technical problems. Therefore, the e-learning environment requires both individual and group work, and one cannot rely upon any in isolation from the other. These findings are also in line with the results of [6], as they presented working at one’s pace as one of the advantages of e-learning, which can give students more time to get tasks done. However, the very study identifies isolation and lack of motivation as consequences of working on one’s own. Thus, both methods are needed to realize the best results. Also, they are in conformity with Kareem’s study [9] which finds that 75% of the answers consider participation and feeling of responsibility by all team members as the main factor for achieving successful teamwork.

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Table 7 Correlation coefficient between the preferences of UCAS students to study in teams and their perceptions of a sense of belonging to the community and success in the team development process Domain

Statistics

Students’ preferences for studying in teams

Correlation coefficient

0.242

Probability value

**0.001

**

statistically significant at α ≤ 0.01 * statistically significant at α ≤ 0.05

Question (4): the relationship between the preferences of UCAS students to study in teams and their perceptions of a sense of belonging to the community and success in the team development process The Pearson Correlation test was used to examine the relationship. Results are shown in Table 7. It is found that the probabilistic value (0.000) is less than the significance level (0.05 ≥ α), which indicates the existence of a positive-statistically significant correlation between the preferences of the UCAS students to study in teams and their perceptions of a sense of belonging to the community and success in the team development process. The researchers attribute this to the link between the feeling of belonging to a certain community especially the community of the classroom and working with them in teams to accomplish certain tasks and activities. This also replicates Rovai’s [27]. In their study, Chaaban et al. [4], concluded that “all participants acknowledged the importance of the factor of providing and receiving support from other students in influencing the construction of a successful team.” Question (5): the impact of study variables (gender, academic level, and deanship) on students’ responses (sense of community and success in the team development process and their preferences for studying in online groups) To verify this, the “T ” test for two independent samples, and the One-Way Anova test for more than two samples were used to detect differences, and the results are shown as follows (Table 8). It is concluded that there are no differences between the UCAS students’ responses (sense of community and success in the team development process and their preferences for studying in online groups) due to the gender variable. The researcher attributes this result to the fact that although the academic environment in UCAS is based on gender segregation inside the classrooms, all students are alike. In other words, both the female and male students study in the same educational environment at UCAS which gives students space to interact and work in teams. Moreover, this can be attributed to the high degree of competence that the English language instructors at UCAS possess, as they seek to promote the culture of teamwork, and for this reason, the gender variable is not statistically significant in terms of how well students respond to working in teams. Other studies, however, (e.g., Rovai [27]), [11, 16] concluded that the gender variable affects creating the sense of community as female participants tended to

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Table 8 Results of the T-test of students’ responses consulting gender variable Domain

Gender

Means

Stand. deviation

T value

P value

Students’ perceptions of a sense of community and success in the team development process

Males

2.48

0.31

0.230

0.818//

Females

2.47

0.19

Students’ preferences for studying in groups

Males

2.49

0.80

1.181

0.239//

Females

2.62

0.70

Total score

Males

2.48

0.31

0.052

0.959//

Females

2.48

0.18

// p-value is not statistically significant at 0.05

have a slightly higher sense of learning community than do their male classmates. They attributed this to the fact that “female students place emphasis on relationships and prefer to learn in an environment where cooperation is valued more than the competition” [27]. This, in turn, nurtures the sense of community better. However, at UCAS, as illustrated above, both genders experience learning in pretty much the same environment by professional academics. Thus, this study indicated no significant effect on connectedness attributed to gender. The level of competitiveness is also high and nurtured among both males and females. One good reason could stem from the fact that the labor market in Gaza won’t make room for all graduates because of the economic embargo and the tough financial situation in Gaza, except for the very excellent graduates (Table 9). It is shown that there are no differences between the students’ responses (sense of community and success in the team development process and their preferences for studying in online groups) due to the academic level variable. The researcher attributes this result to the fact that the English language courses are taught as general requirements courses at UCAS, which means that the same section could include freshmen and sophomores. However, neither the coherence of the group nor the Table 9 Results of the T-test of students’ responses consulting academic level as a variable Domain

Academic level

Means

Standard deviation

T-test value

p value

0.326

0.746//

0.189

0.851//

0.354

0.726//

1st year

2.47

0.26

2nd year

2.50

0.32

Students’ preferences 1st year for studying in groups 2nd year

2.54

0.76

2.57

0.79

Total score

1st year

2.48

0.26

2nd year

2.50

0.30

Students’ perceptions of a sense of community and success in the team development process

// The p-value is not statistically significant at 0.05

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evaluation process is impacted because of this variable. Therefore, the students’ sense of belonging and their achievements are not linked with their academic level. It’s noteworthy that, in general, the Gazan community is an extrovert community which means that, despite the difference in their academic level, students can still belong and share a sense of community. This finding was also contradicted by that in the study run by Drouin and Vartanian [7]. Their study revealed that connectedness and classroom community are affected by the level of study: upper-level students amounted to a greater contribution to connectedness and learning. At UCAS, however, teaching English as required courses for all students of all levels explains why the variable of the level of study isn’t as significant (Table 10). The results in the table present that the p-value of the one-way analysis of variance is greater than the significance level (α ≤ 0.05), and thus it can be concluded that the deanship variable is of no significant impact on the student’s sense of community and success in the team development process and their preferences for studying in online groups. The researchers attribute this result to the fact that English language courses are prerequisite courses which means that all students have to study the general English course regardless of the deanship to which they belong. In other words, students from different specializations and who belong to different deanships, which means that students’ interaction and teamwork are not combined with their specializations. This diversity and heterogenicity enriches and enhances the collaboration Table 10 Results of the T-test of students’ responses consulting the deanship as a variable Domain

Variance source

Sum of squares

Students’ perceptions of a sense of community and success in the team development process

Between groups

0.500

Within groups

Students’ preferences for studying in groups

Total score

Degrees of freedom

Means of squares

F value

P value

6

0.083

1.092

0.369//

13.738

180

0.076

The total

14.238

186

Between groups

1.770

6

0.295

0.489

0.816//

Within groups

108.594

180

0.603

The total

110.364

186

Between groups

0.432

6

0.072

0.989

0.434//

Within groups

13.123

180

0.073

The total

13.555

186

// p-value is not statistically significant at 0.05

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and the discussion and increases the desire to benefit from their different experiences and backgrounds, which in turn reflects positively on the students’ academic achievement. In fact, the friendly stimulating involving-all environment teachers seek at creating could be another possible reason.

9 Conclusion and Recommendations To get UCAS a licensed ticket for the future, the researchers took it upon themselves to examine the context of online learning of the English language at UCAS and how the process of e-learning can be implemented to meet the students’ and the institution’s prospects at once. The findings showed that there is a robust relationship between the perceptions of UCAS students about the sense of belonging to the community and success in the team development process. It also revealed that the students’ tendencies were drawn towards both online individual and group work. Additionally, the relationship between the preferences of UCAS students to study in teams and their perceptions of a sense of belonging to the community and success in the team development process indicated the existence of a positive-statistically significant correlation between the preferences of the UCAS students to study in teams and their perceptions of a sense of belonging to the community and success in the team development process. Finally, it was underscored that variables including gender, academic level and the deanship students belong to fell short of affecting students’ sense of community and success in the team development process. The researchers recommend lecturers vary their teaching methods to conform to the nature of the taught material. For example, use videoconferencing for oral English and instant messages for written English. Likewise, lecturers are encouraged to create at least one informal platform online on which they encourage and facilitate students conversing in English so that the sense of community among them is enhanced and learning goals are served. Additionally, lecturers should utilize free apps for learning English, such as Duolingo and Memrise. Lastly, lecturers should check-in on their students regularly and set virtual office hours for following up with their performance. Students, on the other hand, are recommended to stay connected and join online meetings and be involved in conversations. Also, they are advised to review their assignments and deadlines regularly for their language classes.

References 5. Cobb, A.: Learning in teams during a pandemic. Honors Pract. 17, 217–21 (2021). Retrieved 16 Aug, from Learning in Teams During a Pandemic (ed.gov) 6. Dhull, I., Sakshi, M.: Online learning. Int. Educ. Res. J. (IERJ), 3(8) (2017). Retrieved from https://ierj.in/journal/index.php/ierj/article/view/1273 7. Drouin, M., Vartanian, L.: Students’ feelings of and desire for sense of community in face-toface and online courses. Q. Rev. Distance Educ. 11(3), 147–159 (2010)

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8. Jalinusa, N., Syahrilb, Nabawi, R., Arbid, Y.: How project-based learning and direct teaching models affect teamwork and welding skills among students. Int. J. Innov., Creativity Change 11(11) (2020). Retrieved 20 Aug, from 111110 Jalinus 2020 E.docx (ed.gov) 9. Kareem, N.: Using team-based learning in teaching English to EFL undergraduate students: a pilot study evaluation. Koya Univ. J. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 4(1), 91–103 (2021). https://doi.org/ 10.14500/kujhss.v4n1y2021 11. Kissinger, J., Campbell, R., Lombrozo, A., Wilson, D.: The role of gender in belonging and sense of community, 1–6 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2009.5350787 12. Le Bourdon, M.: Feeling global belonging: Sensorial experiences in global education. Int. J. Dev. Educ. Glob. Learn. 13(1), 32–45 (2021). https://doi.org/10.14324/IJDEGL.13.1.03 14. Park, H., Shea, P.: A review of ten-year research through co-citation analysis: online learning, distance learning and blended learning. Online Learn. 24(2), 225–244 (2020), from https://doi. org/10.24059/olj.v24i2.2001 15. Rovai, A.P.: Development of an instrument to assess classroom community. Internet High. Educ. 5(3), 197–211 (2002) 16. Shea, P.: A study of students’ sense of learning community in online environments. J. Asynchronous Learn. Netw. 10(1), 35–44 (2006) 17. Suputra, D.: Teaching English through online learning (a literature review). Art Teach. English As a Foreign Lang. 2(1), 63–67 (2021). https://doi.org/10.36663/tatefl.v2i1.10 18. Young, C., Lagunas, V.: Team building and the reprioritizing of the teaching and learning experience in the midst of ambiguity. J. Teach. Learn. Technol. 10(Special Issue), 247–257 (2021) 19. Zhan, Z., Mei, H.: Academic self-concept and social presence in face-to-face and online learning: Perceptions and effects on students’ learning achievement and satisfaction across environments. Comput. Educ. 69, 131–138 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2013. 07.002 20. Al-Haddad, A.: Personal Interview (2022) 21. Hoque, Md.: An Introduction to the Second Language Acquisition (2017) 22. Rovai, A.P.: Building classroom community at a distance: A case study. ETR&D 49, 33–48 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02504946 23. Bryk, A. S. and M. E. Driscoll.: The high school as a community: Theoretical foundations, contextual influences, and consequences for students and teachers. Chicago, IL, Benton Center for Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Chicago (1988) 24. Boettcher, J. V., Conrad, R. M.: The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass (2016) 25. Comeaux, P.: The impact of an interactive distance learning network on classroom communication. Communication Education 44(4), 353–360 (1995) 26. McMillan, D.W.: Sense of community. Journal of Community Psychology, 24(4), 315–325 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6629(199610) 27. Rovai, A.P., & Lucking, R.A.: Measuring sense of classroom community. Manuscript submitted for publication (2000)

Online Accounting Education During Covid-19: Literature Review Ahmad Yahia Mustafa Alastal and Mujeeb Saif Mohsen Al-Absy

Abstract This study reviewed thirteen articles dealing with online accounting education during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19 and Covid-19 pandemic), using content analysis. This study categorized the literature on teaching accounting online during the coronavirus 2019 pandemic into seven aspects including the perceptions about accounting education during Covid-19, the effect of Covid-19 on teaching accounting, improving the accounting education quality by using online methods, cheating in online exams, factors that influence accounting understanding during the Covid-19 pandemic, learning outcomes before and during Covid-19, and acceptance of online learning by accounting students. According to reviewed articles, using online accounting education is important, especially during the pandemic. The study recommended that, future studies online accounting education during Covid-19 on developing countries. Keywords Online accounting education · E-learning · Literature review · Covid-19 pandemic

1 Introduction In December 2019, the coronavirus that influenced China began to spread worldwide [7, 8]. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared, in March 2020, that the coronavirus 2019 a pandemic and asked the world’s countries to take necessary steps to stop its spread [17]. This pandemic impacted all sectors and institutions, including educational sectors. UNESCO, the United Nations Organization for Education, Science, and Culture, reported that one hundred eighty-nine countries around the world closed educational institutions to stop the spread of the pandemic [27]. A. Y. M. Alastal (B) · M. S. M. Al-Absy Department of Administrative and Financial Science, Gulf University, Sanad 26489, Kingdom of Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] M. S. M. Al-Absy e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_68

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Many universities worldwide replaced face-to-face teaching with online teaching [2, 23], closed campuses, and postponed student activities [24]. By using online learning methods, universities expected to continue the learning process and achieve the objectives planned for each course [5, 18]. Several researches have noted a lot of advantages of online learning. Amer [9] highlighted that online learning decrease stress and increased satisfaction among lecturers and students. According to Davis [12], online learning offers advantages to students such as efficient feedback and discussion, using class material anywhere and anytime, less costly than physically going to university, and enhances the dialogue between lecturers and their students. Furthermore, Mukhtar et al. [21] indicated that online learning is comfortable for students, and most students can access it. Other benefits include staying at home, accessing online materials easily, and learning at student’s residences [10]. On the other hand, online learning has disadvantages. For instance. Hiranrithikorn [16] and B˛aczek et al. [10] argued that the main disadvantages of using online learning during education were a lack of social contact between the lecturers and students, some courses required students to do activities and technical problems with the Internet. Furthermore, despite the advantages of using online learning during the study, many lecturers and students prefer the traditional teaching method, which is face-to-face teaching method instead than online learning [11, 22]. This study aims to review the literature on online accounting education during Covid-19. This review of online accounting education literature during the pandemic includes 13 articles published in 2020–2021. These articles included 11 empirical articles, one personal reflection of the author and one review study of projections and economy. The remainder of this paper will be structured as follows: the first section introduces the study and the second pertains to its methodology. Section three summarizes the characteristics of the chosen studies. In section four, the analysis of the selected studies is discussed. Section five provides the recommendations and suggestion of the selected studies. Lastly, section six provides the conclusion of this study, followed by recommendations for future studies.

2 Methodology This study provides a review of online accounting education articles related to the Covid-19 pandemic published in academic research journals in 2020 and 2021. The online databases included Google Scholar, Mendeley, JSTOR, Emerald journal, Science direct, and Elsevier. A search was performed using the keywords online accounting education, Covid-19 pandemic, and accounting e-learning to finding all literature focusing on online accounting learning during the pandemic. The search produced thirteen articles directly related to online accounting learning during the pandemic. The content analysis method was used to review these articles and generate accepted conclusions and recommendation for future studies.

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3 Characteristics of the Studies Found The thirteen studies that were found were categorized by author and year, journal or conference, article keywords, data collection method, responder, and country to give a brief summary of online accounting education during Covid-19 for each study. Table 1 provides a summary of the studies selected for the purpose of this study. The above table shows that the majority of the studies were conducted in developing countries. Also, they used online questionnaires for data collection. Lastly, the respondents were the accounting students or accounting academic staff and lecturers. The next section provides the analysis of the selected studies.

4 Selected Studies Analysis The analysis of the selected studies is provided in this section. In this study, the selected studies have been placed into six categories, which are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

The perceptions about accounting education during Covid-19 Effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 on accounting teaching Improving the accounting education quality by using online methods Cheating in online exams Factors that influence accounting understanding during Covid-19 Learning outcomes before and during Covid-19. In the following sub-sections, an analysis of each category is provided.

4.1 Perceptions About Accounting Education During Covid-19 Ali et al. [4] examined the perceptions of accounting students who changed their way of learning from in-class to online learning during COVID-19. Their study was based on the thoughts made by the academic staff members of two of the largest New Zealand universities and information received from students—feedback collected through paper evaluations. The results of the study revealed that online accounting learning during the pandemic had successes and several challenges. These challenges include disappointment with online learning and technologies, difficulty creating personal connections between academic staff members and students, and difficulty engaging some student’s groups in learning. Ebaid [13] uncovered the opinions of accounting students using e-learning systems employed by Saudi universities due to Covid-19. In his paper, the author used a cross-sectional survey method to collect data from 106 accounting students with

PSU Research Review

Sarea et al. [25]

Lazim et al. [20]

Kustono et al. [19]

Hermawan et al. [15]

Ebaid [14]

1

2

3

4

5

E-learning; accounting; Covid-19 pandemic

Online learning playfulness; efficacy; ease of use; selfusefulness; behavioural intention to use; achievement of learning outcome

Online learning; perceived usefulness; perceived ease of use; technology acceptance model (TAM); and accounting students

GCC, COVID-19, Digitising accounting education

Study keywords

Asian Journal of Saudi Arabia; online Economics, Finance and exams; cheating; Management accounting students; universities

International Journal of Social Science and Business

International Journal of Learning, Teaching & Educational Research

International Journal of Business, Economics and Law

Journal/conference

Author and year of publication

No.

Table 1 Summary of the Studies Selected

Online questionnaire

Online questionnaire

Online questionnaires

Online questionnaire

Questionnaires

Data collection method

Accounting students

Accounting students

Accounting lecturers

Accounting students

Teaching staff at private and public universities

Responder

Saudi Arabia

Indonesia

Indonesia

Malaysia

Gulf Countries cooperation (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar)

Country

802 A. Y. M. Alastal and M. S. M. Al-Absy

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experience with using the e-learning system employed by Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia. The findings of the study revealed student perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of e-learning. These benefits involved improving student– teacher communication, easiness of studying accounting courses, increasing flexibility, improving communication with other students, and improving the ability to solve learning problems. Furthermore, the study revealed that the most important drawbacks of e-learning included technical problems, large-scale dependence on computers, and lack of human contact. In Vietnam, Thuya [26] explored students’ opinions on the benefits of e-learning and their satisfaction with e-learning courses during the pandemic’s outbreak in the country. The 113 undergraduate students from the National Economics University in Vietnam from three major economic departments (accounting, auditing, finance) participated in an online survey conducted in June 2020 to collect the study data. The results of the study revealed that most students were not satisfied with online courses. However, they agreed that e-learning study had many benefits, such as deciding the best place to learn and the best time to learn, the ability to review learning materials repeatedly, and no instructor and student communications problems in online courses.

4.2 Covid-19 Effect on Accounting Education Sarea et al. [25] studied higher public and private colleges in the Gulf countries to see how the pandemic affected accounting education. The data were collected from questionnaires distributed to the academic staff on examined universities during the pandemic. The study findings revealed that COVID-19 was mainly behind adopting online education at universities, it compelled the academic staff to change their methods of teaching (from face-to-face to online), and lastly, online education improved the time management efficiency of the academic staff. Ademola and Otitolaiye [1] studied the effects of Covid-19 on accounting education in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study employed an exploratory research method by using systematic and qualitative methods to achieve the study’s objective. The study showed that Covid-19 influenced the use of online learning in accounting education.

4.3 Improving the Accounting Education Quality by Using Online Methods Alhelou et al. [3] identified the role of applying cloud computer science for increasing accounting education quality among the Palestinian universities during the pandemic. Questionnaires were employed to collect data from 63 staff members teaching accounting in management and commerce faculties in Gaza Strip universities. The study results showed that the use of cloud computing by the accounting staff and

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students in accounting education helped them access their applications and files from anywhere and time, especially during the pandemic and helped improve students’ technology skills, which the labour market needs.

4.4 Cheating in Online Exams In Saudi Arabia universities, Ebaid [14] explored the perceptions and experiences of accounting students about cheating in online exams during Covid-19, whether or not Online exam cheating is simpler than in-person exam cheating, and what are the most prevalent online exam cheating behaviors? For the purpose of this study, 123 questionnaires were completed by accounting students in level seven and eight from the three Saudi universities. The study’s findings revealed that, during the online exams, the cheating level was high compared to in-class exams. It also revealed that the common cheating behaviors during the online exams were using the open book method, using cell phones to send messages to get the answer and consulting each other during the online exams. Lastly, different persons rather than students can enter the online exams. Finally, cheating during online exams become a common phenomenon among the students in online exams, especially during Covid-19.

4.5 Factors that Influence Accounting Understanding During Covid-19 Hermawan et al. [15] investigated the factors that might influence accounting understanding during the pandemic. These factors included the implementation of elearning, the availability of technological facilities, and emotional intelligence. The data were collected from 194 questionnaires distributed to accounting students at University Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo between April and May 2020. The findings revealed that implementing e-learning and emotional intelligence affected accounting students’ understanding, while the availability of information technology did not. Alshurafat et al. [6] examined the factors that impacted accounting students’ usage of online learning systems among public universities in Jordan. The study used the model that integrated the reasoned action theory, social capital theory, and the technology acceptance model. The data were collected from 274 questionnaires distributed to accounting students from July to September 2020. The study findings showed that students perceived using online learning as easy and useful and also their subjective norms influenced online learning.

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4.6 Learning Outcomes Before and During Covid-19 Pandemic White [28] did his study during Covid-19 with the purpose of examining the relationships between potential impact, online assessments, academic integrity, and misconduct. The author used personal experiences and reflections to examine the conflicts between assessment security, professional accounting bodies’ accreditation requirements (at the time institutions shifted from in-class to online assessment tasks in 2020), and the risk of academic misconduct. The author gained these reflections, experiences, and integrity by teaching undergraduate auditing subjects conducted online for around 500 local and international students. The findings revealed that students faced with pressures and incentives to engage in misconduct and possibilities arose from online learning and evaluation. They also had different ideas about academic integrity and justifications for misconduct behavior. Kustono et al. [19] did their study to compare learning outcomes before and during the pandemic. The data was collected through online surveys distributed to 367 accounting lecturers in Indonesia. The findings indicated that online learning found more effective if it was designed from the beginning before the pandemic.

4.7 Acceptance of Online Learning Lazim et al. [20] investigated the relationships between perceived usefulness, acceptance of online learning as independents variables and acceptance of online learning behaviour during the pandemic as the dependent variable, with the mediating effects of attitude towards online learning. The study’s theoretical model was based on the technology acceptance model, which used to examine students’ acceptance of online learning behavior during Covid-19. For the purpose of this study, 333 questionnaires were distributed to accounting students at University Tunku Abdul Rahman Malaysia. The study’s findings revealed that the technology acceptance model was useful to explain the perceived usefulness, acceptance of online learning as the factors that influence the acceptance of online learning behaviour. Also, it showed that students’ attitude towards online learning positively mediated the study’s relationships.

5 Suggestions and Recommendations of Selected Articles This section provides the suggestions and recommendations of selected studies for future studies to enhance the knowledge about online learning education during future pandemics. Alhelou et al. [3] recommended that the Palestinian universities adopt cloud processing to make the learning system more powerful and diverse. Also, these

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universities must use online learning in accounting education to improve the technical skills for the students to face the requirements of the labour market. Lastly, faculty members and students should have training programs to properly use the online learning system, especially during a pandemic. Furthermore, Lazim et al. [20] recommended that future studies consider external factors such as system characteristics, environmental structuring, and Internet accessibility. Sarea et al. [25] and Alshurafat et al. [6] suggested that future studies use qualitative research methods such as interviews with accounting students and lecturers to examine the effects of Covid-19 on accounting education in different countries and expand the understanding of these factors. At the same time, because the main samples of Ebaid [14] study were male students, he suggested focusing on both male and female students to investigate the cheating behaviours between them on online accounting exams. Ali et al. [4] suggested that some strategies, challenges, and risks existed for engaging accounting students in online learning. The strategies included proactive facilitating and providing learning support to students using both synchronous and asynchronous online learning channels. The challenges related to students’ engagement in online learning consist of making personal connections by lecturers with students, disappointments with online technologies from the students, and the difficulty of engaging some cohorts in learning. Lastly, the main risks for engaging the students in online learning were participating in online learning live sessions because of issues like Internet connection, home environment, lack of appropriate computer equipment, and family responsibilities. Lastly, Ebaid [13] suggested that future studies should investigate the perception of accounting lecturers on accounting education through e-learning system during Covid-19 in developing and developed countries.

6 Conclusion The main aim behind this study was to review the literature related to online accounting education during Covid-19 and thus enhance knowledge in this area and provide suggestions and recommendations for future studies. Thirteen articles were reviewed: eleven of them were empirical, one was a personal reflection, and one was a review study of projections and economy. This study categorized online accounting education literature during the pandemic into seven aspects as follows: the perceptions about accounting education during Covid-19, the effect of Covid-19 on accounting education, improving the accounting education quality by using online methods, cheating in online exams, factors that influence accounting understanding during the pandemic, learning outcomes before and during the pandemic, and acceptance of online learning by accounting students. Most of the studies selected for this study were conducted in developing countries. Also, almost all of them used online questionnaires to collect the data of their studies, and the respondents were accounting students or academic staff and lecturers.

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Furthermore, the selected studies showed the importance of using online accounting education, especially during Covid-19. Finally, the rest of the studies focused on examining the perception of using online accounting education from accounting students, the effect of Covid-19 on accounting education. However, a few studies concentrated on cheating on online exams, acceptance of online learning, and learning outcomes before and after the pandemic. Future studies are required on these areas and other new areas such as students’ achievements from using online learning, learning motivation to use online learning systems and the challenges that face both the students and lecturers to use online learning. The study recommended that, future studies on online accounting education during Covid-19 on developing countries. Acknowledgements Authors wish to thank Gulf University for funding this research.

References 1. Ademola, A., Otitolaiye, E.D.: Covid-19 and accounting education in Sub-Sahara Africa. Eur. J. Bus., Econ. Accountancy 8(3), 1–11 (2020) 2. Al-Absy, M.S.M.: Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on accounting students’ capability to use technology. IJLTER. ORG. 22(1), 247–267 (2023) 3. Alhelou, E.M., Rashwan, A.-R.M., Abu-Naser, S.S.: The role of using cloud computing in improving the quality of accounting education in Palestinian universities in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. J. Econ., Finance Account. Stud. 3(1), 11–32 (2021) 4. Ali, I., Narayan, A.K., Sharma, U.: Adapting to COVID-19 disruptions: student engagement in online learning of accounting. Account. Res. J., ahead-of-print (2020) 5. Almarzooq, Z.I., Lopes, M., Kochar, A.: Virtual Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Disruptive Technology in Graduate Medical Education. American College of Cardiology Foundation Washington, DC (2020) 6. Alshurafat, H., Al Shbail, M.O., Masadeh, W.M., Dahmash, F., & Al-Msiedeen, J. M.: Factors affecting online accounting education during the COVID-19 pandemic: an integrated perspective of social capital theory, the theory of reasoned action and the technology acceptance model. Educ. Inf. Technol. 1–19 (2021) 7. AlZgool, M., Ahmed, U., Shah, S., Alkadash, T., AlMaamary, Q.: Going green during COVID19: examining the links between green HRM, green supply chain and firm performance in food Industry of Bahrain: the moderating role of lockdown due to COVID-19. Uncertain Supply Chain Manag. 9(1), 79–88 (2021) 8. AlZgool, M.R.H., Ahmed, U., Pahi, M.H., Ammar, A.: COVID-19 and work engagement: understanding the nexus of leaders emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and resilience in the banking sector of bahrain. Rev. Argent. Clín. Psicol. 29(3), 568 (2020) 9. Amer, T.: E-learning and Education. Dar Alshehab publication, Cairo (2007) 10. B˛aczek, M., Zaga´nczyk-B˛aczek, M., Szpringer, M., Jaroszy´nski, A., Wo˙zakowska-Kapłon, B.: Students’ perception of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: a survey study of Polish medical students. Medicine 100(7), e24821 (2021) 11. Bali, S., Liu, M.: Students’ perceptions toward online learning and face-to-face learning courses. J. Phys: Conf. Ser. 1108, 1–7 (2018) 12. Davis, A.M.: Measuring student satisfaction in online math courses. Ky J. Excellence Coll. Teach. Learn. 14, 21–37 (2014)

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13. Ebaid, I.E.-S.: Accounting students’ perceptions on e-learning during the Covid-19 pandemic: preliminary evidence from Saudi Arabia. J. Manag. Bus. Educ. 3(3), 236–249 (2020) 14. Ebaid, I.E.-S.: Cheating among accounting students in online exams during Covid-19 pandemic: exploratory evidence from Saudi Arabia. Asian J. Econ., Finance Manag. 4(1), 9–19 (2021) 15. Hermawan, S., Hanun, N.R., Junjunan, M.I.: E-learning and understanding of accounting during COVID-19 pandemic. Int. J. Soc. Sci. Bus. 5(1), 44–51 (2021) 16. Hiranrithikorn, P.: Advantages and disadvantages of online learning. In: [Proceedings, The International Academic Multidisciplinary Research Conference in Berlin 2019 (pp. 14–17). Retrieved 27 June 2021 (2019), from http://icbtsproceeding.ssru.ac.th/index.php/ICBTSBERL IN2019/article/view/628/614 17. Jebril, N.: World Health Organization declared a pandemic public health menace: a systematic review of the coronavirus disease 2019 “COVID-19”, up to 26th March 2020. Available at SSRN 3566298 (2020) 18. Kapasia, N., Paul, P., Roy, A., Saha, J., Zaveri, A., Mallick, R., Chouhan, P.: Impact of lockdown on learning status of undergraduate and postgraduate students during COVID-19 pandemic in West Bengal, India. Child. Youth Serv. Rev. 116, 105194 (2020) 19. Kustono, A.S., Winarno, W.A., Nanggala, A.Y.A.: Effect of accounting lecturer behavior on the level of online learning outcomes achievement. Int. J. Learn., Teach. Educ. Res. 20(3), 169–187 (2021) 20. Lazim, C., Ismail, N.D.B., Tazilah, M.: Application of technology acceptance model (TAM) towards online learning during Covid-19 pandemic: accounting students perspective. Int. J. Bus., Econ., Law 24(1), 13–20 (2021) 21. Mukhtar, K., Javed, K., Arooj, M., Sethi, A.: Advantages, limitations and recommendations for online learning during COVID-19 pandemic era. Pak. J. Med. Sci. 36(COVID19-S4), S27–S31 (2020) 22. Robinson, C.C., Hullinger, H.: New benchmarks in higher education: Student engagement in online learning. J. Educ. Bus. 84(2), 101–109 (2008) 23. Roy, R., Al-Absy M.S.M.: Impact of critical factors on the effectiveness of online learning. Sustain. 14(21), 14073 (2022) 24. Sahu, P.: Closure of universities due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): impact on education and mental health of students and academic staff. Cureus 12(4), e7541 (2020) 25. Sarea, A., Alhadrami, A., Taufiq-Hail, G.A.-M.: COVID-19 and digitising accounting education: empirical evidence from GCC. PSU Res. Rev. 5(1), 68–83 (2021) 26. Thuya, P.T.: Effectiveness of e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic period: a survey of National Economics University students [Paper presentation]. In: International Conference on Finance, Accounting and Auditing (ICFAA 2020), Hanoi City, Dec 19 Retrieved 27 June 2021 (2020) from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dang-Thu-Ha/publication/351709 957_Influences_of_Non-_Financial_Factors_on_Financial_Performance_at_Vietnam’s_H ospitality_Companies_beyond_Profitable_Measures/links/60a5ead0299bf106134136ab/Inf luences-of-Non-Financial-Factors-on-Financial-Performance-at-Vietnams-Hospitality-Com panies-beyond-Profitable-Measures.pdf#page=1059 27. UNESCO.: COVID-19 Educational Disruption and Response (2020). Retrieved from https:// en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse 28. White, A.: May you live in interesting times: a reflection on academic integrity and accounting assessment during COVID19 and online learning. Account. Res. J., ahead-of-print (2020)

The Effectiveness of Online Learning During the Corona Pandemic in the Gaza Strip, Palestine Yousef Matter and Mahmoud O. Jalambo

Abstract The study aimed at revealing the effectiveness of online learning in light of the lockdowns caused by the Corona pandemic from the perspective of the primary school teachers in the Gaza Strip at the level of students, teachers, and school administration. The researchers adopted the descriptive-analytical approach. For the data collection, the researchers designed a questionnaire on a sample of (400) male and female teachers who were randomly chosen. The results revealed that the level of effectiveness of online learning at the level of students was high in the Gaza Strip, while its effectiveness on the level of teachers was moderate. The findings also concluded that the level of effectiveness of online learning at the level of school administration was low. Finally, some recommendations were given in light of the obtained results and findings. Keywords Online learning · Corona pandemic · Primary school teachers

1 Introduction The spread of the Corona virus (COVID-19) has interrupted more than 1.6 billion children and youth from education in 161 countries, that is about 80% of students enrolled in schools in the world to March 28, 2020 according to World Bank statistics. All of this pushed educational institutions to switch to E-learning as an alternative that has been a long time under discussion and controversy about the necessity of integrating it into the educational process in order to confront this crisis (UN Report 2020), therefore, early detection of the crisis, determining its dimensions, and using the scientific method in dealing with it is the cornerstone for managing the crisis successfully, and transforming crises into opportunities that can be invested in development [4].

Y. Matter · M. O. Jalambo (B) The University College of Applied Sciences - Gaza, Gaza, Palestine e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_69

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That is why Miqdadi [10] referred to these changes that affected the educational sector, which necessitated the need to move towards modern educational methods alternative to the traditional methods adopted in educational institutions, especially since education by traditional methods is unable to adapt to the variables and requirements of continuous life, and is incapable of adapting to the crises that may befall the countries of the world, and in this context, Al-Aani [3] stressed the importance of relying on electronic technology and employing it in the educational process in a way that can ensure the sustainability of education and the non-interruption of students from it. Accordingly, this study aims at revealing the effectiveness of online learning in light of the spread of the Corona virus from the perspective of primary school teachers in Gaza City. It also aims at measuring the level of continuity of the online learning, as it investigates the obstacles to the use of online learning in light crises. In this regard, this study highlights the interaction of students and their teachers with online learning in in the primary schools of Gaza in the online learning mode. Therefore, the problem of the study is presented in the following three questions: 1. How effective is online learning in light of the Corona pandemic at the student level? 2. How effective is online learning in light of the spread of the Corona virus at the teacher level? 3. How effective is online learning in light of the spread of the Corona virus at the school administration level?

1.1 Significance of the Study This study gains its importance from the modernity of its subject, as it brings scientific and practical benefit to the teaching–learning process. It is possible that this study could benefit researchers, scholars and those interested in the field of online learning to develop scientific methods to manage educational process in the time of crises. The researchers of this study believe that the gained finding might enrich the Arabic literature on the field of online learning.

1.2 Terminology of the Study Terminology of the study can be defined as following: • online learning: It is a modern educational method that relies on employing modern technology in education and contributes to enhancing educational opportunities for students and enabling them to obtain educational material away from barriers related to time and place. [2]. The researchers define online learning operationally as: a method of teaching that is based on the delivery of knowledge to

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primary school students online, in light of the closure of schools in the Gaza Strip due to the spread of the Corona virus, so that the service is provided through the use of a set of appropriate techniques for students, such as virtual classes (Google Classroom), educational platforms, YouTube channels… etc. • Corona pandemic: It is one type of corona viruses that was later called (COVID19), as this crisis initially appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan and Hubei Province in China in the year 2019 so that this virus causes severe respiratory diseases, especially in the elderly and the infected with chronic diseases [8]. • The primary stage: is defined operationally by the researchers as: an educational stage that lies between kindergarten and preparatory stage, with a duration of six years.

2 Theoretical Framework 2.1 Online Learning Online learning appeared at the end of the nineteenth century through correspondence education that transmits printed materials to learners, then this type of education developed in the sixties of the twentieth century to the use of multimedia, and there is an expansion in the multiple interaction between education and education centers using mobile phones, computers, and e-mail, and thus we find that online learning, correspondence, or open access have the same purpose.

2.2 The Advantages of Online Learning Online learning system is not an easy option for any country, as it is a new educational process fraught with risks, and the results may be positive or negative, and hence the positives and negatives related to online learning must be addressed. In this respect, Mohammed [9] lists these advantages as the following: • Providing an opportunity for the largest number of learners to view the lessons and download them. • Saving the time spent to reach the place of study, and saving the expenses of buying materials and textbooks. • Not restricting the learner to a specific geographical area, thus increasing the study programs for him. • Providing a greater opportunity for learners who are unable to attend, such as those with special needs, to learn at universities at the level of their aspirations. • Providing school standards on the Internet, which ensures easy access to them, at any time and from anywhere.

812 Table 1 The distribution of the study sample members according to study variables

Y. Matter and M. O. Jalambo Variables Gender Qualification Years of service

Levels

Number

Percentage (%)

Male

176

44.0

Female

224

56.0

Bachelor

232

58.0

Master

168

42.0

5 years or less

72

18.0

From 5 to 9 years

128

32.0

From 10 to 15 years

144

36.0

More than 15 years

56

14.0

3 Methodology of the Study The study followed the descriptive-analytical approach, which means: “The approach by which the researcher follows current events and existing practices that are available for study and measurement as they are. The researcher intervenes in the phenomenon but describes and analyzes it ([5]: 62).

3.1 Population and Sample the Study It consisted of all the teaching staff members in governmental primary schools in Gaza City, i.e. (4356), according to the statistics of the General Administration of the Ministry of Education. Accordingly, the sample consisted of (400) male and female teachers who were randomly chosen. Table 1 shows the distribution of the study sample according to the study variables.

3.2 The Tool of the Study The researchers designed a (28)-item questionnaire to measure the effectiveness of online learning. It is worth mentioning that the items of the questionnaire were divided into three domains i.e. (The effectiveness of online learning at the student level, the effectiveness of online learning at the teacher level, and the effectiveness of online learning at the school administration level). The Validity of the questionnaire: The researcher presented the tool to a group of specialized referees to delete, rephrase or replace some items to reach the final version of the questionnaire. Then, the researcher calculated the Pearson Correlation

The Effectiveness of Online Learning During the Corona Pandemic … Table 2 Correlation coefficients between the two halves of the questionnaire

Statement

813 Value

1

Variation of the first part of the scale

0.771

2

Variation of the second part of the scale

0.799

3

Guttman Split-Half Test of the scale

0.813

Coefficient between each domain of the questionnaire and the entire questionnaire. Considering that the exploratory sample consisted of (36) male and female teachers, all the domains of the questionnaire were statistically significant, as the correlation coefficients ranged between (0.354–0.767). Thus, the domains of the questionnaire are internally consistent with the questionnaire as a whole. Moreover, each item of the questionnaire is statistically significant with the domain to which it belongs, as the correlation coefficients ranged between (0.298–0.729), and in light of this, all items of the questionnaire are internally consistent with their domains. The Stability of the questionnaire: The researcher calculated the correlation coefficient between the responses of the sample in the first part, and the responses of the second part, as the results came as follows (Table 2). The value of the stability equation using the Guttman Split—Half equation is (0.813), a value that indicates that the questionnaire has a degree of stability that reassures the researcher to apply it to the study sample. Then the Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient was calculated, as the stability value was (0.806), which is a good value that also confirms the stability of the questionnaire.

4 The Results of the Study 4.1 Results Related to the First Study Question In order to answer the first question “What is the effectiveness of online learning in light of the Corona pandemic at the level of students from the primary school teachers’ point of view?”, the researchers calculated the means, standard deviations, frequencies and relative weights of the responses of the study sample, as the answers of the sample were given graded values according to the 5-Point Likert Scale. The scale was divided into categories and the category length was calculated, and based on these categories, the mean values of the responses of the sample were categorized into levels according to the following Table 3. The means, standard deviations, and percentages of the responses of the sample members on the scale were calculated, and the results are shown below. It is clear from Table 4 that the effectiveness of online learning in light of the Corona pandemic at the level of students from the teachers’ perspective is (high), as the mean of the responses of the sample on the domain is (3.887) with a relative weight (77.74%). In other words, the means of the responses to the domain items ranged

814 Table 3 Classification of the responses according to the scale categories

Y. Matter and M. O. Jalambo The mean value categories

Category level

From 1.00 to 1.80

Very low

From 1.81 to 2.60

Low

From 2.61 to 3.40

Medium

From 3.41 to 4.20

High

From 4.21 to 5.00

Very high

between (3.18–4.40), where the first item i.e. “online learning gives students an opportunity to think while learning.” ranked the first with a relative weight (00.88%) which is (very high) level of effectiveness. The researchers attribute this result to the fact that the online mode helps students to study according to their own appropriate times besides in the online mode of study students may be able to re-study the material and refer to it whenever needed. While item (2), which states that “online learning shows the students’ own abilities”, came in the last place, with the lowest mean (3.18), and relative weight (63.60%) which is an (average) level of effectiveness. The researchers attribute this result to the fact that the reality of the online learning process is an emerging process that countries have resorted to during the Corona crisis, which made these countries, not fully prepared for this mode of learning due to the lack of readiness of the infrastructure and the lack of connections to Internet. The online learning may be also challenging due to some administrative obstacles, such as the lack of human resources that have the skills and ability to deal with modern technologies, and this result is consistent with the study of Abu Shehidim [1] and the study of Dooa and Al-Misrati [7].

4.2 Results Related to the Second Question To answer this question “How effective is online learning in light of the spread of the Corona virus at the teacher level from the primary school teachers’ point of view?”, the researchers calculated the means, standard deviations, frequencies, and relative weights of the responses of the study sample. The results were analyzed and displayed as follows. It is clear from Table 5 that the extent of the effectiveness of online learning in light of the Corona pandemic at the teacher level, from the point of view of primary school teachers, is (average), as the arithmetic average of the responses of the sample members on the domain was (2.974) and with a relative weight (59.48%), and it the arithmetic averages of the responses of the study sample members to the domain items ranged between (2.38–3.98), where item No. (7) states that, “Attaching the educational material for students is easy and convenient.” In the first place with an arithmetic mean (3.98), relative weight (60.79%) and an effective level (high), the researchers attribute this result to the ease of sending and receiving files, especially small-sized files across the classroom, due to the ease of access to them at any time

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Table 4 Relative weights, averages and standard deviations of the first domain Item

Means

Std. deviation

Ratio

1

Online learning gives students the opportunity to think while learning

4.40

0.664

88.00

1

Very high

2

Online learning reveals the students’ own abilities

3.18

1.293

63.60

11

Medium

3

Online learning pushes students into social isolation

3.80

1.097

76.00

8

High

4

Online learning achieves 4.14 the principle of flexibility in access to knowledge

1.115

82.80

3

High

5

Online learning during the suspension of school hours leads to a drop in the level of students

4.30

1.006

86.00

2

Very high

6

Online learning increases 3.56 students’ self-confidence and relying on it

1.170

71.20

9

High

7

I expect an increase in 3.88 the dropout rate of students from schools under the online learning system

1.108

77.60

6

High

8

The online learning system develops in student’s patience and perseverance

4.14

1.133

82.80

4

High

9

The online learning system leads students to underestimate the educational process in the absence of school hours

4.06

1.009

81.20

5

High

10

Online learning achieves high credibility in evaluating students

3.84

1.047

76.80

7

High

11

The online learning process provides continuous assessment for students

3.46

1.082

69.20

10

High

0.492

77.74

The effectiveness of online learning in 3.887 light of the Corona pandemic at the student level

Rank

Level

High

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and any place, and the presence of the study materials on them permanently according to a clear chronological sequence regardless of the presence of the teacher or the rest of the students, and also the process of downloading files and sending the required tasks and assignments to the teacher and uploading them via mobile, tablet or laptop, whether these files are on the device itself or on a private or public drive, all these services are provided by the classroom and allow the student to move and fetch files according to what he deems appropriate. This result agrees with the study of Basilaia and Kvavadze [6]. While Item No. (10) which states that “there is high credibility in evaluating students through the online learning system” came in the last place with the lowest arithmetic average (2.38), a relative weight (47.60%) and a (low) level of effectiveness, the researcher attributes this result to the students not relying on themselves in answering the duties or assignments sent by their teachers, as well as the fact that some parents of students answer the examination questions instead of the students. This result is consistent with the study of Khudair [9] and the study of Abu Shehidim [1].

4.3 Results Related to the Third Study Question To answer this question “How effective is online learning in light of the spread of the Corona virus at the school administration level from the primary school teachers’ point of view?”, the researchers calculated the arithmetic averages, standard deviations, frequencies and relative weights of the responses of the study sample members on the scale used for this purpose, and the results were as follows. It is clear from Table 6 that the effectiveness of online learning in light of the Corona pandemic at the level of school administration is (low), as the means of responses on the domain was (2.55) and a relative weight of (51.00%), while the averages of the responses to the items of the domain ranged between (2.38–2.84). it is worth mentioning that the item number (6) i.e. “The school administration provides a guide for using the site of the educational material for students.” Ranked the first with a relative weight (80.56%), and a (medium) effective level. The researchers attribute this result to the fact that the Corona pandemic crisis was an emergency and new and was not adequately planned to face it. Also, the situation was fluctuating between high and low rates of infection with the virus, so the directions of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Interior to lockdown suddenly, which led to the confusion of work in schools. This result goes in line with the study of Basilaia and Kvavadze [6].

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Table 5 Relative weights, averages and standard deviations of the second domain Item

Means

Standard deviation

Ratio

1

Remote tests are an appropriate way to assess students’ achievement

3.08

0.797

61.60

4

Medium

2

Online learning is more time efficient than face-to-face learning

3.84

0.785

76.80

2

High

3

There is high credibility 2.38 in evaluating students through the online learning system

1.233

47.60

10

Low

4

The primary school teacher is satisfied with the online learning system

2.68

1.422

53.60

6

Medium

5

The evaluation methods used in the online learning system are appropriate and take place in a variety of ways

2.42

1.431

48.40

9

Low

6

The student is continuously evaluated during the online learning process

2.66

1.452

53.20

8

Medium

7

Attaching the educational material to the students is easy and convenient

3.98

0.708

79.60

1

High

8

The teacher answers easily the students’ inquiries about the attached scientific material

3.30

1.434

66.00

3

Medium

9

The educational content includes exercises and assignments that aid learning

2.72

1.098

54.40

5

Medium

10

The teacher has sufficient skills to design and produce effective electronic content

2.68

1.504

53.60

7

Medium

0.611

59.48

The effectiveness of online learning in 2.974 light of the spread of the Corona virus at the teacher level

Rank

Response level

Medium

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Table 6 Relative weights, averages and standard deviations of the third domain Items

Means

Standard deviation

Ratio

Rank

Response level

1

The techniques used in online learning are effective and cover all elements of the curriculum

2.44

0.805

48.80

6

Low

2

There is a smooth transition from face-to-face learning to online learning in light of the Corona crisis

2.52

1.137

50.40

4

Low

3

The school 2.56 administration gives training electronic courses that explain the mechanism of using the online learning system for teachers during the Corona pandemic

0.943

51.20

3

Low

4

The online learning system provides direct communication among the human elements of the educational situation (administration, teacher, student)

2.38

0.893

47.60

7

Low

5

The school 2.52 administration provides appropriate technical support to facilitate the use of technology in the educational material

1.254

50.40

5

Low

6

The school 2.84 administration provides a guide for using the site of the educational material for students

0.881

56.80

1

Medium

7

The school administration is constantly evaluating the mechanism of online teaching

2.62

0.798

52.40

2

Medium

The effectiveness of online learning in 2.55 light of the spread of the Corona virus at the school administration level

0.375

51.00

Low

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5 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research This study was applied in the second semester of the school year 2021–2022, where this study was applied only in primary schools in Gaza City, even it tackled the male and female primary school teachers, the correlations between their gender, and years of experience as well as their academic qualifications has not been investigated due to the time constrains. Thus, it is suggested to conduct further studies on the correlations between the effectiveness of online learning and the demographic data of the respondents, besides studies to tackle different tools and fields of online learning.

6 Recommendations In light of the results of the study, the researchers recommend the following: • Training the teaching staff on how to use online learning tools and platforms. • Holding training courses and workshops for students on how to use online learning. • Develop plans, in advance, by the school administration to follow them during the implementation of online learning. • Providing the necessary infrastructure, tools and technical means to implement online learning in primary schools.

References 1. Abu Shehidim, S.: The Effectiveness of E-learning in Light of the Spread of the Coronavirus from the Point of View of Teachers at Palestine Polytechnic University (Kadoorie) [email protected] (2021) 2. Ahmed, R.: Utilizing E-Learning to achieve quality standards in the educational process. Arab J. Qual. Assur. High. Educ. (9) (2012) 3. Al-Aani, M.: Interactive E-Learning. Academic Book Center, Jordan (2015) 4. Al-Mughayer, M., et al.: The reality of crisis and disaster management in Gaza sector. J. Islamic Univ. Econ. Adm. Stud. 2(26) (2018) 5. Atwan, A., Matar, Y.: Scientific Research Methods. University Student Library, Gaza (2016) 6. Basilaia, G., Kvavadze, D.: Transition to online education in schools during a SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Georgia. Pedagogical Res. 5(4), em0060 (2020). https:// doi.org/10.29333/pr/7937 Retrieved, 27/5/2020 7. Dooa, S., Al-Misrati, S.: Challenges of applying e-learning in Libyan educational institutions in light of crises (the Corona pandemic) “Theoretical study” The first virtual international scientific conference on Corona pandemic, reality and future, and the foundation for the Mediterranean countries (2020) 8. Galo, G.F.C.: A perspective about Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Sociedad de Infectología del Guayas (2020)

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9. Khudair, M.: Distance learning in light of crises (opportunities and challenges) from the teachers’ point of view in Hafr Al-Batin Governorate. J. Educ. Psychol. Sci. 5(28), 1–23 (2021) 10. Miqdadi, M.: Perceptions of secondary school students in government schools in Jordan for the use of distance education in light of the Corona pandemic and its developments. Arab J. Sci. Publishing 19, 96–114 (2020) 11. Mohammed, Z.: The importance of distance learning in the spread of the Coronavirus virus. Al-Ijtihad J. Legal Econ. Stud. 9(4), 493 (2020)

Smart Scholarship System Adel Khelifi , Hurma Ehtesham , Mohamed Al-Mansoori, Alaa Taha Hasan, and Shoug Bin Tamim

Abstract To apply for a scholarship under the existing method, applicants must be physically present. In addition, the current system is not scholarship-specific and it takes time to review applications. The goal with this project is to create a smart scholarship system that streamlines the process of awarding scholarships for everyone involved: from the scholarship committee to the awardees. The proposed system will enable Abu Dhabi University (ADU) students to apply for scholarships, verify their scholarship status, and expedite the scholarship office’s operations. Students can also return to their stored data to add, update, and analyze it. Students can apply to a variety of different scholarship programs. Scholarships exist, for instance, for students with particularly impressive academic credentials or who are ADU alumni. Students will be able to track their application status, receive assistance from the administration department via live chat, see submitted applications, provide feedback on an application, and search for specific application information. Keywords Educational technology · Smart universities · Scholarship software · Software development

1 Introduction The adjustment to life in higher education is challenging for everyone. Abu Dhabi University, located in Mohammed bin Zayed City in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the A. Khelifi · H. Ehtesham (B) · M. Al-Mansoori · A. T. Hasan · S. B. Tamim Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi, UAE e-mail: [email protected] M. Al-Mansoori e-mail: [email protected] A. T. Hasan e-mail: [email protected] S. B. Tamim e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_70

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United Arab Emirates, admits hundreds of students per semester. Some students register for their classes and pay their tuition upfront, while others earn a university scholarship for their exceptional high school performance. Not forgetting that other students who have problems paying their university tuition after they are admitted, ask for financial aid. To complete registration, students must physically visit the enrollment system to submit their papers, apply for a scholarship, and use an ERP account on one of the university’s computers. Students and teachers at Abu Dhabi University utilize the ERP to perform a variety of tasks, including marking attendance, checking grades, adding courses, discontinuing courses, and paying tuition payments. Students applying for a scholarship must undergo the same procedure each semester to demonstrate their financial need. Additionally, each semester, students are required to pay tuition fees in order to study and attend university. Throughout the first week of the semester, the financial department will be flooded with students seeking to pay their tuition. However, ERP cannot handle the number of pupils attempting to access the site. Moreover, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students were not to physically attend campus and perform these duties as they did previously. Since tuition payments were desired to be paid through the ERP, it generated significant difficulties for students during the first week of the Fall 2020/21 semester. The website was inaccessible to people who desired to utilize it. Hence, the objective of this project is to establish a smart scholarship system with a mobile application that simplifies the process of applying for university scholarships and paying semester tuition expenses. This would allow each student to complete these assignments from their own secure location. In addition, it would reduce physical contact with people, creating a safer environment and decreasing the likelihood of contracting the COVID19 virus. As a bonus, this software would lighten the ERP’s workload, making it more stable for other students to make use of the site as well. By elucidating the project’s objectives, the intended audience can better appreciate the significance of the investigation. Consequently, research aims convey meaning to the intended audience. A study’s objectives provide clear guidance. The scope is specified as soon as the researcher defines the objectives. The objectives enable the researcher to stay on track with the current research and avoid deviating from the topic of study [1]. The following list highlights all the objectives for this research. • Make it easy for individuals to apply for scholarships at Abu Dhabi University without physically visiting the campus • Recognizing the user’s requirements for this application • Make sure all the features of the application match with the users’ requirements • Build a safe, user-friendly, and responsive application • Verify that the generated application satisfies all the requirements and operates without any defects. This paper will describe the Literature review to better appreciate the context of the current topic. Following a discussion of the proposed system, the team’s solution to the challenge will be described in detail. The testing procedures will next be discussed to demonstrate that the proposed app was constructed correctly.

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2 Literature Review To have a proper understanding of the proposed system, here is a non-exhaustive list of similar solutions: 1. Abu Dhabi University (ADU) scholarships: Maximum scholarship covers four years or till graduation. Scholarships offered at Abu Dhabi University vary in terms of eligibility conditions. These requirements may include a minimum grade point average, approval from higher-up departments, language competency, demographics, or minimum credit hours. A few scholarships are available, including the H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Scholarship, the Chairman’s Scholarship, the University Scholarship, the Academic Scholarship, the Athletic Scholarship, the Merit-based Scholarship, the Family Waiver Tuition Scholarship, and the Alumni Scholarship. 2. Over 2500 different scholarship grants were administered and distributed at the University of Ottawa. They created a website for Fluid Review, which helped them increase scholarship applications by 220%. Additionally, this website made it simpler for students to apply for scholarships. This website benefited not only the kids, but even the administrators as well. It made it easier for them to access and handle scholarship funds. The primary functions of this system were gaining access to available scholarships and submitting team applications. Students could log in using their university credentials [2]. 3. Eric Sauser designed a scholarship administration system to enhance the scholarship process at the University of Northern Iowa. Four years of employment at the UNI College of Business Administration made Eric aware of the institution’s need for a scholarship management system. The created system allows the user to monitor the application’s status, evaluate scholarship opportunities, and access applicant information. Users with the appropriate access privileges can add, modify, and delete any data saved. This technique assisted coordinators in locating specific information rather than going through individuals’ files located in several locations. Eric utilized the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) technique to design this system [3]. 4. In 2015, Rizvi created an online scholarship management system aimed at students from underrepresented communities. This is an online application submission mechanism that allows students to apply from any location. Through the system’s efficiency and efficacy, it reduces delays, errors, fraud, subjectivity, and redundancy in scholarship awarding. Data is also made available to various authorities for the verification process. Additionally, the online approach increased the transparency of the pre-matric and post-matric scholarship systems [4]. 5. Online Scholarship Application and Record Management System of AYZ City: Engineer Ariel M. Marave discussed the scholarship application process in her study report. She stated that the present procedure at Batangas State University involves documentation. She also said that the existing system is time-consuming, and that many individuals miss their chance to study because they must wait for

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the university’s acceptance/rejection letter. The technique tends to reduce human resources and boost security by eliminating paperwork [5, 6]. Second, it stores all transactions in its database, eliminating the need for physical documents. The system also includes calendars with crucial dates such as interview dates and entrance exam times. PHP is used as the system’s programming language, and XAMMP serves as the server’s memory for all records [7].

3 Proposed System 3.1 Requirement Gathering For a software development attempt to be successful, it must begin with a good set of requirements. The contents of this document will serve as the basis for all future materials, including documentation for end users and internal processes [8]. The following list defines the requirements gathered after surveys, questioners and interviews with the software’s potential users.

3.2 Functional Requirements Functional requirements identify what the system needs to do. • Basic functionality required: logging-in, viewing and selecting the scholarships, data filling, inputting information, files, and pictures into the application. • Students are going to upload files to the application along with sending emails. Hence, Accessibility to camera, photo library, and email. • Application needs to submit the scholarship requests to the scholarship office. • Application needs to provide permission to scholarship department to view, edit, approve, or reject submitted requests. • Scholarships can be edited and re-submitted by students after receiving feedback from the administration.

3.3 Non-functional Requirements The non-functional requirements of this application would focus on the performance, usability, and security of the system. • Performance: The loading time of the application is responsive on Android and iOS. Application is also responsive to the commands implemented by the user. • Usability: The application is easy to use and user friendly.

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Fig. 1 Overall system diagram

• Security: Data is secured and protected. Passwords is hidden from the public. Private information is only accessible to the Scholarship Department.

3.4 Overall Proposed System Certain steps are needed to create a scholarship system. Figure 1 shows a system overview. The user must login, they could be student or scholarship office employee. Once logged in, members can access their functions. Students could check the status of their applications and submit new ones in the cloud. If students have questions, they can email the scholarship office. Scholarship department officials would have administrative access to view applications and decide if they can be approved and processed or denied. Figure 1 shows the system flow from the students’ and scholarship officers’ perspectives. Figure 2 displays the student system method.

3.5 Context Diagram The context diagram is used to provide an overview of an entire system. It demonstrates the general input and output generated by different entities in the entire system Fig. 3 demonstrates the context diagram for the scholarship application. The entities involved in the Scholarship Application system consist of: • Student—Main users of the application • Firebase Cloud Server—Where scholarship applications get sent to be viewed by scholarship office employees

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Fig. 2 Student diagram

• Firebase Database—Consists of student’s private information (passport size photos, Emirates ID, visa copy) • Scholarship Office Employee—View scholarship applications. They can either accept or reject applications. They can also email specific students for feedback.

3.6 Development Below is a walk-through of the proposed system from both Student and Admin perspectives. On the initial screen the user provides the password for their university ID. For security purposes, the password is hidden. If a user forgets their password, they can submit a request to reset it. The user can register or log in. This page is for all users. Students can log in as students, while Scholarship Office staff can log in as administrators. After logging in, students can browse scholarship opportunities like, University Scholarship and Tuition Waiver for Families. Students can apply for

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Fig. 3 Context diagram

scholarships or access additional information by clicking “View”. After choosing “View,” a brief scholarship description is displayed to the student. “Apply” transforms the page into a platform for applications. After applying for a scholarship, students can monitor its status on the horizontal dashboard’s second tab. After the Scholarship Office staff evaluates the application, the status changes to “Accepted” or “Rejected”. The diagram in Fig. 4 depicts the student UI Perspective. The administrator must first log in with their email and password. Then, they will be able to view student applications. Figure 5 depicts the administrator reviewing the student’s application, seeing all uploaded files and their respond to student files. After

Fig. 4 Students perspective: viewing scholarships

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Fig. 5 Admins perspective: viewing scholarships

reviewing the application, the administrator determines whether to accept, deny, or leave incomplete.

3.7 Testing Testing identifies defects/bugs before delivering software to the client, ensuring its quality [9]. It makes software trustworthy and user-friendly. Well-tested software operates reliably and efficiently [10]. Multiple steps of testing were conducted to ensure that the final system is error-free. 1. System Testing: The entire system was examined to identify any missing needs. The primary demand of the project, which was to create a computerized scholarship application system for the institution, was evaluated. 2. Functional Testing: The mobile app’s functional requirements were tested. For instance, Students are going to upload files to the application along with sending emails. Hence, Accessibility to camera, photo library, and email was validated. The Overall System Diagram depicted in Fig. 1 was used to compare and validate all functional requirements implemented by the team. 3. Compatibility testing: The team feared that the project would have issues due trying to reach a wider audience. After using Flutter, the team found a code that allowed the code to be well optimized for all phones no matter what operating system they use. 4. Usability testing: The application was evaluated to determine if it contained an excessive amount of redundant information that could distract users. Thus, the mobile application’s design was kept simple for aesthetic and usability reasons [11].

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3.8 Final System The final system consists of a mobile application that requires log-in access and an active Internet connection to be used. From the standpoint of the student, the student may apply for any scholarship of their choosing. After applying, Scholarship Office employees log in to see whether any applications need their attention. Employees can provide feedback to students. Employee can also accept or reject a student’s scholarship application. Finally, students can contact the scholarship department for any inquiries or concerns, email the scholarship office, and locate the university using Google Maps.

4 Conclusion and Future Work 4.1 Future Work and Recommendations Almost every project can be enhanced. This scholarship application is the same as all others. The team plans to carry out the following tasks in the future: 1. Implement an effective live chat feature. 2. Instruct the application to perform certain tasks requiring human contact. For instance, you may instruct the application to accept or reject applications based on specified conditions. 3. Create a server specifically for scholarship applications. 4. Extend to further universities. 5. Communicate with additional prospective consumers who would benefit from the application. This application may appear straightforward, but it has the potential to become a necessity in the future. Even though this program was designed for usage by students at Abu Dhabi University, other universities may be interested in it to protect the safety of their faculty and students. Furthermore, it is feasible to have more potential consumers, such as Immigration office staff who have expressed interest in the application’s concept. Scholarship provision is one of the various services provided by the immigration. The immigration office would appreciate an application where newcomers can easily submit their applications.

4.2 Summary Many university students apply for scholarships. The combination of scholarship benefits and a tuition discount would assist and encourage students to earn scholarships. Previously, students had to travel from other Emirates to apply for scholarships

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at the university. Another issue that students faced was the delay generated by PeopleSoft owing to the tremendous demand it faces when other students desire to register for extra courses. Furthermore, with the current pandemic of COVID-19, heading to Abu Dhabi University was a bigger struggle to those who lived in other parts of the Emirates or are not in the country. After interviewing two key stakeholders, the team decided to develop a mobile app for scholarship applications by students. After applying, the scholarship office employees can use the app to view the application then provide their feedback, followed by their verdict whether the application is accepted or rejected. The tool would lessen PeopleSoft stress and allow students to conveniently apply for scholarships from home. The Flutter app that supports iOS and Android was used for the software development. Initially, the team produced a prototype exhibiting the user interface and essential functionality to the scholarship office of Abu Dhabi University. Then they designed a scholarship application after meeting with scholarship office staff. Next the development phase took place where the entire application was coded. Lastly, testing was done to ensure that the application met all the requirements of the potential users.

References 1. Aggarwal, A.: Why is it important to properly frame the research objectives? [web log] (2013). Retrieved 2022, from https://www.projectguru.in/frame-research-objectives/ 2. TheUniversity of Ottawa. https://fluidreview.com/case-studies/the-university-of-ottawa/ 3. Sauser, E.I.: Scholarship Management System (2011) 4. Payshade. http://payshade.com/ 5. Talib, M.A., Khelifi, A., Jololian, L.: Secure software engineering: a new teaching perspective based on the SWEBOK. Interdiscip. J. Inf. Knowl. Manag. 5, 83–99 (2010) 6. Khelifi, A., Aburrous, M., Talib, M.A., Shastry, P.V.S.: Enhancing protection techniques of e-banking security services using open source cryptographic algorithms. In: 2013 14th ACIS International Conference on Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Networking and Parallel/Distributed Computing, pp. 89–95. IEEE (2013) 7. Marave, A.M.: Online scholarship application and record management system for AYZ City. Int. J. Recent Innov. Acad. Res. 3(3), 32–56 (2019). Retrieved from https://www.ijriar.com/ index.php/ijriar/article/view/186 8. Stafford, W.: The Importance of Requirements Gathering for Software Projects. KTL Solutions, 14 Oct-2015. [Online]. Available: https://www.ktlsolutions.com/the-importance-of-requireme nts-gathering-for-software-projects/. Accessed:26-Sep-2022 9. Talib, M.A., Khelifi, A., Abran, A., Ormandjieva, O.: Techniques for quantitative analysis of software quality throughout the SDLC: the SWEBOK guide coverage. In: 2010 Eighth ACIS International Conference on Software Engineering Research, Management and Applications, pp. 321–328. IEEE (2010) 10. Sharma, L.: Why Is Testing Necessary and Important? ISTQB. TOOLSQA, 24Sep-2022. [Online]. Available: Accessed: 24-Sep-2022 11. Khelifi, A., Hyari, K.H.: A mobile device software to improve construction sites communications “MoSIC”. Int. J. Adv. Comput. Sci. Appl. 7(11) (2016)

Return on Expectations of Jobseekers’ Training in the Employability Skills Program of Bahrain Hesham Ahmed Al-Emadi, Allam Hamdan, and Doha Abualsaud

Abstract The author of this chapter delved into existing literature concerning two independent variables that may or may not affect the dependent variable that is the main focus of the dissertation. The two independent variables are jobseekers’ marketability to the labor market and Employer’s expectations of the Employability Skills Program of Bahrain. The dependent variable is the degree of effectiveness of the aforementioned Program. Newly presented studies in peer reviewed journals imply that employability skills (or soft skills) are considered an absolute necessity by many Employers around the world. Furthermore, previous works point toward a positive relationship between acquiring the required employability skills and getting employed. It is also apparent that, at present, Employers are generally unsatisfied with the level of soft skillsets fresh university graduates are offering during the candidates selection process. However, there exists a noticeable literature gap (considering work done since 2017) concerning the effectiveness of vocational qualifications that offer employability skills programs tailored by internationally recognized awarding bodies. The Kingdom of Bahrain’s Ministry of Labour and Social Development follows this path for the benefit of its registered jobseekers. The author aims to contribute to the existing literature by performing the necessary analytical exercises to test the relationship between the aforementioned variables. Keywords Employability · Training · Skills · Jobseekers · Labour · Kirkpatrick · Bahrain

H. A. Al-Emadi College of Business and Finance, Muharraq, Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] A. Hamdan (B) Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] D. Abualsaud College of Business Administration, University of Business and Technology, Jeddah 21448, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_71

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1 Introduction According to Training Magazine’s 2020 Industry Report, organizations in the United States spent around US$82 billion in training and development activities toward the benefit of their employees, with almost no signs of slowing down even at the height of the COVID-19 global pandemic [5]. Indeed, Ganesh and Indradevi [6] suggest that training and development-be it professional or behavioral-enhances employee performance, and therefore reflects a direct positive impact on expected output. As for jobseekers, the International Labour Organization has surmised that Employers prefer candidates equipped with the necessary soft skills to gracefully assimilate with the workplace and corporate culture [18]. In this respect, The Ministry of Labour and Social Development of the Kingdom of Bahrain makes no exception when it comes to preparing the country’s jobseekers to venture into the labor market. As mandated by the National Employment Program 2.0, which was launched by the Crown Prince and Prime Minister in January 2021, the Ministry is responsible for training at least 10,000 Bahraini jobseekers in various courses annually. These theoretical and practical courses cover basic skills, professional certifications, and on-the-job training at domestic and multinational corporations. The Vocational Institutes Affairs Directorate is tasked with issuing approvals and licenses concerning these programs, while the Training and Manpower Development Directorate is responsible for the psychometric evaluation and guidance of jobseekers toward the best training options on offer, in addition to monitoring their performance during and after the program’s period. Also, as a direct result of the economic ramifications brought forth by the COVID19 pandemic, the Ministry and its strategic ally, the Labour Fund (Tamkeen), devised and unveiled the Employability Skills Program in March 2021, which was considered as one of the main initiatives under the National Employment Program 2.0’s umbrella. According to Mohamad et al. [13], employability skills are defined as “as the preparation of graduates to get jobs effectively and to expand in their careers” and scholars often link them to interpersonal skills (p. 569). The training program enjoys a structured, multi-tiered curriculum that supposedly consists of the necessary basic and professional skillsets that jobseekers need to successfully assimilate in the labor market. Furthermore, the program can only be conducted by Ministry-approved and licensed training institutes that utilize the curricula of internationally recognized awarding bodies, such as Pearson and City & Guilds. Furthermore, these curricula provide most of the soft skills the World Economic Forum has deemed as most significant to have in 2022 and beyond ([11], pp. 9, 12), which also coincide with the Ministry’s own findings that were published in its “jobs and skills of the future” reports between 2020 and 2021. These reports targeted corporations and expert individuals across the Fintech, Artificial Intelligence and Sustainable Energy sectors of the Kingdom. Examples of such skills valued by Employers include critical thinking, problem solving and good communication. Proving to be quite popular with jobseekers, the Ministry was able to train over 12,500 Bahrainis via the Employability Skills Program up until December 2021.

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Although the set annual target of 10,000 trainees was surpassed, the program’s significant cost (estimated to be in the millions of Bahraini Dinars) for the period March–December 2021 has created a curious desire for undertaking an effectiveness analysis exercise. Ergo, the main question on the minds of those responsible for the program at the Ministry and Tamkeen is whether it has made a positive impact upon the jobseekers’ professional growth and personal attitude, or had little to no effect at all upon their marketability to Employers. In addition, the Ministry and Tamkeen have fielded a limited number of complaints regarding the efficacy, relevance, and timings of the program by jobseekers, as well as some voices of concern from the public regarding the program’s costs. With COVID-19’s ripple effects still being felt by many sectors of the local economy, recruitment has also slowed down; during the height of the pandemic, the number of jobseekers jumped from 10,000 to 15,000, and this figure has been accepted by the Ministry as the new constant until the economy fully recovers from the aftereffects of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the program’s graduates keep searching for suitable jobs so that they may demonstrate their newly earned skills to potential Employers. This painstaking process is causing a sense of disappointment in some jobseekers and their parents, making them assume that the program was a waste of time and effort to begin with. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the program’s reality against the sentiments of jobseekers and Employers through conducting quantitative analysis of primary data, in addition to qualitative research targeting similar programs provided to jobseekers of other nations. In less than a year since its launch, the Employability Skills Program has garnered the mixed attention of regulators, politicians, employers, and jobseekers. Therefore, the author of this paper wishes to contribute to the consensus regarding the Employability Skills Program’s fate to assist the Ministry with the future direction it must chart for its training initiatives and projects. A comprehensive Return on Expectations exercise will be performed to establish the most impactful factors that will determine the Program’s destiny. However, the following literature review has been thoroughly conducted to support the author when testing the validity of the independent and dependent variables, in addition to the hypotheses mentioned within the conceptual framework of this academic investigation under Sect. 2.7.

2 Literature Review 2.1 History of Soft Skills Training has been a significant part of human progress ever since the emergence of trade and craftsmanship. Specifically, apprenticeship was the sole source of practical training for centuries, while theoretical classes were reserved for academia. It was not until the introduction of complex machinery, products and services during the

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early twentieth century that apprenticeship programs warranted the inclusion of theoretical parts to ensure a holistic understanding of the tasks involved. As office work became more dominant post-World War Two, academic education rose to prominence as apprenticeship programs started to dwindle toward a tight corner reserved for low-skill jobs and crafts This phenomenon also gave way for class-based basic and professional training courses to fill the gap left by apprenticeship programs. Employability skills programs are a general example in this respect [1].

2.2 The Rise of Soft Skills in the Workplace With the noticeable increase of desk jobs since the late 1960’s, interpersonal skills became increasingly significant to maintain a healthy work environment and increase profitability of the business. Evidence suggests that the phrase “soft skills” was first used by the United States military between the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, since everything it taught its soldiers other than interpersonal skills was considered “hard skills”, such as dealing with weaponry, machinery and map reading [17]. As the term gained popularity in civilian circles, soft skills were identified as non-technical, whereas hard skills were technical in nature. Usually, hard skills are taught at school or on the job, while soft skills are supposedly gained through social and professional interaction and experience.

2.3 The Importance of Soft Skills for Professional Success Although general societal perception favors the acquirement of hard skills as the main path to a successful career, extensive research conducted by Deshpande and Munshi [4] suggests that soft skills contribute to more than 80% of a candidate’s rate of success at their job. Moreover, the labor market is becoming a complex place with fierce competition, which requires candidates to demonstrate high levels of interpersonal competency to be hired successfully. According to Dean and East [2], Employers of the twenty-first century are looking for candidates with excellent communication, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal skills. On the other hand, graduate students surveyed in Singapore have surmised the top three soft skills to be positive attitude, communication, and self-motivation [12]. Most notably, communication is a common denominator between Employers and jobseekers’ expectations, which emphasizes the sheer importance of acquiring this skill to achieve professional success. Furthermore, a noteworthy study by Parlamis and Monnot [15] argues that the term “soft skills” should be retired due to its negative association with synonyms such as “weak”, “dull”, and “unsubstantial”; instead, the authors recommended an acronym that better reflects the significance of these skills: CORE, which stands for Competence in Organizational and Relational Effectiveness. However, going

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forward and for the purpose of this research, the term “employability skills” will be used so that it remains relevant to the namesake of the program under scrutiny. Nevertheless, the need for a structured curriculum with the most pertinent employability skills is justified. As previously mentioned, the United Kingdom is renowned for various awarding bodies that offer multi-tiered employability skills certification. Other countries offer employability skills via their academic programs in the form of short electives and workshops.

2.4 Employability Skills in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom is considered as the birthplace of the First Industrial Revolution, which introduced the steam engine and its intricate mechanical parts as the foundations of mechanized production and the armies of laborers that followed, ready to take on such an unprecedented challenge in the world of capitalism [3]. As a result, the country has become entrenched in the business of skilling, reskilling, and upskilling, which eventually nurtured the culture of establishing regional awarding bodies for various types of competencies. To gain national recognition, awarding bodies of the United Kingdom usually strive to place their qualifications on the register for such awards maintained by The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual). Similarly, the Vocational Institutes Affairs Directorate at the Ministry of Labour and Social Development mandates Bahrain’s training institutes to carry awards listed on the Ofqual and similarly official registers worldwide (MLSD Website, 2022). In addition, local qualifications may also be accepted so long as they are placed on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), which is regulated by the Education and Training Quality Authority. Popular awarding bodies with Bahraini training institutes that offer employability skills qualifications include Pearson, City & Guilds, and the Northern Council for Further Education (NCFE). These programs usually offer three tiers: basic, intermediate, and advanced. As per the Ministry’s data, most training institutes offer the basic tier to their trainees. Apart from vocational qualifications, various UK-based studies were also published concerning the need of incorporating employability skills within academic curricula. According to Kornelakis and Petrakaki [9], Employers in the United Kingdom are weary of the level of employability skills that university graduates get from their higher education. They claim that the skills level has deteriorated due to commercialization of universities, where educational institutions are concerned mainly with reaching competitive advantage to attract prospective students, and thus employability skills have ended up with taking the backseat. To combat this phenomenon, Kornelakis and Petrakaki suggest that dedicated, small teaching groups be set up to address the employability skills head on. These teaching groups may utilize a myriad of methods to teaching employability skills effectively, such as role playing, analyzing case studies and conducting live debates in the Oxford Union-style.

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Another study by Osmani et al. [14], which complements the aforementioned research, suggests that Employers in the United Kingdom anticipate university graduates to be ready for the job market, armed with the required interpersonal and technical competencies, and do not expect to train them on the job for employability skills. Several polls aimed at Employers and surveyed by the Osmani, et al. recommend that academic institutions must establish and maintain open communication channels with practitioner circles in the labor market to specify the required employability skills on a regular basis. In addition, Employers advise universities to instill in their students the desire for self-learning, so that such skills can be attained through a process of personal discovery. When it comes to learning employability skills in the workplace, Chakraborty [1] explains a notable situational learning tool implemented by a British company called Soft Skills-Centered Mentoring; this method allows fresh joiners to select certain mentors from the organization with at least three proven employability skills that mentees can benefit from during their learning and development relationship.

2.5 The Necessity of Training Evaluation In order to properly address the problem and purpose of this paper, the analytical exercise linked to the outputs of the Employability Skills Program should undergo a certain form of an evaluation process, preferably through a scientific and practical model. According to Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick [8], in times of economic crisis organizations sacrifice their training budgets before taking any other measure. Such action may have drastic effects upon staff’s work efficiency and maintaining the required competitive advantage to stay ahead of rivals. Therefore, Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick argue that, instead of focusing on delivering the perfect training package with modern and scientific methods, training managers must focus on the training’s content in order to tackle the most serious issues affecting the organization’s market performance. In the Ministry’s case, the main concern is to fully prepare jobseekers for employability in the labor market. The evaluation stage is key to ensuring effectiveness and efficiency of such training, using the formative (during training) and summative (after training) methods, which must also involve all relevant parties. Due to the significance of training evaluation, the late Professor Don Kirkpatrick, former president of the American Society for Training and Development, developed his world-renowned Kirkpatrick Model in 1954 and published it as a book in 1993 for the training industry’s benefit. In 2016, his son and daughter in law developed and published the New World Kirkpatrick Model, which consists of the following stages: Level 1—Reaction: This stage refers to the “degree to which participants find the training favorable, engaging and relevant to their jobs” (p. 44). In the case of jobseekers, the reaction would be relevant to their career aspirations. It is worthwhile mentioning that most training programs are evaluated in a summative fashion at this level, which according to Model creators is a premature step. Instead, the particulars

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under the Reaction stage should be formative in order to improve the training method and material during the program’s execution. Therefore, customer satisfaction must be measured to eliminate any obstacles that may hinder learning during the program. In terms of relevance, the training program provider must, at all times, monitor the complexity of the material in relation to what the participants require to perform their duties according to their Employers’ expectations. Finally, the engagement aspect of this level ensures that all material is absorbed naturally by the participants through fluid interactions with the trainer and among themselves. In fact, the element of engagement is quite essential for fresh graduate jobseekers, because it can indirectly teach them coveted employability skills such as effective communication and good teamwork. Level 2—Learning: perhaps the most significant component of the New World Kirkpatrick Model, the Learning Stage is the “degree to which participants acquire the intended knowledge, skills, attitude, confidence and commitment based on their participation in the learning event” (p. 41). Knowledge is what the participants know and build on by further learning. Skill on the other hand is how that knowledge is implemented into practice. Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick note that Employers dedicate an unhealthy amount of focus on these two elements, sensing that underperformance must be stemming from the lack thereof, to the extent that they become blind to other crucial reasons such as lack of motivation, weak corporate culture, fierce market rivalry, etc. Attitude constitutes the participants’ perception of the training’s effectiveness upon the quality of their work. Confidence is similar, where it measures the degree of belief participants have toward implementing what they have learned upon their daily tasks. Finally, commitment signifies the degree the participants are willing to apply their newly acquired knowledge and skills to their jobs. This is the main concern of any Employer because lack of commitment means a total waste of their resources. Thus, formative and summative evaluation of this element will effectively produce dramatic results that will be beneficial for any training program’s direction, particularly the Employability Skills Program. Level 3—Behavior: this level gauges the “degree to which participants apply what they learned during training when they are back on the job”. It “consists of critical behaviors, required drivers, and on-the-job learning” (p. 39). As can be observed from Fig. 1, the Behavior Level is the central component of the New World Kirkpatrick Model, where the elements of Levels 1 and 2 are monitored and adjusted to produce the anticipated results. Furthermore, Level 3 reciprocates feedback with Level 4 until the training program meets the Employers’ expectations. In terms of the level’s elements, critical behaviors are defined by Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick as actions that bring about the most impact. Therefore, it is important for any successful training program to align its objectives and materials with the critical behavior of participants to have the desired impact on their actions at work. As for the required drivers, they are the ones that push the learned training into on-the-job performance; that is achieved by the circular motion depicted in the figure above: by monitoring, reinforcing, encouraging, and rewarding critical behavior. Finally, behavior is constantly

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Fig. 1 The New World Kirkpatrick Model

reinforced by on-the-job learning. Once their traditional training is concluded, staff become the vanguards of good performance through the tireless enhancement of their knowledge and skills at the workplace. Level 4—Results: it is worth noting that the New World Kirkpatrick Model starts from this level downward. Indeed, planning the required knowledge and skills outcomes is the highlight of any training program. As mentioned in this paper’s introduction, the majority of criticism toward the Employability Skills Program pivots on its “ineffective and costly” outputs in getting jobseekers hired or finding suitable jobs. So, planning results is extremely important and constitutes the lifeblood of the entire model. Hence, Level 4 is defined as the “degree to which targeted outcomes occur as a result of the training and the support and accountability package” (p. 36). The final level consists of two elements, namely the result statement and leading indicators. The result statement purely mimics the more-encompassing vision statement, but in a specific sense that relates to the training program’s required outcomes. For example, the Ministry and Tamkeen’s result statement for the Employability Skills Program is to prepare a competent, skilled national workforce ready for immediate integration with the labor market. As for the leading indicators, they are responsible for keeping the result statement on track by measuring and/or observing any matter revolving around the training program. For example, leading indicators toward the success of the Employability Program may be constituted in the overall economic health of the local labor market, the number of jobs that Employers give preference to expatriates, the attractiveness of starting salaries, and so forth. Undoubtably, understanding the full picture behind the return on expectations for the Employability Skills Program is a complex undertaking that a straightforward approach of just sending and analyzing questionnaires may not be sufficient. The application of the New World Kirkpatrick Model to fine tune the results will be a significant exercise to reach the required accuracy for determining the relevance of the hypotheses mentioned in the paper’s conceptual framework below. In order

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words, the quantitative approach of this research will immensely benefit from the scientific application of the aforementioned model, without necessarily engrossing the author’s effort with the qualitative route in any way.

2.6 Literature Gap In recent years, the significance of employability skills has been one of the main concerns of global non-profits, such as the International Labor Organization’s research into the soft skills training needed to fight forced labor [16] and the World Economic Forum’s 2022 outlook on jobs and skills of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Indeed, both organizations have conducted extensive landscape studies focused on First World and Emerging Countries’ labor markets, with the objective of identifying the required skillsets for jobseekers to become marketable. So, while there is evidently a wealth of information from academic and professional journals about the importance of integrating employability skills in higher education institutions’ curricula and how to solve the lack thereof, there are no significant peer-reviewed references that tackle the effectiveness of vocational employability skills qualifications offered by awarding bodies. Since Bahrain’s current main mode of transferring employability skills is by training jobseekers at vocational institutes that offer such qualifications, this paper aims to add value to this method in academic circles. Such addition may introduce the possibility of adopting these qualifications by institutes of higher education too. Additionally, the paper will also introduce a practical paradigm for the application of the New World Kirkpatrick Model to the qualifications in question in order to test them against labor market requirements. The author hopes that the Ministry will adopt this approach with all its training programs, so that the national workforce can be on par with the rest of the developed world in terms of knowledge, competencies and skills.

2.7 Conceptual Framework See Fig. 2.

2.8 Conclusion The sheer importance of employability skills to Employers cannot be understated. The literature review conducted herein strongly supports this notion, and that university graduates must earn such skills before getting hired on the job. Higher education institutions mostly focus on bestowing technical knowledge upon their students,

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Fig. 2 Conceptual framework of return on expectations of jobseekers’ training in the Employability Skills Program of Bahrain

whereas most technical skills are gained through workplace mentorship, on-thejob training and apprenticeship. These conclusions were from literature review that tackled the statistics derived from developed nations, specifically the United Kingdom. This is especially important to this paper because virtually every training institute in Bahrain carries and executes vocational qualifications vouched for by an awarding body registered under the Ofqual. The Ministry and Tamkeen both believe in the importance of the Employability Skills Program, but its contents, form of execution and inherent value to both jobseekers and Employers are yet to be determined by a scientifically academic approach. Testing the conceptual framework in Sect. 2.7 may provide all relevant parties with the answers they are seeking for the Program’s current situation. Although halting the Program altogether seems to be the naturally correct path to take when final results show no to negative impact, the picture cannot be painted in either black or white; for a grey area must exist. Training and labor matters are intertwined with human emotions and behavior, which are central to the New World Kirkpatrick Model. Since human behavior is not always predictable, any scientific analysis concerning it will not yield exact, clear-cut result. In conclusion, should the current Employability Skills Program of Bahrain fail to reap the fruits expected by regulators, Employers and jobseekers, then it must undergo the necessary enhancements and reinforcements to make it the success it needs to be. In conclusion, the literature review supports its existence because of the absolute value employability skills represent to Employers.

References 1. Chakraborty, M.: The dynamics of soft skills. IUP J. Soft Skills 15(1), 20–26 (2021) 2. Dean, S.A., East, J.I.: Soft skills needed for the 21st-century workforce. Int. J. Appl. Manag. Technol. 18(1), 17–32 (2019). https://doi.org/10.5590/IJAMT.2019.18.1.02 3. De Pleijt, A., Nuvolari, A., Weisdorf, J.: Human capital formation during the first industrial revolution: evidence from the use of steam engines. J. Eur. Econ. Assoc. 18(2), 829–889 (2020) 4. Deshpande, S., Munshi, M.M.: The impact of soft skills training on the behavior and work performance of employees in service organizations. IUP J. Soft Skills 14(1), 7–25 (2020) 5. Freifeld, L.: 2020 training industry report. Training 57(5), 22–37 (2020)

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6. Ganesh, M., Indradevi, R.: Importance and effectiveness of training and development. Mediterr. J. Soc. Sci. 6(1), 334–334 (2015) 7. Janahi, Y.M., AlDhaen, E., Hamdan, A. and Nureldeen, W.A.: “Emerging technologies for digitalized learning in higher education”, Development and Learning in Organizations, aheadof-print (2023). https://doi.org/10.1108/DLO-09-2022-0183 8. Kirkpatrick, J.D., Kirkpatrick, W.K.: Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Training Evaluation. ATD Press (2016) 9. Kornelakis, A., Petrakaki, D.: Embedding employability skills in UK higher education: between digitalization and marketization. Ind. High. Educ. 34(5), 290–297 (2020). https://doi.org/10. 1177/0950422220902978 10. Kurdy, D.M., Al-Malkawi, H.-A.N. and Rizwan, S.: “The impact of remote working on employee productivity during COVID-19 in the UAE: the moderating role of job level”, Journal of Business and Socio-economic Development, ahead-of-print (2023). https://doi.org/10.1108/ JBSED-09-2022-0104 11. Leopold, T.A., Ratcheva, V., Zahidi, S.: The Future of Jobs. World Economic Forum (2018). http://reports.weforum.org/future-of-jobs-2018/ 12. Majid, S., Eapen, C.M., Aung, E.M., Oo, K.T.: The importance of soft skills for employability and career development: students and employers’ perspectives. IUP J. Soft Skills 13(4), 7–39 (2019) 13. Mohamad, M., Jamaludin, H., Zawawi, Z.A., Hanafi, W.N.W.: Determinants influencing employability skills: undergraduate perception. Glob. Bus. Manag. Res. 10(3), 568–578 (2018) 14. Osmani, M., Weerakkody, V., Hindi, N., Eldabi, T.: Graduates employability skills: a review of literature against market demand. J. Educ. Bus. 94(7), 423–432 (2019). https://doi.org/10. 1080/08832323.2018.1545629 15. Parlamis, J., Monnot, M.J.: Getting to the CORE: putting an end to the term “soft skills.” J. Manag. Inq. 28(2), 225–227 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492618818023 16. Richmond, A.: Global Guidelines on the Prevention of Forced Labour Through Lifelong Learning and Skills Development Approaches. International Labour Organization (2020). https://www.ilo.org/skills/areas/skills-for-youth-employment/WCMS_762720/lang-en/index.htm 17. Whitmore, P.G.: Soft Skills: Definition, Behavioral Model Analysis, Training Procedures. National Technical Information Service (1974) 18. Wiryasti, C.H., Gunawan, J., Muhamad, T.: Rapid Assessment of Information and Communication Skills Demand in Indonesia. International Labour Organization (2018). https://www. ilo.org/jakarta/whatwedo/publications/WCMS_766461/lang--en/index.htm

Proposed Solutions to Address Training and Development Challenges for Gulf V: A Virtual Corporation Specializing in Internet and Communication Services Mohammad Allaymoun, Mohammed Dawwas, Reem Shamsan, Bayan Al-Darazi, Mohammed Nasser, Reem Mohammed, and Alaa Al-Shuwaikh Abstract The research demonstrates a training issue at Gulf V Company. The study’s main purpose is to learn more about how to solve the Gulf V Company’s training problem. The first part of the study’s introduction has been completed. This section will give a clear picture of the study’s main purpose or objective in relation to the company’s training problem. This section provides detailed explanations of the system’s primary and secondary goals for resolving the training challenge. The backdrop of the study is discussed in the second section. In the second section, the author focuses on the issues associated with accounting training. The purpose and significance of the study have been described. In addition, the goal of the study and its significance in the context of training at Gulf V Company are highlighted. In the third section of this study’s methodology, it was detailed in depth. This section goes over how many people were in each sample as well as how many people were in the entire population. The findings of the study are discussed in the fourth part, labelled

M. Allaymoun (B) · M. Dawwas · R. Shamsan · B. Al-Darazi · M. Nasser · R. Mohammed · A. Al-Shuwaikh Administrative Science Department, College of Administrative and Financial Science, Gulf University, Sanad 26489, Kingdom of Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] M. Dawwas e-mail: [email protected] R. Shamsan e-mail: [email protected] B. Al-Darazi e-mail: [email protected] M. Nasser e-mail: [email protected] R. Mohammed e-mail: [email protected] A. Al-Shuwaikh e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_72

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Findings. Finally, in the conclusion, three recommendations will be provided to detail how to improve this situation through knowledge expansion. Keywords Human resource · Training · Planning · Covid 19 · Online training

1 Introduction Human Resources is a department of a corporation that oversees the workforce by selecting applicants for a certain job, interviewing them, and testing them prior to an appointment. Employees are also trained and evaluated on a regular basis. Employees are also rewarded in order to motivate and encourage them to keep working [1]. In addition, it keeps track of the organization’s culture as well as the regulations and laws that govern it. Human resources may be defined as a set of employees who work in a single organization and are the foundation for the organization’s performance as well as the achievement of its present and future goals [2]. One of the first difficulties that the Human Resources Management Department may face is employees’ commitment to the organization’s laws and policies, which makes it very difficult for employers to keep up with the ever-changing labor laws due to their forgetfulness and lack of interest in them, which may result in judicial complaints against those companies and the organization’s closure. Second, personnel training and development, some businesses struggle to teach their personnel due to a lack of funds to provide them with training courses. Third, the difficulty of adapting to technology, which some business owners face at work in terms of the difficulty of getting employees to adapt to these modern developments and innovations, results in a problem of not keeping up with the markets or gaining a competitive advantage over similar businesses. Finally, there is the issue of diversity. Because of the diversity of races, faiths, nationalities, and cultures, this problem exists in many organizations. This major issue must be resolved [3–5]. The problem of employee training in light of the Corona pandemic is well known, and it is also well known that the Corona pandemic impacted all companies, including Gulf V Company, which attempted to combat the Corona crisis and its consequences by training and developing employees in order to obtain qualified employees. Even on ensuring that they comprehend the training and how to achieve that, especially since this is a telecoms corporation that requires employees to be taught in a variety of communications-related courses [6]. In terms of solutions, first familiarize the trainees with the new system and try to persuade them to use their new training approach by pointing out the benefits [7]. Second, enhance their prizes and use the hoof system to urge people to attend the courses remotely. Third, good and new training methods with ongoing courses to help people adjust to the new system and accept it over time [8]. In terms of what to expect from this study, it is expected that the results of this problem will be given in a comprehensible manner.

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This research will begin with a summary of the research’s objectives, followed by an introduction to the Human Resources Department, as well as various past studies for the HR department and several studies for the difficulties described above. We’ll also lay out the study technique, followed by an explanation of the challenges that Gulf V Company might confront and why the problem was chosen. Furthermore, we will present selected solutions from earlier studies with the same problem, and then explain the selected and appropriate solution. Finally, analyze the conclusion.

2 Literature Review Human resources refers to both the employees of a corporation or organization as well as the department in charge of all employee-related concerns. Employees are one of a company’s or organization’s most valuable assets [9]. The term “human resources” was coined in the 1960s, when the importance of labor relations became apparent and ideas such as motivation, organizational behavior, and selection evaluations began to emerge in a range of workplaces [10]. Human resource management comprises developing and implementing programs aimed at increasing a company’s or organization’s efficiency. It includes the formation, administration, and cultivation of the employer-employee relationship [11]. In most organizations, agencies, and corporations, the human resources department is in charge of the following tasks: 1-Managing staff hiring, selection, and advancement. 2-Employee health and wellness initiatives are created and monitored. 3-Personnel policies are developed, disseminated, and implemented. 4-Providing recruit orientation programs and promoting employee career growth and job training. 5-Imparting guidance on disciplinary actions. 6-Acting as the principal point of contact for work-related injuries or accidents [12, 13]. In contrast to corporate managers who monitor workers’ day-to-day work, HR departments deal with employee issues such as benefits, compensation, employee investments, pension plans, and training. They may also be entrusted with settling conflicts among coworkers or between coworkers and their supervisors [14]. The human resource management team, on the other hand, is responsible for hiring potential employees, managing the recruiting process (background checks, drug tests, and so on), and offering new employee orientation [15]. In addition to handling the employee separation process, the HR management team must carry out a set of responsibilities whenever an employee leaves, is fired, or is laid off. Paperwork must be completed to ensure that the transaction was carried out lawfully. Severance money may be given or bargained for, benefits must be settled, and employee access to corporate resources must be terminated by taking the employee’s keys, badges, laptops, or sensitive materials [16]. Problems faced in human resources planning [17, 18]:

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1. Individuals feel that there are enough people accessible in our labor surplus economy. So, why should you spend time and money on human resource forecasting? Surprisingly, senior management believes the same way about human resource planning. 2. Human resource demand and supply are not always accurate, which complicates human resource planning. The longer the temporal horizon for predicting human resource requirements, the more likely it is that predictions will be wrong. 3. Staff turnover, absenteeism, seasonal employment, economic uncertainty, and technological developments are all factors that make human resource planning ineffective. Human resource forecasting is nothing more than a wild guess because of these variables. 4. The quantitative and qualitative techniques used in human resource planning is sometimes in conflict. Some people consider human resource planning to be nothing more than a numbers game for tracking people’s movements within and outside of the firm. Others, on the other hand, take a qualitative approach, emphasizing on factors such as career planning, skill development, and morale. 5. Human resource professionals are commonly considered as experts in the field of human management. They are, however, generally not specialists. As a result, such individuals’ estimates of human resource needs are unrealistic. Organizational strategies that rely on such assumptions are likely to fail. 6. Some industrial firms do not maintain data on human resources up to date because human resource planning is based on it. Developing an effective human resource plan becomes difficult as a result of the lack of reliable data (Table 1).

3 Research Methodology This study drew on past research on the subject to define the foundations and procedures needed to create a prototype for the proposed solution mechanism. In addition to studying and analyzing various incidents and challenges faced by Gulf V, particularly in the aftermath of the Corona epidemic, a basic idea of how to establish a shared solution across the human and financial resources departments was developed. Through interviews and general conversations, this study aimed to collect basic data and create a model. In this study, semi-structured interviews with academics and experts in the subject were undertaken. The semi-structured interview approach allows the researcher to ask more questions as needed, while also limiting the general perspectives of creating the initial model for the solution and connecting the solution’s pieces. Semi-structured interviews were done in person to provide more information about the solution model and the system for measuring outcomes and implementing the solutions, as well as the technique with the expected outcome to check the effectiveness. In addition, the solutions must be examined and verified at all levels to ensure that they can be implemented and achieve the required results.

How make workplace diversity benefit the company rather than being a problem?

Solution Human resources solution for combating sexual harassment

Workplace diversity issues [20] One of the most often mentioned human resource concerns and solutions is diversity, but it doesn’t mean HR departments are always on top of it. Regardless of how basic the concept of diversity appears, grasping it necessitates a great amount of effort. This is especially true if you want to use the concept of variety in the real world In every element of modern life, including the workplace, diversity is a hot-button issue. You hear a lot about workplace diversity and inclusion these days. Both terms are frequently interchanged They don’t always grasp what they’re saying, unfortunately. That’s why it’s so important to be as clear as possible when expressing any of these vital ideas. Let’s begin by defining what workplace diversity involves in practise

Sexual harassment in the workplace [19]

Problem When it comes to sexual harassment in the workplace, human resource departments are often at odds. This has, unfortunately, been the situation for decades. Fortunately, the public realm has paid much more attention to it in recent years. This increased attention is undeniably morally advantageous. It goes without saying that no one should ever be sexually harassed at work Furthermore, only the frequency of harassment reports has risen, not the number of incidents. As a result, any form of sexual harassment in the workplace is prohibited. This is a good thing for people of all genders, but it raises a number of new difficulties for human resources

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Table 1 Show previous studies for some problems and solutions faced HR department Deal with difficult employees [21]

How to deal with them? (continued)

It’s probably time to replace a demanding employee whose level of production might be easily replaced by a far easier choice. As a business owner, manager, or HR leader, you must be an expert at dealing with difficult employees A difficult employee is more than a squabble among employees. If one person makes things difficult for the company, discontent can escalate and become a major distraction. The environment of disagreement affects everyone, and it can lead to a considerable decline in output and the departure of additional personnel. If you handle the situation correctly, they may be able to defuse the situation and return the team to work Dealing with difficult employees is an unavoidable part of the job, and it’s best to address the matter as soon as feasible

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Workplace diversity issues [20] In today’s workplace, diversity and inclusion are unavoidable ideals. Sadly, neither of these things occurs on their own. They must be mentioned plainly in a company’s mission statement and considered when collective decisions are made. They must also take an active role in the day-to-day operations and standard operating procedures of the organization. Here are five suggestions for encouraging diversity in the workplace to help HR departments achieve this: 1-Talk about diversity with your team on a frequent basis. Emphasize the benefits of working in an inclusive environment 2-It could have been a good idea to work with your workers to identify and correct any unconscious prejudices 3- Take a look at how you hire and promote employees 4-Make certain they don’t prevent particular groups of people from excelling in your company 5-Inspire your staff to recognize and value the value of a diverse workforce 6-Explain how having good language skills and having a global perspective might help you be more productive

Sexual harassment in the workplace [19]

Protecting your employees from sexual harassment is both a moral and legal duty. There are entire books dedicated to preventing or eradicating sexual harassment, but here are some tips to get you started: 1-Take your issues seriously and look into them as completely as you can 2-Make a concerted effort to establish a diverse leadership team and other influential roles 3-Encourage all employees, regardless of gender, to report sexual harassment if they witness it 4-Sexual harassment victims and those who report it might expect their identities to remain anonymous 5-Make sure everyone understands your company’s anti-sexual harassment policies. Any changes should be conveyed to them as well 6-These policies should be published openly around the workplace 7-Employees should be free to express their concerns in a number of ways 8-Assign a dependable HR person to oversee the complaint’s resolution from start to finish

Table 1 (continued) If you have a difficult employee who also contributes significantly to your company, you can take the following actions to enhance your working relationship: 1- put their determination to the test. The more you stretch problem workers’ time and talents, the less likely they are to cause issues, and the more likely you are to maximize their positive contributions to the company 2-Provide them with opportunity to work independently. Limiting team interaction may be especially advantageous for employees who are egotistical, verbally hostile, or dismissive of other team members’ opinions 3-For each of them, make a list of personal work and behavior goals. Work with them to create this, and consider offering incentives like as special projects, bonuses, or more paid time off to encourage them to meet their objectives

Deal with difficult employees [21]

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Gulf V is a virtual corporation that specializes in internet and communication service issues. The company aspires to improve the lives of its customers while also making the future of telecommunications simple. The organization strives to meet the needs of both its consumers and staff. They believe in providing a positive work environment for their employees while also earning their trust and support. The organization intends to use innovation and commitment to acquire maximum client support while also working hard to build a strong customer base. Gulf V aggressively encourages its staff to achieve more and places a high priority on meeting the demands and expectations of its clients.

4 Training Problems Training problems that the company may face: • The workforce is dispersed. Because of the advent of online work and a scattered workforce, new training and development difficulties have emerged. It can be challenging to train a widely dispersed workforce: misconceptions abound, and geographic differences might contribute to training inconsistencies. Some cultures, for example, are more careful than others when it comes to expressing oneself in internet forums. • Various learning techniques Whether you’re training 20 people or 2000, it’s critical to consider individual preferences and habits to avoid future training problems. At least three generations are represented in today’s workforce, each with its own relationship to technology. As a result, assuming that all employees are computer literate or have identical degrees of attention and learning patterns will diminish the training’s effectiveness [22]. • Adapting Training to Meet the Needs of Millennials Traditional techniques of training may not be effective with Millennials. Despite their technological prowess, this generation is lacking in important communication, diplomacy, and interpersonal skills. Providing education to persons from different generations might be difficult at times [23]. • Improving the effectiveness of learning It is critical to provide high-quality education to students. There are numerous topics to cover, and most of them necessitate a variety of delivery modalities in order to achieve optimal skill development. When designing a training session, it’s critical to ask the correct questions and establish the desired results [23].

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• Staff schedule conflicts are generating problems. When employees’ energy is depleted due to their jobs, families, and a multitude of other commitments, online training has the potential to add to their anxiety. Surveilling employees’ time during training sessions, on the other hand, is a tried-and-true method of making them dislike (or even hate) the course [22]. • Refusing to provide details On three tiers, engagement is critical: cognitive, emotional, and behavioral. Poor information retention, passive learning, and a lack of dedication all contribute to training and development issues when these three attributes are lacking. Furthermore, without learning to participate, behavioral change is impossible. Many learners psychologically and emotionally “pull” and reject education when it feels distracting or unneeded [22]. • Ineffective instruction Many training programmes are too broad and don’t focus on specific responsibilities or skills. Unfortunately, generic training may deplete learners’ time and patience by requiring them to deal with inaccurate information. There will undoubtedly be greater training challenges as a result of this [22]. • Assess the effectiveness of the course. The majority of experts believe that providing a quantitative assessment of how remote training courses benefit their firm is critical. It’s tough to figure out which metrics to use, how to incorporate them into post-training assessments, how and when to follow up, and how to adjust future training depending on the findings [23]. Human Resources Challenges in the Company (Problem Definition): Staff training issue: This was a problem that Gulf V (virtual) Company encountered notably during the Corona crisis. The Corona pandemic has impacted all businesses, including Gulf V, which has attempted to address the Corona crisis and its impact on training, development, and staff development in order to recruit competent employees. The electronic platforms are the ones we’re talking about. This move has a huge impact on whether or not employees grasp the training courses, as well as how to ensure that they do, especially given this organization is a communications corporation that requires employees to take a variety of communications-related courses. Causes of problems: 1. Failing to establish an alternate strategy, such as remote working experience, to prevent anticipated obstacles, such as the pandemic that forced training to be halted in the traditional manner. 2. No prior experience delivering lectures or training courses using social media.

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5 Discussion The company’s difficulties, particularly training, will be discussed in this section, and relevant ways to fix the problem will be enforced. During our work on how we can optimize the staff, many problems arose and perplexed us along the way, particularly in the training sector. In Gulf V, training is prioritized because they want their employees to be more advanced and knowledgeable. However, to keep up with globalization and meet the customer’s goals and gratify them, the Corona pandemic forces us to move on to the next strategy, which is dealing with online work. However, these steps work on it and provide a lot of feedback. Online training can benefit employees by limiting the spread of COVID-19, preventing workplace accidents and injuries, and preventing any clashes or mistakes among employees in the workplace. On the one hand, online training will save money, but on the other hand, we will not be able to achieve our 100% training standard because two of our ten employees are not given full attention because their standard is to be more active in physically attending sessions. We should give comprehensive practice sessions to customer service workers in particular because they need to witness the reality of how to interact with customers in order to ensure that they are serviced by professional staff who do not make them feel harmed when they want to speak with the company. In the end of the research, the most important point which is the decisive, is that the most problems inside the HR departments will make staff’s training harmful, but this research summarizes from problems faced something that can be beneficial for the company. The staff training issue, is an issue but at the same time there is benefit from it, it will help the company reduce expenses and there is no commitment by the time but it will be a limitation of the daily tasks that the staff must finish by the end of the day. However, that is the better solution that can meet the goals.

6 Conclusion As can be seen from the preceding discussion, any organization’s human resource management is actively accountable for a wide range of activities and responsibilities. Beginning with the development of goals and missions for personnel to achieve, as well as devising tactics to attain the goals. HR managers’ work responsibilities are evolving in tandem with the changing needs of organizations. The COVID-19 pandemic, with all these obligations, has made the entire process incredibly difficult for both business and human resource management. The Gulf V HR department is having trouble attracting new talent to the organization. As a result, the HR department must rethink its strategy and processes in order to overcome this obstacle. The Human Resources department can successfully continue with its business activities while also effectively attracting and hiring the top personnel in the organization with the use of technology and internet platforms.

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A Case Study of the Employment Strategy and Its Impact on the Performance of the Future Educational Academy During the Covid 19 Pandemic Mohammad Allaymoun, Mahmoud AlZgool, Maram Mohammed, Sara Abdulhadi, Budoor Almedfaie, Fatima Nawaf, and Fahad Jamal Abstract This study dealt with the impact of the employment policy and the adopted strategy and its importance in improving the performance of companies. Work and develop them and provide a suitable environment for employees to help them increase productivity, reduce errors, and raise performance. The practices of human and financial resources management and the most important problems they face during the occurrence of the crisis were discussed. The importance of the employment strategy and its best application was discussed by developing measures taken to contain and recover. To reform the economic situation considering the outbreak of the new Covid pandemic, and the causes of the problem have been detailed. Applying the appropriate solution and evaluating it to reach the desired results, and the number of results was reached, which is that human resources are considered It is one of the main functions of the institution, and it is restricted by many limitations that require changes in traditional practices, and one of the most important recommendations is to formulate a future strategic plan and work to form a clear picture regarding matters related M. Allaymoun (B) · M. AlZgool · M. Mohammed · S. Abdulhadi · B. Almedfaie · F. Nawaf · F. Jamal Administrative Science Department, College of Administrative and Financial Science, Gulf University, Sanad 26489, Kingdom of Bahrain e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] M. AlZgool e-mail: [email protected] M. Mohammed e-mail: [email protected] S. Abdulhadi e-mail: [email protected] B. Almedfaie e-mail: [email protected] F. Nawaf e-mail: [email protected] F. Jamal e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_73

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to employment strategy and prepare studies to identify the pros and cons of remote work and the inclusion of these studies on Digital transformation and the completion of jobs electronically to ensure the sustainability of work in the institution. Keywords HRM · Covid pandemic · Performance · Employees · Digital transformation · Recruit

1 Introduction The Human Resources Department is one of the primary departments and plays a critical role in increasing the organization’s productive efficiency and therefore in enhancing and strengthening human connections. It aims to enhance human capital by delivering superior administrative services related to personnel matters and by contributing to the creation of a supportive work environment [1]. Developing tailored and customized training programs that promote career and cognitive growth and foster competitiveness among all organizations’ workers. Effective relationships between workers that allow for direct communication, an emphasis on transforming the organization’s culture to conform to those policies and making human resource management policies a component of work plans [2]. In human resource management, there are many challenges and problems that need to be addressed according to a specific strategy in order to optimize employee productivity and enhance their performance, which in turn has an impact on the overall development of the organization [3, 4]. As a result of the administration’s desire to apply several laws relating to starting the recruitment process, determining salary levels, and then assuring the safety component in the work environment, the company’s laws necessitate the implementation of necessary procedures as well as the imposition of penalties for violators, and the administration is responsible for ensuring that these laws are followed [5]. Yet another challenge is the shifting internal structure of the organization, which some employees may embrace while others may find difficult to accept. This, in turn, has a negative impact on the firm and employee productivity, and the challenge of adopting innovations has an impact on human resource management when it comes to hiring and firing employees. It seeks to instill in workers a new work culture that accelerates the speed of work as things change. Human resources face a number of issues, including technological advancements that create a challenge for workers to keep up with the times, as well as financial concerns, which are one of the most crucial variables on which the organization’s success is dependent [6]. The challenge of retaining employees to work, beginning with determining salaries, concluding with incentives and material rewards, as well as providing compensation systems, and the challenge of attracting talent, as hiring talent contributes to saving money for the company, both time and money spent working with cadres that have outstanding skills, directing employees from one department to another In the past, capable managers assisted the work team in carrying out its responsibilities in the most efficient manner possible; today, one

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of the most significant challenges facing human resources management is working remotely, which has assisted in reducing expenses and maintaining the highest quality throughout the day; however, it represents a significant challenge through the use of specific software or determining the extent of employee commitment, while the greatest difficulty lies in convincing employers of the flexibility of the matter, an issue that has become increasingly prevalent in recent years [7, 8]. The world and its institutions are experiencing an unprecedented freeze in work because of the effects of the coronavirus. It has worked to come up with ways to contain and recover from this virus, and it has focused on communicating with workers, taking care of business facilities and working to improve the digital economy of the institution [9]. People in the workforce can move and maintain their health, which can have an effect on the work environment in a facility. Employee layoffs and reductions in wages are among the cost-cutting methods that may be used by companies. These procedures include shutting down facilities, simplifying the supply chain, and downsizing or relocating to a less costly building location [10].

2 Literature Review In actuality, the majority of human resource operations are focused on retaining current employees since many people feel that the main purpose is to locate and recruit fresh talent. Talent recruitment is a major concern for human resource management because of the need to replace employees who have left the company due to staff turnover. People with the right skills, attitude, and desire are hard to come by [11]. The human resources staff must undertake a time and movement analysis to identify whether bad work habits or a lack of resources are to blame for low production levels [12]. Problems with health and safety: Due to regulatory requirements, a firm must keep a record of all information related to health and safety at work, as well as the company’s commitment to its workers and the public. As soon as there is a health and safety issue, if the company’s professionals can’t show that they’ve done what was expected of them, legal action and sanctions will be taken against them. This is the least prevalent issue in the workplace, yet it is one that the HR department is well-positioned to address for both employers and workers alike (Table 1).

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Table 1 The most important problems from studies, with solutions Problem

Solution

Attract the most qualified applicants Companies attempting to find the ideal applicant among a sea of unqualified candidates, you’re aware of how restricted your choices are. You’ll pick the individual who is the best fit for the job at the time—not the person who is the best fit for the job. However, it is not always about the quantity of applicants; the most effective method of hiring the appropriate individuals is often via a smaller pipeline of more qualified candidates [13]

In your job advertisements, the organization has placed a premium on the prerequisites and provides a succinct overview of the function. Utilize an application form that includes ‘knock-out’ questions to address the primary problems immediately

Recruiting competent individuals Recruiters often contact qualified applicants on a regular basis, making it more difficult for the corporate email to stand out. Additionally, individuals with in-demand talents often explore many jobs offers concurrently. The firm has made a concerted attempt to persuade passive prospects to select them over rivals [14]

Prior to approaching a passive prospect, do study about their motivations and what makes them satisfied in their current position. With this insight, tailor your sourcing emails to explain what you can provide them rather than what your firm can accomplish for them

Developing a recruitment approach that is efficient Hiring teams must communicate quickly, assess applicants readily, and stay informed at all stages of the hiring process. Recruiters are entrusted with the responsibility of managing all of this contact, which is not always easy. Particularly if the connection between recruiters and hiring managers is poor. Additionally, administrative duties (such as interview scheduling) can consume precious time that recruiters might have spent organizing the recruiting process and providing a positive candidate experience [15]

Consider investing in an applicant tracking system (ATS) that enables your team to collaborate and monitor the recruiting process in real time. This system enables members of your team to submit assessments and examine one another’s remarks. Additionally, it will streamline certain administrative processes via the use of built-in email templates, calendar connections, and more

3 The Problem The Future Educational Academy is a virtual company and non-governmental educational institution. Student training and education are provided via academic departments, labs, and specialist domains. As well as a library with books and publications on different subjects, it also has an Internet access point for researchers. Among the Academy’s contributions to society are transparency and service. Business and inspire the most distinctive and exceptional to get the highest certifications, which is more than that. Academia, institutes, and educational institutions are all located inside the Kingdom. It also seeks to do a few other things, such as:

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1. Training and education in the professional and technical domains should be provided in accordance with worldwide standards. 2. Providing pupils with the necessary skills to compete in today’s workforce. 3. Providing employees and students with on-going professional development. Development and sustainability must be compatible with one other. Due to the natural employment cycle, workers may quit a firm, and the organization may have difficulty recruiting new personnel. Even if there are several people who are qualified to work for your firm, it might be difficult to discover individuals with the necessary talents, personalities, and drive. Whether with or without the assistance of a third party, the process of recruiting new personnel must be centrally controlled and successful. When a large number of job applications are received, they should all be documented so they may be analyzed and compared. The human resources software platform can save job applications, resumes, and contact information in order to compare and evaluate them rapidly. Job applications may be retained for months or years, depending on the data retention policy of the employer. During this time period, new employment may become available. Recruitment at the Future Education Academy in the midst of the Corona pandemic: The Future Learning Academy employs effective recruiting tactics that may be utilized to attract the market’s finest applicants. The Academy implements a series of activities and procedures to identify potential sources of employment and to attract them in accordance with the specific and required specializations specified in the Academy’s human resources plan, whose strategies focus on recruiting new employees with the necessary capabilities and skills. The Academy in the future, given all available options for promoting vacant positions and motivating suitable candidates to apply for them, and the Corona pandemic were the catalysts for a critical blister due to their widespread effects, particularly on the economic and social spheres, which put institutions, and the Academy in particular, to the ultimate and real test. The method of confronting and continuing to provide services and maintain employees and customers, and considering this situation, the academy faced an insufficient staffing level due to a high percentage of employees working remotely and the absence associated with this emerging virus, or due to an increase in workload due to the academy’s staffing level being insufficient to perform all required tasks and due to unforeseen circumstances. Due to the pandemic, the everyday attendance of workers cannot be forecast, which results in unexpected absences from vital and critical occupations. The Academy highlighted a number of employee-related questions during this period, including the following: 1. Have you examined the employment available before the pandemic and determined that they met the same demands throughout the Covid-19 crisis? 2. Has a follow-up been conducted to ensure that job descriptions correspond to current or rehired employees? 3. Has a job description been written that is specific to the recruiting process? 4. Is it feasible to meet all occupational health and safety criteria while securing the return of both existing and new employees?

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The following points highlight the reasons • Some countries have announced complete or partial closures by imposing strict measures on gatherings, travel, and movement to limit the spread of the Coronavirus. • The unemployment crisis for young men and women has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. • The acceleration in the trend towards jobs in the field of health care and technology significantly during the crisis with an unexpected result, which made some sectors need to bridge the gap between skills. • The disparity in what vocational training and universities provide to young people and what employers in the private sector require in particular. • Enhancing entrepreneurship and creating job opportunities is a challenge in some regions due to poor ecosystems. • The significant decline in all vacant positions in various fields, except development and engineering. • The general economic downturn as a result of the pandemic and the decline in oil prices, especially in the countries exporting it. • Some companies prefer to hire graduates who receive relatively lower salaries compared to those with experience, but these employments are mostly on shortterm or part-time contracts. • By not adopting appropriate policies, workers face the risk of falling into poverty and unemployment and facing greater challenges in returning to their jobs during the recovery period. • Many people have worked in informal jobs and have been affected by COVID-19. • A large number of retirees exited from the voluntary retirement program in 2019. • Women have lost more jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to men. • The coronavirus pandemic has pushed older employees out of the labor market and reinforced inequality. Low-income workers may feel the brunt of the crisis.

4 Research Methodology This study used previous studies on the subject to establish the frameworks and methods required to assist in the development of a model for the suggested solution method. Along with researching and analyzing several incidents and issues confronting Future Academy, particularly during the Corona pandemic, to provide a broad perspective on how to create a shared solution between the human resources and accounting departments. Additionally, this research sought to collect primary data and develop the model through surveys and discussion. Surveys and questionnaires were used in this investigation. Questionnaires may be a more cost-effective and time-efficient approach to assessing the behavior, attitudes, preferences, views, and intentions of a reasonably large number of participants than other methods.

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5 Discussion and Recommendations In this part, the problem that the academy is facing, particularly staff performance, will be examined, and relevant remedies to fix the problem will be imposed. These proposed solutions, which have been drawn up based on previous studies, are based on interviews with domain owners, as follows: • Interviewing job applicants and candidates on the Internet or over the phone: People at some businesses are worried about how well they can judge job applicants in the current environment because this step usually involves having in-person interviews or giving an on-site exam. Therefore, some people are worried. Even if you don’t go to the office for the interview, you can still do this step online [16]. Video can be used to evaluate candidates’ skills quickly and seamlessly in some current evaluation systems. Multiple candidates may be given assessment questions at the same time. After candidates finish recording their responses through video, recruiters look at them and talk about them to see if they are truly qualified for the available jobs. • Techniques for looking for people who have the skills and talents you want to hire through the Internet: Can use their skills and most of the world’s countries are closed and banned because of the crisis. Online recruiting strategies will help you. Modern technology allows the whole process of hiring to be done online without any face-to-face interaction with job seekers. Recruitment consultants can advertise their job openings, use applicant screening tools, and get in touch with candidates quickly over the Internet using methods for looking for resumes and job ads that are available on the Internet [17]. • Virtual events: The Coronavirus has spread around the world, which has caused meetings, conferences, job fairs, trade shows, and other events to be canceled or delayed. However, modern technology allows these things to go on over the Internet. These modern platforms allow businesses, governments, and schools from all over the world to plan the event they want, using cutting-edge technology to run operations and procedures and connect with people from all over the world without having to meet in person [18]. • Techniques for hiring and training new people: When a good candidate is found and hired, the training process can also be done entirely online in a safe place. When this process is done without a sure thing, a lot of coordination is needed, as is the use of software and apps as well as access to certain programs. All of this can be done quickly and easily thanks to technology. Advanced platforms for businesses can help make the process of onboarding and training new employees easier and more efficient. They can track new employees’

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progress and development, coordinate with other departments and departments, protect information, and make it only available to people who need it. They can also store new employees’ data in a more convenient and efficient way than the old and traditional ways. • Remote employee management: Managers who use the right tools and strategies to communicate with their employees and manage their work teams can be very effective at first. These tools and strategies can help them manage a team, a department, or even an entire company such as: • Communication techniques: Ensure that all workers, particularly those in the academy, have access to communication platforms like Hangouts, Teams, Slack, and WhatsApp. Zoom, for example. • Data sharing programs: Sharing data with workers is required to perform job responsibilities. By using relevant technologies such as Google Drive, DropBox, and others, you can ensure that all employees have access to critical data. To prevent a security breach, care must be made to request that the technical team maintain data security and make data discreetly accessible to authorized personnel only. • Video meetings: User must interact with the team on a regular basis as if you were physically there in the workplace. Additionally, it is possible to schedule meetings through video for the purposes of conducting conversation sessions, exchanging notes, recommendations, and views, and monitoring the daily progress of work, as several materials are accessible for this purpose, including Skype, Hangouts, and Zoom. • Using a variety of tactics, including overtime, flexible work, redistributing staff through transportation, asking assistance from other units, and using temporary contracts, retired employees, and volunteers. • Financial advisors assist future academy in developing a strategy for achieving their financial objectives and guiding them along the way. Considering this research, what can be expected in terms of recommendations for implementation in the field of human resource practices and accounting, especially the recruitment strategy in an organization, and improving the ability to adapt to methods of dealing with the human element? Institutions are trying to develop new, inventive, and alternative models. Electronic recruitment or employment has been chosen through the Internet where electronic recruitment allows direct interaction, the continuation of the search and recruitment process 24 h a day, and low recruitment costs, as opposed to traditional means of employment that are limited to the professional level, geographical dimension, profession, and other criteria available in the electronic recruitment portals. The electronic recruitment portals provide a model and ongoing database of skills covering all functional cadres and professions in all regions, as well as the recruitment process as a whole It is managed from one place, which makes it easier for the recruiter to advertise vacancies, receive resumes, sort, prioritize and communicate

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with qualified persons, in addition to the fact that the recruitment process as a whole is managed from one place, making it easier for the recruiter to advertise vacancies, receive resumes, sort, prioritize and communicate with qualified persons to work for them. In this research, two options from the previous alternatives were tried, and we found that providing techniques for qualifying and training new employees requires greater costs and a longer period, of time. It was concluded that electronic recruitment or recruitment via the Internet is the best solution to solve the problem of employment and its causes in the institution during the repercussions of the pandemic. Corona, as this solution meets the needs of job seekers and the website allows job seekers to follow the developments of their CVs that they have uploaded via the network and review the jobs displayed on the site, which saves time and money and allows users to avoid unemployment, and for the institution, it guarantees achieving. The best returns on investment in e-recruitment. With a simple comparison of costs and benefits, it is also possible to shorten the recruitment cycle period, considering the pressures that human resources management departments are subjected to. In order to improve the effectiveness and transparency of management, it will allow the provision of electronic services that will facilitate the interaction of job applicants. The research dealt with the importance of human resources processes, practices, and techniques, and dealt with human resources cases and institutions to confront the emerging Corona 19 pandemic, which is what makes human resources one of the main functions of the institution. Which may face many challenges that require changes in traditional practices, in order to adapt to and deal with the human element for the success of the institution, especially in light of digital transformation. The employment situation during this crisis and the obstacles faced by this strategy were also discussed, and the most important solutions that helped to confront them in order to reach the optimal solution, were a number of recommendations: • Formulating a future strategic plan and working to form a clear picture that helps describe the stage clearly and accurately and follow a strategy of attracting employment during crises and helping to meet the needs of the institution. • Taking a number of measures and initiatives during the Corona pandemic aimed at containing the financial and economic repercussions on the private sector and taking the initiative in various sectors to respond to these efforts. • Working on restructuring the organizational structure, changing job descriptions and basic tasks for departments and departments, and working to permanently change some jobs for remote work. • Providing specialized training and development programs to ensure quality education and sustainable economic growth. • Preparing studies to identify the advantages and disadvantages of remote work and the inclusion of these studies on digital transformation and the completion of jobs electronically to ensure the sustainability of the work of the institution. • Investing in technology and information technology, preparing training readiness to implement the electronic work system remotely, and providing easy access to the institutions’ systems.

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• Hold meetings in a visual way to attend events and training workshops. • Work to stimulate the economy and employment and work to support companies, especially the private sector, jobs, and income. Employees must be protected in the workplace and rely on dialogue to find appropriate solutions.

6 Conclusion In conclusion, the effectiveness of training depends on the trainer’s qualifications and ability to solve problems. This study focuses on the employment strategy and its impact on the performance of the Future Educational Academy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study highlights the crucial role of employment policy and strategy in improving business performance, examines human resource management techniques and the challenges faced in this area. The hiring strategy of the organization is analyzed, taking into account the pandemic’s impact and studies on human resource management. The study emphasizes the importance of developing strategies for evaluating performance, as the pandemic has revealed a lack of mechanisms to assess performance. The goal is to help companies understand the impact of employment strategy on the Future Educational Academy’s performance and to devise modern methods that can adapt to changes and disasters like the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study serves as a case study that explores the employment strategy’s impact on the performance of the Future Educational Academy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

References 1. Mohiuddin, M., Hosseini, E., Faradonbeh, S.B., Sabokro, M.: Achieving human resource management sustainability in universities. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 19(2), 928 (2022) 2. Pulido-Fuentes, M., González, L.A., Reneo, I.A., Cipriano-Crespo, C., Flores-Martos, J.A., Santos, A.P.: Towards a liquid healthcare: primary care organisational and management strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic-a qualitative study. BMC Health Serv. Res. 22(1), 1–13 (2022) 3. AlZgool, M., Ahmed, U., Shah, S., Alkadash, T., AlMaamary, Q.: Going green during COVID19: examining the links between green HRM, green supply chain and firm performance in food Industry of Bahrain: the moderating role of lockdown due to COVID-19. Uncertain Supply Chain Manag. 9(1), 79–88 (2021) 4. Hamid, Z., Muzamil, M., Shah, S.A.: Strategic human resource management. In: Research Anthology on Human Resource Practices for the Modern Workforce, pp. 1–16. IGI Global (2022) 5. Gunningham, N.A., Thornton, D., Kagan, R.A.: Motivating management: corporate compliance in environmental protection. Law policy 27(2), 289–316 (2005) 6. Boxall, P., Purcell, J.: Strategy and Human Resource Management. Bloomsbury Publishing (2022) 7. Armstrong, M., Murlis, H.: Reward Management: A Handbook of Remuneration Strategy and Practice. Kogan Page Publishers (2007)

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8. Alzgool, M.: Nexus between green HRM and green management towards fostering green values. Manag. Sci. Lett. 9(12), 2073–2082 (2019) 9. Jackson, J.K.: Global Economic Effects of COVID-19. Congressional Research Service (2021) 10. Al-Zgool, M. R. H. (2015). Relationship between leaders’ emotional intelligence, organisational commitment, job satisfaction, and turnover intention in Jordanian hotel industry (Doctoral dissertation, Universiti Utara Malaysia) 11. Hong, E.N.C., Hao, L.Z., Kumar, R., Ramendran, C., Kadiresan, V.: An effectiveness of human resource management practices on employee retention in institute of higher learning: a regression analysis. Int. J. Bus. Res. Manag. 3(2), 60–79 (2012) 12. Greer, C.R.: Strategic Human Resource Management. Pearson Custom Publishing (2021) 13. Alkadash, T.M., Alamarin, F.: An integrative conceptual framework on employee performance during COVID-19 pandemic for Bahrain SMEs. Psychol. Educ. (2021) 14. Langer, S.L., Castro, F.G., Chen, A.C.C., Davis, K.C., Joseph, R.P., Kim, W., Shaibi, G.Q.: Recruitment and retention of underrepresented and vulnerable populations to research. Public Health Nurs. 38(6), 1102–1115 (2021) 15. Hunter-Johnson, Y., Niu, Y., Smith, S., Whitaker, B., Wells, R., Charkasova, A.: The veteran employees: recruitment, career development, engagement, and job satisfaction of veterans transitioning to the civilian workforce. New Dir. Adult Continuing Educ. 2020(166), 139–150 (2020) 16. Hagedorn, J.C., Chen, J., Weiss, W.M., Fredrickson, S.W., Faillace, J.J.: Interviewing in the wake of COVID-19: how orthopaedic residencies, fellowships, and applicants should prepare for virtual interviews. JAAOS-J. Am. Acad. Orthop. Surg. 29(7), 271–277 (2021) 17. Sharma, N.: Recruitment strategies: a power of e-recruiting and social media. Int. J. Core Eng. Manag. (IJCEM) 1(5), 15–35 (2014) 18. Rwigema, P.C., Celestin, R.P.: Impact of Covid-19 pandemic to meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (Mice) tourism in Rwanda. Strateg. J. Bus. Change Manag. 7(3), 395–409 (2020)

Training Motivation as a Mediating Variable in the Relationship Between Administrative Support and Job Motivation Nur Izzaty Mohamad

and Ishak Abd Rahman

Abstract The phenomenon of training motivation is considered quite remarkable. Recent studies have shown that training motivation affects administrative support and job motivation. This relationship is significant; nevertheless, the role of training motivation as an important mediating variable received little attention in the body of literature on organisational behaviour. This study investigates the relationship between administrative support, job motivation, and training motivation. This study employs a survey method to collect data from employees in Malaysia’s Federal Territory of Putrajaya and the SmartPLS programme to analyse the validity and reliability and hypotheses testing. The SmartPLS results show that the effect of training motivation on administrative support and job motivation in the organisational sample is mediated by training motivation. The study’s findings can help practitioners understand different paradigms of training motivation to formulate interactive training action plans to maintain and improve organisational sustainability. Keywords Administrative support · Job motivation · Training motivation

1 Introduction Training motivation [TNGMTN] is generally understood as employees with a high desire to learn and master necessary knowledge, new skills, the latest cognitive, affective abilities, and other capabilities needed in the present working environments [15, 18, 24] . However, most organisational studies published in the twenty-first

N. I. Mohamad School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] I. A. Rahman (B) Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_74

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century revealed that the effect of TNGMTN in the relationship between administrative support [ADMSUPP] and job motivation (JOBMTN) is largely ignored in the workplace training research literature [6, 17, 26]. Many scholars believe that it may influence the following factors. First, most previous studies focused on the internal characteristics of TNGMTN, such as its definition, purpose, types, and concept of the variable in public and private sectors [21, 27]. Second, previous studies used the correlation analysis technique to evaluate a direct effect model. This model considers one-way relationships: (a) the relationship between ADMSUPP and JOBMTN; and (b) the relationship between TNGMTN and JOBMTN. These results can only evaluate the degree of the variable of interest associated with another variable [6, 17, 21, 26]. Therefore, the effect size and nature of TNGMTN as an important mediating variable have been largely ignored in the training management research. Accordingly, it may be insufficient to guide practitioners in recognising the difficulties of TRNGMTN structures to sustain and achieve the strategy and objectives of their organisations in this globalisation era. Consequently, researchers are motivated to explore the role of TRNGMTN as a mediator in the relationship between ADMSUPP and JOBMTN. This study examines three important contributions to the existing body of knowledge. First, it contributes to previous studies by promoting a training motivation process inspired by administrative support; training support is an important determinant of job motivation. Second, this study extends the job motivation literature by exploring training support in training programmes as a significant predictor, which has been little discussed thus far. It is important to note that training support may indirectly upgrade job motivation through training motivation. Third, this is the first effort to precisely evaluate the combined effect of training support features on job motivation, revealing that administrative support strongly influences job motivation. Thus, the scholarly discussions stimulate the researcher to fill in the gap by measuring the mediating effect of training motivation in the relationship between administrative support and job motivation.

2 Literature Review The role of ADMSUPP on JOBMTN is consistent with Organisational Support Theory [4]. This theory states that individuals receiving high socio-emotional support will be able to increase benefits, effort, and efficiency in managing and performing tasks. Examples of support are caring for the employees’ needs, giving appreciation, being considerate, caring, encouraging, motivating, sufficient budget, and providing a comfortable work climate. In this study’s context, the administration’s ability to provide supportive support in training programmes can influence positive individuals’ goals [e.g., fulfilling task potential, developing skills, acquiring new knowledge, and gaining confidence to perform tasks]. Applying this theory in an organisational environment explains the notion of socio-emotional support, often interpreted as administrative support.

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Many previous studies supported the influence of ADMSUPP on JOBMTN, such as research by Ramlan et al. [22] and Shaheen and Soomro [24]. They revealed that the administration’s ability to provide emotional support [e.g., making someone feel valued and cared for and has a positive effect on others] and instrumental support [e.g., allocating training budgets, creating a conducive working climate, providing adequate physical facilities, harmonising procedures and techniques, designing instructional training programmes and ensuring their implementation] could influence JOBMTN. As a result, the following hypothesis is formulated: H1 Administrative support has a positive relationship with job motivation. The effect of ADMSUPP on TNGMTN is consistent with Blau’s Social Exchange Theory [2]. The Exchange Theory has been one of the major theoretical perspectives in social psychology since the early writings of Homans [12], Blau [2], and Emerson [8, 7]. This theoretical orientation is based on earlier philosophical and psychological orientations and suggests that social relationships seek to maximise the benefits and minimise the individual’s costs in achieving life purposes. Applying this theory in an organisational environment explains the notion of social exchange, often interpreted as administrative support. Many previous studies supported the influence of ADMSUPP on TNGMTN; for example, perceptions of 287 employees at the institute of public administration, Saudi Arabia [1], 111 trainees in Belgium [9], 123 pharmaceutical employees in Peninsular Malaysia [13], 115 employees working at various departments and divisions within an organisation [17, 16]. According to these surveys, the administration’s ability to provide appropriate emotional support [e.g., being passionate, caring, and openminded] and instrumental support [e.g., training budget and location] when designing and implementing training programmes is a key factor in highly motivated employees in their organisations. Thus, it is hypothesised that: H2 Administrative support has a positive relationship with training motivation. The role of TNGMTN in the relationship between ADMSUPP and JOBMTN is consistent with the essence of Improving Work through a Learning Model [19]. This theory explains the mental and physical mechanisms involved in acquiring new skills and knowledge and how to use those mechanisms to encourage and receive training benefits. In the organisational context, training motivation consists of two salient features: high and low motivation. High motivation is often referred to as employees’ willingness to learn training content, such as the latest knowledge, new talents, and advanced job-related skills. The ability to master the training content may lead to higher performance in organisations [1, 14]. On the other hand, low motivation is generally related to employees’ failure to understand the training content. This situation may not help them to improve their job performance in organisations [1]. The notion of this theory received strong support from the training motivation in the research literature. For example, surveys by Mohamad et al. [18] and Shaheen and Soomro [24] reported that the administration’s ability to provide emotional aid (e.g., care, concern, encouragement, cultural support) and instrumental aid [e.g., training

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budget, training climate] strongly invoked TNGMTN [e.g., spirit to learn the training content, focus and commitment in training programmes]. As a result, this motivation can lead to greater JOBMTN in the organisational samples. Thus, it is hypothesised that: H3 The effect of administrative support on job motivation is mediated by training motivation.

3 Methodology A cross-sectional research design was employed to collect data for this study, and it might assist the researchers in obtaining accurate, less biased, and high-quality data [23]. The survey questionnaire items were developed based on training management literature. Back translation was used to translate the survey questionnaire into English and Malay versions to enhance the quality of the research findings [23]. The survey questionnaire consists of three major parts: The first part is on ADMSUPP with six items adapted from the training support literature [3, 25]. The second part is on TRNGMTN with four items adapted from the training management literature [3, 25]. The final part is on JOBMTN with four items adapted from the job satisfaction literature [20, 28]. These items were evaluated using a sevenpoint Likert scale, ranging from “strongly disagree/dissatisfied” (1) to “strongly agree/satisfied” (7). Demographic variables were used as control variables because this study emphasised employee attitudes. This study assessed training support practices in Malaysia’s Federal Territory of Putrajaya. A purposive sampling plan was applied to distribute 300 survey questionnaires to employees in different organisation divisions. This sampling technique was chosen because the organisation did not furnish the researchers with a list of registered employees. This constraint did not allow the researcher to apply the random method in selecting the study sample. Two hundred thirty-five (78.33%) usable questionnaires were answered and returned. The voluntary and anonymous participants answered the survey questionnaires based on their consent. Further, Harman’s single factor analysis was used to detect the biased response in questionnaire data [20]. The outcomes show that the percentage of variance is 49.71, smaller than 50% of the variance [20], meaning that the study sample obtained is free of serious bias problems.

4 Analysis and Results The majority of respondents were female [76.2%], aged between 34 to 39 years old [37%], degree holders [33.2%], and employees who have served between 6 to 10 years [33.2%].

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Table 1 Convergent analysis Item

ADMSUPP

A1

0.805

A2

0.857

A3

0.856

A4

0.862

A5

0.727

A6

0.784

TNGMTN

B1

0.900

B2

0.902

B3

0.917

B4

0.923

JOBMTN

C1

0.934

C2

0.898

C3

0.903

C4

0.912

Composite reliability

Ave

0.923

0.667

0.951

0.829

0.952

0.831

The survey questionnaire data were analysed using the SmartPLS programme [10]. Table 1 shows that this study’s convergent analysis meets the validity and reliability analysis standards. First, the outer values of correlations between items and constructs are greater than 0.70 [11]. The composite reliability is greater than 0.80, and the average variance extracted (AVE) value for each construct is greater than 0.5 [11], indicating that the constructs in this study meet the convergent standards set. The discriminant validity using the Heterotrait-Monotrait Correlation Ratio [HTMT] and confidence intervals are shown in Table 2. The HTMT value for each construct is less than 0.85 [11], and the confidence interval value in parentheses for each construct is lower than 1, indicating that the constructs in this study achieve the discriminant validity [11]. The analysis of variance inflation factor (VIF) and descriptive analysis is shown in Table 3. First, the all-construct values are less than 5.0 [11], indicating that all variables in this study are free of serious collinearity issues. Next, mean values range from 5.776 to 6.005, indicating that ADMSUPP, TNGMTN, and JOBMTN are between high (4) and very high (7). Table 2 Discriminant analysis

Variables

ADMSUPP

TNGMTN

ADMSUPP TNGMTN

0.652 (0.521, 0.695)

JOBMTN

0.603 (0.042, 0.0237)

0.845 (0.611, 0.800)

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Table 3 Analysis of variance inflation factor and descriptive analysis Variables

TNGMTN

JOBMTN

Mean

Std. dev.

ADMSUPP

1.000

1.605

5.776

0.6769

TNGMTN

1.605

JOBMTN

5.992

0.6242

6.055

0.6155

Table 4 H1, H2, and H3 hypothesis testing Variables

β values

t-STATISTICS (|O/STDEV|)

R (%)

Result

ADMSUPP → JOBMTN

0.134

2.644

0.32

Supported

ADMSUPP → TNGMTN

0.614

13.475

0.37

Supported

ADMSUPP → TNGMTN → JOBMTN

0.435

9.677

0.63

Supported

Table 4 shows the hypotheses testing results. Firstly, ADMSUPP has a significant relationship with JOBMTN [β = 0.134; t = 2.644]. Therefore, H1 is supported. Secondly, there is a significant relationship between ADMSUPP and TNGMTN [β = 0.614; t = 13.475]. Therefore, H2 is supported. Thirdly, ADMSUPP has a significant relationship with TNGMTN and JOBMTN [β = 0.435; t = 9.677]. Therefore, H3 is supported. These results confirm that TNGMTN is an important mediating variable in the relationship between ADMSUPP and JOBMTN. Next, R square [R2 ] shows that the inclusion of ADMSUPP into the analysis contributes 32% to JOBMTN, while the inclusion of ADMSUPP contributes 37% to TNGMTN. On the other hand, the inclusion of TNGMTN into ADMSUPP and JOBMTN contributes 63%. All the values are greater than 26%, meaning that the impact of this relationship has a substantial effect on this model. The effect size [f 2 ] and expected accuracy [Q2 ] were tested using algorithms and blindfolding procedures. First, the effect size [f 2 ] for the relationship between ADMSUPP and JOBMTN is 0.031. This value is smaller than 0.15, meaning that the effect of ADMSUPP on JOBMTN is of small effect size [5]. Second, the effect size [f 2 ] for the relationship between ADMSUPP and TNGMTN is 0.605. This value is greater than 0.35, meaning that the effect of ADMSUPP on TNGMTN is of substantial effect size [5]. Third, the effect size [f 2 ] for the relationship between ADMSUPP, TNGMTN, and JOBMTN is 0.862. This value is greater than 0.35, meaning that the effect of TNGMTN on ADMSUPP and JOBMTN is of substantial effect size [5]. Furthermore, the Q2 value for the relationship between ADMSUPP and JOBMTN is 0.520. Next, the Q2 value for the relationship between ADMSUPP and TMNGMTN is 0.305. These values are greater than zero, meaning that the construct achieves a high level of predictive accuracy in the study Hair et al.

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5 Discussion and Implications This study’s findings support all research hypotheses for the direct effects and mediating models. Specifically, the results show important findings that TNGMTN acts as an effective mediating variable in the relationship between ADMSUPP and JOBMTN. The findings are consistent with the notion of Motivation to Improve Work through a Learning Model by Naquin and Holton [19]. This theory suggests that a high training motivation can be achieved based on the support of a strong mechanism in terms of mental and physical balance. This motivation process may lead to more positive actions (e.g., efforts to attend training programmes, high motivation, engagement, acquiring and mastering new competencies in training programmes) to improve skills that are effective in the task. The findings receive strong support from the training management literature by Abdulkarim et al. [1], Mohamad et al. [18], and Shaheen and Soomro [24]. These findings reveal that the administration’s ability to provide emotional (e.g., cared for, concerned, encouragement, cultural support) and instrumental (e.g., training budget, training climate) support strongly invoke TNGMTN (e.g., the spirit of learning the training content, focus, and commitment in training programmes). As a result, this motivation may influence JOBMTN in the organisational samples. Regarding the robustness of the research methodology, the survey questionnaire used in this study has satisfactorily met the validity and reliability analysis criteria. This situation could enhance the accuracy and reliability of the study’s results. The study’s findings can improve training motivation treatments in organisations concerning practical application. This goal will be achieved if the administration considers the following issues: First, administrative support should be promoted by providing emotional and instrumental support. This assistance may significantly improve employees’ job motivation and reduce workplace deviance. Second, the administration should be encouraged to work together to close the communication gap between leaders and followers, increase knowledge sharing, improve understanding of different needs and expectations, and practice human-centred problemsolving in organisations. This practice may motivate employees to join organisations. Third, training assessment methods should be appropriately designed to assess employees’ ability to use cognition, emotions, and/or psychomotor skills to meet daily job demands and achieve tactical and strategic planning goals. This practice may motivate employees to join organisations in the long term. If organisations seriously consider the suggestions, it may encourage employees to support the policies and procedures of their organisations.

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6 Conclusion This study demonstrates that TNGMTN is an effective mediator of the ADMSUPP and JOBMTN relationship. The present research and practice within the organisational learning paradigm must consider TNGMTN a crucial part of workplace training management. This study also reveals that the ability of administrative support [e.g., giving emotional and instrumental aid] will influence employees’ training motivation [e.g., the spirit of learning the training content, focus, and commitment to training programmes]. Thus, this process may improve employees’ training motivation during globalisation and economic uncertainty. However, this study has certain limitations. First, the cross-sectional study design was only able to describe the respondents’ perceptions in general of the relationship patterns between study variables, such as independent variables, mediating variables, and dependent variables. Second, this study did not measure the specific dimensions of the study variables. Third, this study only compared the direct and indirect effect models. Finally, the sample for this study was acquired in a government agency utilising a purposive sampling technique. These limitations may decrease the generalisability of the study’s findings to different organisations. This study presents various recommendations for future research. First, particular significant organisational and personal characteristics [e.g., gender, age, education, and length of services] should be included in future studies, which may clarify whether TNGMTN has a consistent or inconsistent influence on organisations. Second, a longitudinal research strategy should be studied to compare public and private organisations’ cultures. Third, it should be conducted in more than one organisation to achieve more findings accurately. Fourth, other theoretical characteristics of TNGMTN, such as social motivation, competence motivation, and expectation motivation, should be included as major predictors of ADMSUPP and JOBMTN results. Finally, other job motivation result dimensions, both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, should be examined to be essential outcomes of the interaction between ADMSUPP and JOBMTN. The significance of these concerns must be investigated further in future research.

References 1. Abdulkarim, S.A., Musaed, A.F., Abdulla M.A.: An empirical examination of the effects of self-efficacy, supervisor support and motivation to learn on transfer intention. Manag. Decis. 47, 1221–244 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740910984514 2. Blau, P.M.: Exchange and Power in Social Life. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, NJ (1964) 3. Burke, L.A., Baldwin, T.T.: Workforce training transfer: a study of the effect of relapse prevention training and transfer climate. Hum. Resou. Mana. 38(3), 227–242 (1999). https://doi.org/ 10.1002/(SICI)1099-050X(199923)38:33.0.CO;2-M 4. Chiaburu, D.S., Van Dam, K., Hutchins, H.M.: Social support in the workplace and training transfer: a longitudinal analysis. Int. J. Sel. Assess. 18, 188–200 (2010). https://doi.org/10. 1111/j.1468-2389.2010.00500.x

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5. Cohen, J.: Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioural Sciences. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ. (1988) 6. Elumalai, K.V., Sankar, J.P., R, K., John, J.A., Menon, N., Alqahtani, M.S.N., Abumelha. M.A.: Factors affecting the quality of e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of higher education students. J. Inf. Technol. Educ.: Res. 19, 731–753 (2020). https://doi.org/ 10.28945/4628 7. Emerson, R.: Toward a theory of value in social exchange. In: Cook, K.S. (ed.) Social Exchange Theory, pp. 11–58. Sage, Newbury Park, CA (1987) 8. Emerson, R.: Exchange theory, part ii: exchange relations and networks. In: Berger, J., Zelditch Jr., M., Anderson, B. (eds.) Sociological Theories in Progress, pp. 58–87. Houghton Mifflin, Boston (1972) 9. Govaerts, N., Kyndt, E., Dochy, F.: The influence of specific supervisor support types on transfer of training: Examining the mediating effect of training retention. Vocat. Learn. 11(2), 265–288 (2017) 10. Hair, J.F., Black, W.C., Babin, B.J., Anderson, R.E.: Multivariate Data Analysis, 7th edn. Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey (2010) 11. Hair, J.F., Jr., Hult, G.T.M., Ringle, C.M., Sarstedt, M.: A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), 2nd edn. SAGE Publications, United States of America (2017) 12. Homans, G.C.: Social Behavior and Its Elementary Forms. Harcourt, Brace and World, New York (1961) 13. Ismail, A., Foboy, N.A., Mohamad Nor, A., Abdullah, A.A., Ismail, Y.: Training Management as an antecedent of training transfer. J. Nusantara Stud. 4(1), 136–158 (2019). https://doi.org/ 10.24200/jonus.vol4iss1pp136-158 14. Ismail, A., Mohd Zainol, N.A., Ahmad, N.N.: Program pembangunan kepimpinan meningkatkan pemindahan latihan dalam tentera darat Malaysia: Kajian Empirikal Jurnal Pengurusan 46, 149–161 (2016) 15. Issah, M.: Change leadership: the role of emotional intelligence. SAGE Open 8(3), 215824401880091 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244018800910 16. Mohamad, N.I., Ismail, A., Mohamad Nor, A.: Effect of managers’ support in technology based training on training transfer. Int. J. Emerg. Technol. 11(2), 985–990 (2020) 17. Mohamad, N.I., Ismail, A., Mohamad Nor, A.: The relationship between management support in training programs and motivation to perform task with motivation to learn as mediator. Sci. J. Logist. 16(3), 431–446 (2020a). https://doi.org/10.17270/J.LOG.2020.458 18. Mohamad, N.I., Ismail, A., Mohamad Nor, A.: Relationship between managers’ support and training application with motivation to learn as mediator. Etikonomi 20(1), 119–136 (2021). https://doi.org/10.15408/etk.v20i1.15231 19. Naquin, S.S., Holton, E.F., III.: The effects of personality, affectivity, and work commitment on motivation to improve work through learning. Hum. Resour. Dev. Q. 13(4), 357–376 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.1038 20. Podsakoff, P.M., Ahearne, M., MacKenzie, S.B.: Organizational citizenship behavior and the quantity and quality of work group performance. J. Appl. Psychol. 82(2), 262–270 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.82.2.262 21. Rahman, M., Uddin, M.S., Dey, A.: Investigating the mediating role of online learning motivation in the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Bangladesh. J. Comput. Assist. Learn. (2021). https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12535.Advanceonlinepublication.doi:10.1111/jcal.12535 22. Ramlan, R., Zainol, Z., Tajuddin, D.: The effects of training transfer on training program evaluation and effectiveness of training program. Manag. Res. J. 9, 43–53 (2020). https://doi. org/10.37134/mrj.vol9.sp.4.2020 23. Sekaran, U.: Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach. John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York (2000) 24. Shaheen, S., Soomro, K.A.: Transfer of training and job performance: analysis of development sector in Pakistan. J. Entrepreneurship, Manag., Innov. 4(1), 27–57 (2022). https://doi.org/10. 52633/jemi.v4i1.148

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25. Thareou, P.: The relationship of training motivation to participation in training and development. J. Occup. Organ. Psychol. 74(5), 599–621 (2001) 26. Twase, I., Miiro, R.F., Matsiko, F., Ndaula, S., Ssamula, M.: Mediation of perceived content validity on motivation and training transfer among smallholder farmers in Central Uganda. Int. J. Train. Dev. 00, 1–14 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1111/ijtd.12236 27. Van den Elsen, J., Vermeeren, B., Steijn, B.: Valence of formal learning, employability and the moderating roles of transformational leadership and informal learning in the public sector. Int. J. Training Dev. 1–19 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1111/ijtd.12258 28. Wallace, E., Isabel, B.: Within-role, extra-role and anti-role behaviours in retail banking. Int. J. Bank Market. 29(6), 470–488 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1108/02652321111165266

Adoption of Mobile Learning in Higher Education: An Investigation of Employees’ Perspectives Aladeen Y. R. Hmoud and Omar Hasan Salah

Abstract A mobile learning (m-learning) revolution is predicted for electronic learning in the future. In the last few years, mobile devices have revolutionised how students receive education in higher education. Although m-learning is becoming increasingly popular in developed countries, its adoption in developing countries has been slow and underdeveloped. M-learning adoption in higher education lags in developing countries due to several challenges. Thus, this study aims to examine the factors that influence employees’ intentions to adopt m-learning in higher education in Jordan and Palestine. The current study used an online survey to collect data from two universities in Jordan and Palestine. According to the data analysis, employees’ intention to use m-learning depends on compatibility, complexity, effort expectancy and attitude toward adoption. As a result of this study, educational providers and developers can design and implement comprehensive m-learning systems to benefit the development of m-learning applications. Keywords Mobile learning · M-learning adoption · Technology acceptance · Developing countries

1 Introduction M-learning is an instructional strategy and delivery mode that uses portable devices such as laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, and other handheld devices to access educational content and resources [1, 2]. It has been widely adopted in higher education in recent years as a way to improve teaching and learning [3].

A. Y. R. Hmoud Center for Artificial Intelligence Technology, Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia O. H. Salah (B) Business Administration and E-Commerce, Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie, Tulkarm, Palestine e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_75

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There are many reasons why mobile learning has been adopted in higher education. One reason is that it can improve teaching and learn by providing students with flexible access to educational materials and resources from anywhere [4]. Additionally, m-learning can help instructors more effectively engage students in learning by allowing them to provide feedback and interact with students in real time [5]. Finally, m-learning can enhance student retention and graduation rates by making it easier for students to access course materials on their own time [6]. Despite the many benefits of m-learning in higher education, some challenges must be addressed. One challenge is that many students are not familiar with using mobile devices to access online content [7]. Another challenge is that m-learning can be time-consuming and difficult to use if it is not properly designed [8]. Moreover, even though m-learning plays a valuable role in education, its adoption rate is low in higher education institutions in developing countries due to its infancy [2, 7, 9]. This is a common scenario in developing countries, including Jordan and Palestine [9– 12]. According to recent studies, m-learning faces various challenges that hinder its adoption. Although organisational, technological, and cultural factors play a crucial role in its adoption, they were overlooked in the literature in this field. Additionally, most studies that addressed these challenges focus more on students’ perspectives and overlook the perspective of employees in these institutions. Thus, the recent study aims to address this gap and assess the role of these factors from the perspective of employees working in these institutions. To this end, a conceptual framework was developed based on UTAUT and DOI theories to test the related hypotheses to fill in this void in the literature.

2 Theoretical Background 2.1 The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) The UTAUT is a theoretical framework that has been proposed to explain and predict an individual’s performance and behavioural intention with regard to using technology [13]. This theory holds that intentions to use technology and usage behaviours are largely determined by performance expectations, effort expectations, social influences, and enabling conditions [13]. Using this theory, it is possible to anticipate and comprehend particular behaviours in particular situations, using some of the fundamental ideas in social and behavioural science [14]. The UTAUT framework is a reliable predictor of an individual’s performance and behavioural intention with regard to using technology [15]. In addition, the UTAUT framework is useful in designing intervention programs that aim to improve an individual’s use of technology [16]. As such, the UTAUT framework was applied in the current study regarding m-learning because of its high explanatory power, as advocated by prior studies [17–19].

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2.2 Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI) The DOI was developed by Rogers [20] to describe innovation as ideas, habits, or products seen as new by individuals or adopting units [21]. From the perspective of DOI theory, many studies applied the innovation concept to a variety of fields and contexts in light of ‘relative advantage’, observability, trialability, and complexity to explain the diffusion of novel ideas/technologies and related changes in behaviours (acceptance/rejection) [22–24]. According to the literature, new technology adoption is influenced by these product-specific characteristics [24, 25].

2.3 Factors Influencing M-Learning Adoption Several factors influence the uptake of m-Learning in higher education, according to the literature review. Three factors have been incorporated into the DOI model. Three factors were provided by the UTAUT model, and one more factor was taken from the literature. Table 1 presents the factors and their definitions and sources.

3 Theoretical Framework and Research Hypotheses It has been possible to develop various information system (IS) theories/models in order to study the acceptance of novel technologies. In Fig. 1, we illustrate how this study integrates technological and cultural contexts by applying DOI and UTAUT theories. Behavioural intentions to use mobile learning were influenced by technological and cultural factors in this study.

3.1 Technological Context According to some studies of organisational adoption, technological context is considered to be an innovation characteristic [30]. As shown in Table 1, the technological context has many factors. New technology adoption is heavily influenced by technological factors, as San-Martín et al. [31] demonstrate. M-learning adoption in higher education has been strongly influenced by technological factors [19]. Through the internet and technological advancements, students can read, communicate, and exchange ideas through m-learning [31]. Based on this, this study considers that

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Table 1 Factors influencing M-learning adoption No.

Factor

Definition

1

Effort expectancy

Customers’ comfort Venkatesh et al. [26] UTAUT with using technology is based on consumers’ use of technology

Source(s)

2

Performance expectancy

Technology’s ability to assist customers when carrying out various activities

Venkatesh et al. [26] UTAUT

3

Social influence

Customer confidence that essential others (e.g., family and friends) can use a particular technology

Venkatesh et al. [26] UTAUT

4

Relative advantage

The superiority of an invention over its predecessor

Al-Adwan et al. [9]

DOI

5

Complexity

An invention’s difficulty in understanding and applying

Kim et al. [27]

DOI

6

Compatibility

The extent to which Almaiah et al. [28] an idea resonates with a potential adopter’s beliefs, experiences, and needs

DOI

7

Attitude toward adoption technology

The overall effective response of the individual towards system adoption and use

Literature review

Venkatesh and Bala [29]

Model

the technological context is influenced primarily by performance expectation, social influence, effort expectation, relative advantage, compatibility, and complexity. Compatibility The DOI theory suggests that people perceive compatibility as a critical technology attribute whereby compatible systems are more likely to be adopted [5]. A number of studies have been conducted to examine how compatibility affects IT innovation adoption [32–34]. In addition, research indicates that the use and adoption of m-Learning significantly influence usability [35]. In order to promote m-learning adoption, compatibility must be taken into account [36, 37]. Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed.

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Compatibility H1 Complexity H2 Relative advantage H3

Performance expectancy

H4

Behaviorual intention to use m-learning

H5 Effort expectancy

Social influence

H6

H7

Attitude toward technology adoption

Fig. 1 Conceptual framework

H1: Compatibility positively affects behavioural intention to use m-learning. Complexity Innovation’s complexity is defined by its perceived difficulty in understanding and implementation (Rogers 2003). A user’s perception of difficulty will increase if mlearning has drawbacks and problems [27]. The complexity of m-learning impacts lecturers’ and students’ intentions to follow it [27, 38]. Therefore, ambiguity may be a major barrier to a new invention’s acceptance. Student interest will be piqued to incorporate m-learning into their education if students perceive the hardware and software to be user-friendly [9]. In a similar vein, employees could have the same perception. Thus, this leads to the following hypothesis. H2: Complexity has a positive effect on behavioural intention to use m-learning. Relative Advantage According to Rogers [20], relative advantage refers to the perception that innovation is better than an idea that came before. The likelihood of firms adopting IT innovations significantly depends on its five innovation characteristics [32, 39]. A student or lecturer who finds m-learning useful and helpful is more likely to use it. Mobile devices have unique characteristics that make them more effective for m-learning than conventional learning environments, according to Almaiah and Al Mulhem [36]. Therefore, the following hypotheses have been developed. H3: Relative advantage has a positive effect on behavioural intention to use mlearning. Performance Expectancy According to Masrek and Shahibi [40], performance expectancy refers to a person’s belief that using m-learning will help them attain gains in job performance. It has been shown in most m-learning studies that performance expectancy plays a crucial role

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in an individual’s behaviour towards m-learning [41, 42]. By incorporating the idea of performance expectancy into the study, we can determine whether the employees intend to use m-learning or not. Based on the above, it is hypothesised that. H4: Performance expectancy has a positive effect on behavioural intention to use m-learning. Effort Expectancy Effort expectancy refers to the ease with which the method can be used. Using mlearning with minimal effort refers to effort expectancy in the sense of m-learning [16]. Users are more likely to follow m-learning applications if they can access them easily. Several studies show users’ intentions to use m-learning technology are strongly influenced by effort expectancy [38, 43]. Considering the previous discussion, effort expectancy should be considered when using m-learning platforms. As a result, the following hypothesis has been proposed. H5: Effort expectancy has a positive effect on Behavioural intention to use mlearning. Social Influence Individuals perceive social influence when they believe others think the new method should be used. Students in collectivistic cultures are more likely to adopt m-learning [40]. Numerous studies in the related literature indicate that social influence significantly affects a user’s behavioural intention to use m-learning [16, 44]. Therefore, this study proposes the following hypothesis. H6: Social influence positively affects behavioural intention to use m-learning.

3.2 Cultural Context The influence of culture on IS adoption is gaining traction. According to Osubor and Chiemeke [45], information culture plays a key role in adopting technological innovation. In order to succeed in business, a company’s information culture is important [46, 47]. In developing nations, including the Arab World, the lack of information culture is one of the major obstacles to ICT adoption and implementation in most developing countries [48]. Based on his study of Canada and Turkey, Arpaci [49] concludes that culture and adoption characteristics are strongly related in the context of m-learning adoption. Thus, the main determinant of the cultural context is the attitude toward technology in this study. Attitude Toward Technology Individuals’ attitudes toward technology use are determined by how they respond to the system they use [13]. Technology adoption and extension in organisations are significantly influenced by attitude towards use [50]. Mobile technology can be effectively used in the classroom if teachers’ attitudes and perceptions align with their educational potential [51]. Recent studies have also shown that teachers’ positive

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attitudes are associated with m-learning adoption e.g., [52]. As a result, the following hypothesis is proposed in this study. H7: Attitude toward adopting technology positively affects behavioural intention to use m-learning.

4 Method 4.1 Data Collection, Sample, and Questionnaire Design This study collected data from Palestine Technical University—Kadoorie and Yarmouk University in Jordan. A specialised website hosted the e-version of the questionnaire. A total of 422 respondents (76%) returned the survey after receiving the link. Numerous efforts were made to encourage respondents to take part in the study in order to achieve this response rate. As per Ebert, Huibers, Christensen and Christensen [53], a sufficient response rate is 50% or more, a good response rate is 60% or more, and a great response rate is 70% or more. Accordingly, this internet survey received an adequate response rate in this study. Data collection was conducted using a systematic questionnaire. In total, there were two sections in the questionnaire. A demographic survey (gender, age, education level, and years of experience) was conducted in the first section, while the second section examined the selected variables, namely, the technological and information culture context. On a Likert scale with a five-point scale, the items were scored with 1 being definitely disagreeing, 2 being disagreeing, 3 being slightly agreeing, 4 being agreeing, and 5 being totally agreeing. The measurement scale was adopted from prior studies. For example, compatibility and relative advantage were adopted from Almaiah and Al Mulhem [36], whereby behavioural intention to use m-learning, complexity and social influence were adopted from Al-Adwan, Al-Madadha and Zvirzdinaite [9]. In addition, effort expectancy and performance expectancy were adopted from Chao [15]. Ultimately, the attitude toward adoption was adopted from Al-Emran, Elsherif and Shaalan [19].

4.2 Descriptive Statistics Demographic information such as age, gender, educational level, and employment experience was collected in this study. Even if the acquired variables are not required by the theoretical framework, they will provide insight into the sample characteristics in the report [54]. Demographic characteristics and other background information are presented in Table 2. The study included 422 usable questionnaires, and confirmatory factor analysis and model testing were conducted on the collected data. As shown in Table 2, 80.3%

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Table 2 Descriptive statistics of respondents

Description

Frequency

Percentage

Gender

Male Female

339 83

80.3 19.7

Level of education

Diploma Bachelor’s degree Master’s degree Doctorate degree

41 236 109 36

9.7 55.9 25.8 8.5

Years of experience

< 1 year 1–5 years 5–10 years > 10 years

10 91 62 259

2.4 21.6 14.7 61.4

Age

20–30 years old 31–40 years old 41–50 years old 51 and above

83 125 84 130

19.7 29.6 19.9 30.8

of all respondents were male, followed by 19.7% female. There are 55.9% of respondents in the bachelor’s group, followed by 34.3% in the postgraduate group. Diplomas make up 9.7% of the sample. The distribution of respondents and the primacy of bachelor’s, postgraduate, and diploma degrees are common in Palestine and Jordan society.

5 Data Analysis Hair et al. [55] have developed a roadmap for assessing the PLS-SEM model. In this paper, we adopted their approach in analysing the collected data. In order to determine their reliability and validity, the study measures should be assessed using the following approaches: The reliability of an instrument can be determined by assessing the consistency of its responses, i.e. measuring in the same manner, under the same conditions, every time [56]. The outer loading method is used to confirm indication reliability. Each variable is tested for outer loading to ensure that every item is measuring the variable loads adequately on it with 0.70 or higher [55]. Five indicators were deleted from Table 3 as their outer loading values were under the acceptable level of 0.7 recommended by Hair et al. [55], leaving 35 of 40 indicators retained. The internal consistency reliability was assessed using two methods. There are two types of reliability: Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability. In order to confirm the consistency of the items measuring the same construct, the composite reliability must be 0.7 or higher [55]. Both tests confirm that the construct items are grouped with adequate consistency, i.e., over 0.*7; they also confirm that the items are homogeneous within the same variable.

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Table 3 Factor loading Factor

Outer loading

Composite reliability

Cronbach’s Alpha

AVE

Compatibility (CMP) CMP1

0.610

0.784

0.862

0.614

CMP2

0.835

CMP3

0.776 0.876

0.915

0.729

0.762

0.844

0.531

0.799

0.862

0.566

0.863

0.906

0.707

0.817

0.891

0.733

0.768

0.852

0.593

0.833

0.884

0.608

Complexity (CMX)

Relative advantage (RLA)

Effort expectancy (EFE)

Performance expectance (PFE)

Social influence (SOI)

Item

CMP4

0.886

CMX1

0.859

CMX2

0.891

CMX3

0.809

CMX4

0.854

RLA1

0.802

RLA2

0.839

RLA3

0.750

RLA4

0.749

RLA5

0.428

EFE1

0.790

EFE2

0.764

EFE3

0.434

EFE4

0.875

EFE5

0.819

PFE1

0.785

PFE2

0.835

PFE3

0.885

PFE4

0.856

SOI1

0.853

SOI2

0.804

SOI3

0.908

ATA1 Attitude Toward Adoption Technology ATA2 (ATA) ATA3

0.821

Behaviour intention to Use M learning (BAU)

0.820 0.764

ATA4

0.663

BAU1

0.834

BAU2

0.868

BAU3

0.817

BAU4

0.759

BAU5

0.591

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Table 4 Effect sizes CMP

CMX

RLA

EFE

PFE

ATA

SOI

0.02

0.002

0.041

0.053

0.063

0.18

0.057

Tests of convergent validity determine how closely two measures of a single concept correlate. The summated scale can be correlated with an alternative measure of the concept [55]. Factor loadings (outer loadings) construct reliability, which has been explained previously, and average variance are all methods of estimating relative convergent validity among item measures [55]. A convergent indicator is derived from the mean variance of items loading on a construct, resulting in an AVE value. Hair et al. [55]) found that AVE values over 0.5 indicate adequate convergence. According to Table 3, all constructs showed AVE values between 0.651 and 0.73, indicating convergent validity was confirmed for all variables. One or more dependency relationships connect the constructs in the structural model. This study used bootstrapping with 5000 resamples to estimate the statistical significance of the proposed model [57]. To determine the variance of the endogenous variable, Hair et al. [55] recommended that researchers present the coefficient of determination (R2), predictive relevance (Q2), and effect size (F2) with path significance. Correlations were also explained in terms of their significance. The endogenous latent construct for BAU adoption was found to have an R2 value of 0.888 and a Q2 value of 0.588. With a large proportion of BAU adoption predictive relevance, the exogenous (independent) constructs have significant predictive power. By increasing R2, a latent variable can be assumed to have a more significant impact on its endogenous counterpart, specifically the effect size (F2). According to Hair et al. [58], an F2 value is obtained by reducing the R2 by the percentage of unexpected variance relative to the connection path of the latent variable. Table 4 shows that all effect sizes fall within the recommended range. We then use 5000 bootstrap subsamples to evaluate the significance of direct relationships (one-tailed test) with t-values greater than 1.65. The results indicate that 4 hypotheses (H1, H2, H4, and H6) were significantly supported at p 0.05, whereas H3, H5, and were not supported by the beta values. Table 5 presents the corresponding values that were used to test the related hypotheses.

6 Discussion and Conclusion From the perspective of Palestinians and Jordanians, the current study examines technological and cultural factors that influence the adoption of m-learning. Data analysis revealed that four factors, namely compatibility, complexity, effort expectation, and attitude toward technology, affect their intention to adopt m-learning. However, relative advantage, performance expectations, and social influence do not significantly affect the employees’ decisions to adopt m-learning. Prior research has examined

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887

Table 5 Hypothesised direct effects of the variables Path coefficient

Hypotheses H1

CMP → BAU

0.312

t statistics

p-value

2.038

0.042

Supported

H2

CMX → BAU

− 0.330

3.857

0.000

Supported

H3

RLA → BAU

− 0.017

0.367

0.714

Unsupported

H4

EFE → BAU

0.485

6.444

0.000

Supported

H5

PFE → BAU

0.045

1.082

0.280

Unsupported

H6

ATA → BAU

0.210

4.863

0.000

Supported

H7

SOI → BAU

0.120

0.707

0.480

Unsupported

The significance of the relationship is confirmed using t-statistics with a threshold of 1.65, path coefficient and pvalue, effects, and the related 95% confidence

these factors concerning m-learning and technology adoption in general, and the current study’s findings are consistent with that research. For example, According to researchers [28, 59], m-learning systems will be accepted by users if they are compatible with their online learning needs. Regarding complexity, m-learning has been considered a complex system for most users based on their technical background [10]. Thus the study findings are in line with prior studies such as Al-Adwan, AlMadadha and Zvirzdinaite [9], who found that complexity affects students’ intention to adopt m-learning. Similar to compatibility and complexity, effort expectancy, which represents the expected effort the employee needs to use m-learning, also significantly impacts his/her adoption and intention to use it. This finding is consistent with previous studies such as Arpaci [49] and Arain et al. [17]. Lastly, attitude toward technology represents how employees’ previous negative or positive experiences and feelings of using technology can be transferred to m-learning acceptance [60]. The finding of this study is in line with previous scholars’ findings that a positive attitude toward technology will increase the likelihood of accepting technology in classrooms [61, 62]. To conclude, to benefit strategically from new technology, the higher education environment considers students’ acceptance of m-learning a major challenge. This study’s framework shows significant potential in predicting employees’ intention to use m-learning in Jordan and Palestine, and using the UTAUT and DOI as theoretical underpinning, this study analyses and forecasts the variables influencing university employees’ aspirations to adopt mobile learning in both countries. A number of factors were found to be crucial for m-learning adoption, including compatibility, complexity, effort expectation, and attitude toward technology. Employees’ intention to use m-learning was most strongly influenced by effort expectancy among these facilitators. The research framework provides a way to understand which factors influence employees’ intentions when using m-learning and how that may influence their future use. It may also be possible to predict m-learning acceptance by understanding how these factors affect behavioural intention. The study has its implications for both academia and practitioners. Theoretically, this study differs from the previous research by investigating employees’ perceptions

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rather than students. In addition, by combining UTAUT and DOI, the study broadens the understanding of more factors that may affect the intention to use m-learning as new technology in countries such as Jordan and Palestine. Practically, this study informs the policymakers and managers in education institutions on what to consider when developing future mobile learning systems. Acknowledgements The researchers thank Palestine Technical University/ Kadoorie (PTUK) for their constant moral and financial support for this research as well as scientific research in general.

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Sustainable Finance, FinTech Innovation and Business Uncertain Situations

Review of Financial Technology Applications and Their Related Aspects Bahaa Razia and Bahaa Awwad

Abstract The growth of the startup industry, which continues to accelerate year after year, puts companies in a competitive position to offer their products to the general public. Fin-tech is fast growing right now. Finch’s rise in the middle east aims to make it easier for the general people to perform financial transactions online, improve financial literacy, and achieve financial inclusion. This mapping study aims to identify prior fin-tech research and make recommendations for future research. This study employs a systematic literature review (SLR), which collects and evaluates available research on the topic of interest to produce an objective result that can be audited and replicated. The study offers a holistic and coherent review of finch applications and their related aspects built on a critical assessment of the literature. Fin-tech and its related aspects are expected to strike the right balance between retaining financial stability and offering consumer protection. They also have the potential to provide effective incentives for Fin-tech innovation. This study provides important insights and great evidence regarding the applications of finch in multiple disciplines. This leads practitioners, entrepreneurs and policymakers to improve performance as well as achieve competitiveness. Keywords Financial technology · Literature review

1 Introduction Financial technology has been widely regarded as one of the most significant developments in the financial business and is rapidly expanding [22]. This was fuelled by a lack of faith in financial service providers, prompting a surge in alternative funding demand. The availability and cost of infrastructure (for example, the Internet, cellular technology, sensors), increasingly sophisticated technology applications (e.g., platforms, Big Data analysis), and business operations (e.g., sharing economy) are all driving factors in fin-tech. Payment, wealth management, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer B. Razia (B) · B. Awwad Palestine Technical University—Kadoorie, Tulkarm, Palestine e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_76

893

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(P2P) lending, capital markets, and insurance services are among the six emerging fin-tech business models [22]. FinTech and the Internet of Things (IoT) have both achieved widespread recognition as symbols of new technology. FinTech is spawning a slew of new goods and services, including accounting systems and others aimed at making existing financial mechanisms better and more convenient [24]. Furthermore, because of the wide range of businesses and industries that this technology is tied to or has impacted, even people who are not involved in the industry are observing trends in this new field, it might be stated that there is presently no industry unrelated to the Internet of Things [24]. Fin-tech investment has exploded in recent years [22]. According to Accenture (2016), global investment in fin-tech initiatives reached $5.3 billion in the first quarter of 2016, up 67% from the previous year’s first quarter. However, the share of investments going to fintech companies in Europe and Asia–Pacific nearly doubled to 62%. Traditional financial institutions have contributed significantly to this surge in investment [22]. Traditional financial institutions invest in external fin-tech firms through joint fin-tech ventures and their internal fin-tech projects to acquire a competitive advantage by leapfrogging fin-tech innovation [22]. Fin-tech has been advancing on technology breakthroughs in a variety of areas, including mobile networks, big data, trust management, Image processing, data analytic techniques and cloud computing. This mapping study tries to identify prior fin-tech research and its related aspects and then make recommendations for future research. Previous studies have suggested several aspects to investigate, such as the examination of the data in advance by displaying complete descriptions of all interactions involved. Future research can expand on the findings by comparing the fin-tech industries of different countries; using the Data-Driven FinTech Framework (DF2) to facilitate and standardise future FinTech research and technical applications. The fin-tech feature should achieve the right balance by offering protection for users and maintaining stability for financial sectors. It is also vital to provide constructive incentives for financial innovations. Numerous studies have attracted practitioners, politicians, entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers involved in technology applied in the domain of innovative financial services since it can build social construction. It is also beneficial to bankers who might consider Fin-tech and their strategic partnerships to make future strategic decisions. This study collects its data from SCOPUS and Science-direct.

2 Research Method The primary goal of a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) is to collect and evaluate available research on the area of interest, resulting in objective conclusions that can be audited and reproduced [23]. An SLR is a rigorous methodological assessment of

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research findings, with the goal of not only grouping current works on the subject, but also assisting in developing evidence-based guidelines for professionals active in the field of study. The findings of an SLR should identify the state of the art in the research topic to demonstrate that the work is new to the existing body of knowledge. More than 30 papers were found in electronic databases and other sources. All of these papers were critically evaluated and examined.

3 Results This study makes use of more than 30 publications identified from internet databases/sources. Fin-tech is associated with government intervention; data-driven techniques, facility and equipment development, application designs, service model placement, and security and privacy protections; big data and firm size; policy direction; Internet of Things; agriculture sector; banking; innovations; artificial intelligence; personal data protection; risk; regulations; user acceptance; and stock returns (Table 1).

4 Discussion Numerous studies provided important insights and great evidence regarding the applications of finch in multiple disciplines [10, 19–21, 28]. Shim and Shin [26] indicated that employing a techno-globalist approach increases competitiveness and provides security for local organisations. Similarly, [30] argued that understanding relations between innovation policy and government policy can help policymakers to make better decisions and foster technological innovations. Therefore, it is important to consider adopting certain technologies to improve government performance as well as achieve competitiveness. In terms of the Internet of Things and Artificial intelligence, making use of this technology has the potential to business revenue and attain social creation through accepting ideas by the people in the society [24]. Other variables that are related to finch are digital currencies, central bank, competition and stability. As a result, there is a focus on the implications of the growing roles of finch and its related aspects, especially in digital currencies and financial systems. This brings together policymakers and high-quality researchers to apply finch technologies and identify any possible implications that are linked with the different variables of tin tech (e.g., central banking, financial system, digital currencies, regulations or innovation).

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Table 1 Existing Studies of Fin-tech and its related aspects in different disciplines Author

Major finding

Variable: government intervention Shim and Shin [26]

The Chinese government employs a techno-globalist approach to boost its global competitiveness in the fin-tech industry, while also employing a techno-nationalist strategy to cultivate "national champions" and safeguard home enterprises from foreign worldwide players

Variable: smart contract Sklaroff [18]

Smart contracts have the ability to effectively integrate with operational and financial within developed digital environment

Variable: Big data, firm size Begenau et al [5]

Big data is used is to help financial market use to be able to make better investment decisions about their enterprise. Understanding how to price data as an asset might help us to better understand the valuations of new-economy firms and better measure aggregate economic activity

Variable: government policies Wonglimpiyarat [30]

The paper offers useful lessons for policy makers in order to understand relations between government policies, innovation policy and government role. This assist in fostering technological innovations

Variable: sustainability Najaf et al. [17]

The established sustainability index is a credible proxy for sustainability parameters and has a direct relationship with stock performance. Furthermore, data suggests that non-FinTech firms outperform FinTech enterprises in terms of sustainability and stock performance. The current findings support stakeholder theory, implying that high-quality sustainability performance will ease the agency problem and protect shareholders’ interests

Variable: IoT Internet of Things and Artificial intelligence Nakashima [24]

For companies of every size, an essential business activity in modern society and does not mean simply using technology, but achieving social creation through the use of technology

Paul and Sadath (2021)

This paper provides a holistic review of finch in different business and how it can affect business revenue and resource optimisation

Variable: agriculture’s digital market-place Anshari et al. [4]

AgroPay delivers the functionality required for investors to perform transactions easily at any time and from any location. Crowdfunding allows investors to choose from a wide choice of agricultural goods to invest in using their smartphone

Variable: shaping financial and banking relationships (continued)

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Table 1 (continued) Author

Major finding

Jagtiani and Lemieux [13]

LendingClub’s consumer loan activities have reached places that traditional banks may overlook, such as highly concentrated markets and locations with fewer bank branches per inhabitant. In locations when the local economy is struggling, the proportion of LendingClub loans increases

Variable: loan-based crowdfunding Lin et al. [15]

This research determine that more verifiable and stronger relational network measures are greatly related to a higher possibility of a lower risk of default, a loan being funded, and lower interest rates

Freedman and Jin (2017)

Borrowers with social relationships are more likely to get approved for loans and pay lower interest rates. They demonstrate that the applicant’s friends agreeing to invest in the loan is a stronger indication in lower credit ratings. Most borrowers with social links, however, do not outperform ex-post

Variable: artificial intelligence (AI) Jagtiani and John [12]

The advanced technology, Big data, and complex AI/ML algorithms have created a new financial landscape. Both traditional institutions and the Fintech platforms have been competing and have benefited from their partnerships

Variable: central bank digital currencies Fung and Halaburda [19]

This paper suggests a framework for a central bank to consider when issuing digital money. They also make recommendations on how to adopt CBDC to increase the efficiency of the retail payment system

[21]

It is believed that a central bank supplying a digital currency will not provide something that private banks do not already provide. However, it creates a path for bank runs, putting financial stability at risk

Variable: regulators and banks Anagnostopoulos [3]

Disruptive innovation has the ability to benefit customers, as well as obtain regulatory and supervisory benefits and repeatable advantages for the financial services industry. It is becoming increasingly crucial as the financial services business advances

Variable: shadow banks Buchak et al [6]

In comparison to regular lenders, fin-tech lenders appear to utilise different information to establish interest rates. According to a quantitative model of mortgage lending, regulation contributes for around 60% of shadow bank growth, while technology accounts for roughly 30%

Variable: banking (continued)

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Table 1 (continued) Author

Major finding

Drasch et al. (2018)

Our taxonomy, in particular for policymakers, can serve as a useful classification of cooperation scenarios and their distinctive characteristics. For the purpose of determining legal actions, policymakers may analyse and build on the suggested cooperation patterns. Case-driven research methodologies, for example, should match and assess legislation for each of the specified features (e.g. banking licenses, antitrust legislation, patent law)

Variable: risk and regulations Gozman and Willcocks [10]

There is a framework theory for determining when to interact with, or avoid, Cloud technology strategically. This assists executives in balancing the need to innovate with the requirement to control compliance risk, and it then details developing successful techniques for managing Cloud-based innovation on a long-term basis

Variable: user acceptance Susilo et al. [27]

It is really more difficult to determine the fundamental function of aspects that will contribute to user decision making, especially for applications that do not need payment. In other words, we cannot discern user preference for one over another using the fundamental Technology Acceptance Approach (TAM) model. It is critical to determine whether other aspects should be included in the TAM’s fundamental model

Variable: level of trust and comfort with new technologies Jünger and Mietzner [14]

Households with low levels of trust, solid financial education, and a propensity for openness are more likely to adopt FinTech. Household pricing perceptions, on the other hand, do not appear to have a major influence on switching likelihood

Variable: competition, stability, and the development of unregulated banking activity Vives [29]

This article examines the link between competition and stability in modern banking, focusing on the role of digital technology, and deduces policy implications for regulation and competition policy

Variable: banking Thakor [28]

A brief examination of the data reveals that these platforms have recently failed to offer the returns to investors that banks have. For example, JP Morgan Chase had a ROE of 14.07 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, but Lending Club had a ROE of-6.2 percent. A larger examination reveals qualitatively comparable outcomes (continued)

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Table 1 (continued) Author

Major finding

Elsaid [9]

According to this research, while fin-tech businesses are projected to take some market share away from banks, they are not expected to replace banks. To compete with fin-tech startups, banks must speed their embrace of innovations and new technologies. It is also advocated that strategic relationships and collaboration between banks and fin-tech startups occur in a way that benefits both parties

Variable: banks Acar and Çitak [2]

Fin-tech integration processes are designed to reduce risks and raise fin-tech understanding in departments. As a result, the majority of departments communicate with fin-tech and recognise the value of external partners

Variable: regulation Degerli [7]

When it comes to FinTech regulation, regulators frequently take one of three approaches: ignore, liken, or regulate. Financial services, being one of the most regulated industries in the Turkish economy, are far from being overlooked

FinTech and household finance Agarwal and Chua [1]

Numerous studies argue that FinTech has helped households by increasing spending and borrowing. This permits them to spread their usage out over time. Furthermore, their portfolio diversity has improved. However, there is evidence that some households overspend and borrow above their means

Variable: disruptive innovation Palmié et al. [25]

This paper describes disruptive innovation ecosystems and shows how the financial technology (FinTech) ecosystem has disrupted the financial services industry

Variable: map-based graphical password authentication Meng et al. [16]

It was discovered that participants in RouteMap had better long-term memory and multiple password memory when compared to two similar methods, PassMap and GeoPass. Our observations were verified by responses from both general and FinTech participants. Future work might also entail performing a comprehensive security analysis and assessing map-based systems in an adversarial environment

Variable: stock returns Dranev et al. [8]

Using event research technique, there is a large positive average abnormal return after the purchase of fin-tech businesses in the near term and a negative average abnormal return in the long run. The intricacies of cross-border acquisitions, the acquirer’s level of domestic market growth, and other elements of M&A agreements are analyzed in order to understand investor reactions to announcements of fin-tech business acquisitions

Variable: agribusiness development goals sustainable (continued)

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Table 1 (continued) Author

Major finding

Hinson et al. [11]

There are significant roadblocks on the way to full financial inclusion and the transformation of the agriculture sector in accordance with SDG 12. According to the findings of this study, certain conditions must be met in order for the risks to be adequately minimised

Variable: personal data protection Rozi et al. [20]

The findings provide valuable insight into how to enhance personal data security performance. When earning the credentials to secure customers’ personal data and maintain their sustainability, they can serve as lessons for comparable growing startup enterprises in financial technology

5 Conclusion Previous studies have identified the characteristics that are associated with fin-tech. They also advise further research, such as: studying the data in greater depth by displaying complete descriptions of all the relationships involved. A future study might also expand the findings beyond China by comparing the fin-tech sectors of various nations and using the Data-Driven FinTech Framework (DF2) to ease and standardise future FinTech research and technology deployments. The Fin-tech rules ought to reach the proper adjustment between giving buyer security and keeping up monetary soundness whereas at the same time giving adequate motivating forces for Fin-tech advancements; as a point of view on a social build, past thinks think about the request to controllers and law creators, business people, and financial specialists who take part in innovation connected inside the imaginative budgetary administration administrations space. It is additionally of intrigued to investors who might consider FinTech and vital organizations as a planned, future key course; the taxonomy”s multidimensionality lays the establishments for analyzing interdependencies among the measurements and characteristics, that are curiously for approach creators; think about around P2P stages to start utilising use within the future. Future research on the instruments behind the advance of the troublesome development environment; and a thorough investigation of cost-effectiveness and financial sustainability of more up-to-date FinTech models. Acknowledgements Special thanks to Palestine Technical University—Kadoorie for their valuable support and cooperation.

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References 1. Agarwal, S., Chua, Y.H.: FinTech and household finance: a review of the empirical literature. China Finance Rev. Int. 10(4), 361–376 (2020) 2. Acar, O., Çitak, Y.E.: Fintech integration process suggestion for banks. Procedia Comput. Sci. 158, 971–978 (2019) 3. Anagnostopoulos, I.: Fintech and regtech: impact on regulators and banks. J. Econ. Bus. 100, 7–25 (2018) 4. Anshari, M., Almunawar, M.N., Masri, M., Hamdan, M.: Digital marketplace and FinTech to support agriculture sustainability. Energy Procedia 156(2018), 234–238 (2019) 5. Begenau, J., Farboodi, M., Veldkamp, L.: Big data in finance and the growth of large firms. J. Monet. Econ. 97, 71–87 (2018) 6. Buchak, G., Matvos, G., Piskorski, T., Seru, A.: Fin-tech, regulatory arbitrage, and the rise of shadow banks. J. Financ. Econ. 130(3), 453–483 (2018) 7. Degerli, K.: Regulatory challenges and solutions for Fintech in Turkey. Procedia Comput. Sci. 158, 929–937 (2019) 8. Dranev, Y., Frolova, K., Ochirova, E.: The impact of fintech-tech M&A on stock returns. Res. Int. Bus. Financ. 48, 353–364 (2019) 9. Elsaid, H.M.: A review of literature directions regarding the impact of fintech firms on the banking industry. Qual. Res. Financ. Markets pp. 1755–4179 (2020) 10. Gozman, D., Willcocks, L.: The emerging Cloud Dilemma: balancing innovation with crossborder privacy and outsourcing regulations. J. Bus. Res.; pp. 235–256 (2019) 11. Hinson, R., Lensink, R., Mueller, A.: Transforming agribusiness in developing countries: SDGs and the role of FinTech. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain. 41, 1–9 (2019) 12. Jagtiani, J., John, K.: Fintech: the impact on consumers and regulatory responses. J. Econ. Bus. 100, 1–6 (2018) 13. Jagtiani, J., Lemieux, C.: Do fin-tech lenders penetrate areas that are underserved by traditional banks? J. Econ. Bus. 100, 43–54 (2018) 14. Jünger, M., Mietzner, M.: Banking goes digital: the adoption of FinTech services by German households. Finance Res. Lett., pp. 1–8 (2019) 15. Lin, M., Prabhala, R., Viswanathan, S.: Judging borrowers by the company they keep: social networks and adverse selection in online peer-to-peer lending (2019). https://papers.ssrn.com/ sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1355679 16. Meng, W., Zhu, L., Li, W., Han, J., Li, Y.: Enhancing the security of FinTech applications with map-based graphical password authentication. Future Gener. Comput. Syst. 101, 1018–1027 (2019) 17. Najaf, K., Obaid, M.S., Al Rashidi, A., Ataya, A.: Does sustainability matter for Fintech firms? Evidence from United States firms. Competitiveness Rev.: An Int. Bus. J., pp. 1059–5422 (2021) 18. Sklaroff, J.M.: Smart contracts and the cost of inflexibility. U.Pa. L. Rev. 166, 263 (2017) 19. Fung, B.S.C., Halaburda, H.: Central bank digital currencies: a framework for assessing why and how (2016). https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2016/11/staff-discussion-paper-2016-22/ 20. Rozi, M., Sucahyo, Y.G., G Gandhi, A. Ruldeviyani, Y.: Appraising personal data protection in startup companies in financial technology: a case study of ABC Corp. In: APIT 2020: Proceedings of the 2020 2nd Asia Pacific Information Technology Conference January; 2020, pp. 9–15 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1145/3379310.3379322 21. Callesen, P.: Can banking be sustainable in the future? A perspective from Danmarks Nationalbank (2017). https://www.bis.org/review/r171031c.htm 22. Lee, I., Shin, Y.J.: Fintech: ecosystem, business models, investment decisions, and challenges. Bus. Horiz. 61(1), 35–46 (2018) 23. Milian, E.Z., de M. Spinola, M., M. de Carvalho, M.: Fintechs: a literature review and research agenda. Electron. Commer. Res. Appl. 34 (2019) 24. Nakashima, T.: Creating credit by making use of mobility with FinTech and IoT. IATSS Research 42(2), 61–66 (2018)

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25. Palmié, M., Wincent, J., Parida, V., Caglar, U.: The evolution of the financial technology ecosystem: an introduction and agenda for future research on disruptive innovations in ecosystems. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change 151, 119779 (2020) 26. Shim, Y., Shin, D.H.: Analyzing China’s Fintech industry from the perspective of actor-network theory. Telecommun. Policy 40(2–3), 168–181 (2016) 27. Susilo, A.Z., Iksan Prabowo, M., Taman, A., Pustikaningsih, A., Samlawi, A.: A comparative study of factors affecting user acceptance of go-pay and OVoOVO as a feature of Fintech application. Procedia Comput. Sci. 161, 876–884 (2019) 28. Thakor, A.V.: Fintech and banking: what do we know? J. Financ. Intermediation 41 (2020) 29. Vives, X.: Competition and stability in modern banking: a post-crisis perspective. Int. J. Ind. Organ. 64, 55–69 (2019) 30. Wonglimpiyarat, J.: Challenges and dynamics of FinTech crowdfunding: an innovation system approach. J. High Technol. Manag. Res. 29(1), 98–108 (2018)

Optimizing Performance and Spatial Distribution of ATMs During COVID-19 Lockdown—A Queuing Theory Approach Ayman Dbeis and Khaled Al-Sahili

Abstract Due to the spread of COVID-19 virus, the Palestinian government imposed strict lockdown, panned vehicular travel, and imposed paying the government sectors’ employees through ATMs only on specified paydays to limit traveling and avoid crowding. This paper investigates the performance of queuing at ATM machines during the emergency period in Nablus city, Palestine and optimizes the service while maintaining the required health instructions. Field observations and analysis showed high congestion levels and long queues at ATMs, which is contrary to what the government planned for. Under the specified payday schedule and the current ATMs, waiting time extended to two hours and queues reached up to 39 persons. It is concluded that by redistributing the paydays based on demand and the spatial distribution of demand and ATMs, as well as adding mobile ATMs to meet excessive demand, waiting time and queue length will be considerably reduced with various levels from one payday to another. This will reduce the risk of spreading the virus due to crowding at ATMs. Keywords Queuing analysis · ATM · Quarantine · COVID-19 · Spatial model

1 Introduction Starting January 2020, the Corona Virus—COVID-19, which appeared first in China, gradually started spreading all over the world, including Palestine; later classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a “pandemic”. Each country launched its own health protection procedures to control the virus spread. It was a common procedure in each country to avoid crowding and to maintain physical and social distancing as a way to avoid infection and limit the spread of the virus. Since the spread of the A. Dbeis Highway and Transportation Engineering, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine K. Al-Sahili (B) Civil Engineering, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_77

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virus, governments around the world imposed different types and different levels of travel and movement restrictions as well as societal activities and behaviors. The Palestinian government followed the WHO instructions and guidelines, as much as possible. At the end of March 2020, when the quarantine started in Palestine, the government restricted travel between cities and limited travel inside cities to the absolute necessities. Furthermore, the government arranged monthly salaries for their employees to be paid on the 5th day of the month (April) in four paydays and via ATMs only; each day for a certain category of employees, while calling people to keep safe physical distancing in the queues at the ATMs. In addition, the government panned vehicular movements and allowed citizen to walk to their target destinations. During these days, long queues and high congestion at the ATMs were observed, which was against the government’s health protection campaign. Therefore, the idea rose to study these queues in a case study area, to identify the problem and find a practical solution to serve people’s needs and maintain the proper health practices. Although this research was initiated because of COVID-19 pandemic and long queues at ATMs in Nablus City, Palestine; however, the concept is applicable in other emergencies, and for other services and locations, as well. The queuing theory has been widely used in various fields of engineering, management, and other fields, to study queueing behaviors and performance under various types of arrival and service conditions. However, its application under such emergency conditions and users’ behavior as well as specific physical and spatial distancing requirements is very limited, which is one of the main gaps covered in this paper. Therefore, the research question is how would the queuing theory be applied in such cases and would it be able to provide an optimizing scheme of the services? As such, the main objective here is using the queuing theory to analyze people’s arrival and queuing (crowding) characteristics at the ATMs during such limiting travel conditions and health concerns, and optimize the service by determining alternative paydays’ scenarios and optimal locations of ATM services. The paper starts first with an introduction and background, including the research gap and study objective. A review of selected studies was presented followed by the methodology to achieve the stated objective. An analysis of queuing theory parameters related to ATM services under the Palestinian emergency conditions, including scenarios for improvements and optimizing the service were performed. The study concludes with a set of conclusions and recommendation, including future research potentials.

2 Review of Selected Studies May [1] presented a comprehensive discussion of the queuing theory with various systems of deterministic or stochastic service and arrivals, and single and multichannel systems and the associated formulas and constraints. Sathiyabala and Vidhya [2] established that the application of queuing theory has increased in various fields of

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banking sector, healthcare, traffic control, computer parallel system, and distributed systems, showing the instances of its use and benefits acquired. In the banking system, an application of queuing theory was proposed to determine the optimum service level for ATMs in Ghana [3]. The research found that 52% of users felt that one to five-minute interval is a reasonable time to wait in a queue. The ATM system consisted of two machines, which serve as a multiple-channel system (M/M/s). It was found that adding an additional ATM would achieve less cost and waiting time would decrease from 32 min to 48 s. Pazgal and Radas [4] explained the balking and reneging terminology in queuing, and explained that customers can either join a queue or balk (decide not to enter the waiting line) and return at a later time, and customers who join can renege (decide to leave before being served) and return later. An example for modeling queuing on ATMs was applied in Bangladesh [5]. A one-month daily customer observation data was collected, and the busiest period for the ATM was during weekdays. The impatient customers would balk whenever they see more than 3 people in the queue, which gave a balking probability of 15.42%. The research concluded that determining the required number of ATMs would help banks to enhance the quality of service by anticipating the number of queued customers and those who would balk. The queuing theory has also been applied widely in the medical sector. A queuing theory modeling was applied fairly recently in Australia to determine how many ICU beds will be required and to predict when the system would fail during the Corona virus pandemic [6]. Authors used Little’s theorem to determine the number of patients in the system, with an arrival rate equals to the proportion of confirmed Covid-19 patients require an ICU admission per day (λ) and a mean of 10 days a patient remains in the system. The paper showed that the public health system in Australia would fail when the number of needed ICU beds exceeds capacity; approximately 2300 beds, and that if the ICU admission rate is reduced to 2.5%, the number of beds would be sufficient for more than a month. In Nigeria, Kembe et al. [7] applied the queuing theory for a multichannel queuing model in the Riverside specialist clinic in Makurdi city. They identified the optimal server level to achieve the minimum total cost.

3 Methodology An appropriate study area for the study purpose was selected with available ATM services that are reached by walking. Population and employees’ data were obtained from official sources for health, education, martial/security, other public/NGOs, and private sectors population and employees. These include the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) [8, 9] and annual official reports [10, 11]. ArcMap GIS software was used to build and analyze the existing road network and to define the coverage area for the selected ATMs, using available spatial data [12]. A proposal to solve congestion, assess the adequacy of paydays, and identify employment category for each day was established to avoid congestion and

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Fig. 1 Selected ATM machines and their coverage area in Rafedia St. within 10-min walking

ATM system’s failure. Practical assumptions and estimates were used where needed. However, despite these specific assumed values, the concept remains valid and the core idea remains applicable to other emergencies and to non-emergency conditions, and in other locations under various scenarios applied in different countries. The selected study area was Rafedia; an active neighborhood in Nablus City, Palestine. It is a vital economic area and contains several regularly used ATM machines. The ATMs’ exact service coverage area was identified based on an impedance walking distance of 750 m; corresponds to a 10-min walking at a speed of 1.2 m/s [13], on the shortest route leading to the desired ATM, as shown in Fig. 1.

4 System’s Analysis 4.1 Queuing Theory Calculations During the COVID-19 emergency situation in Palestine, the government distributed the paydays as follows: Public Health and Martial sectors on the first day, Education on the second, Social Affairs on the third, and the rest of employees on the fourth day. It is also known that salaries for public employees start on the 5th day of each month, while private and NGO employees get their salaries from 1st to 3rd days of a month. It was estimated that 50% of the private and NGO sectors’ employees get their salaries in the first day, while the remaining 50% get their salaries on the second

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and the third days (25% each). The ATM machines are single channel facility, with random arrival and service rates. The typical stochastic approach of queue system (M/M/1) was followed with infinite queue length. Queuing characteristics equations are presented in Table 1. Field observations showed that approximately 80% of users get to the ATMs on the first payday; one third of which during the peak period. The remaining 20% go concurrently to the ATMs in the next payday during its peak hour, and so on. These figures were carefully calculated considering the maximum proportion that each ATM can handle before failing based on the ATM’s estimated average service rate of one person per 3 min (20 persons per hour) including 1 min of start-up lost time and an end down lost time. Table 2 shows the queue calculations for each ATM machine, for paydays for private and NGO sectors, and for public sector. The average number of customers waiting for service and the average queue length for the private/NGO sectors are relatively high during the peak hour on the second day; average waiting time exceeds one hour. This means that the peak period is almost 2 h. People tend to leave the queue when waiting time exceeds a certain expected period (reneging), or decide not to join the queue (balking) and come back later. Estimates showed that reneging or balking occurs when waiting time exceeds 25 min. Therefore, the probability of waiting more than 25 min is 79% (Table 2). When all people who might wait for more than 25 min leave the queue, it will result in approximately 30 persons (out of 38) leaving the queue. Therefore, the remaining average number of people waiting would not exceed 8 persons. The arrival rate for a queue with an average of 8-person waiting will be 17.2 p/hr at each ATM in the peak hour in the next day. Assuming a reduced arrival rate for the second day of only two persons per hour, this gives the results shown in Table 3. Table 1 Queuing performance equations for M/M/1 system [1] Symbol

Definition

Equation

Equation No.

P

Traffic Intensity, where λ is the arrival rate (person/hr) and μ is the service rate (person/hr)

λ μ

(1)

ρ (0)

Probability of empty system

1−ρ

(2)

Average number waiting to be served

ρ2 1−ρ

(3)

1 1−ρ

(4)

ρ 1−ρ

(5)

E (m)

E (m/m > 0) Average number waiting to be served when queue is present E (n)

Average number in system (waiting and service)

E (v)

Average time in system

E (w)

Average waiting time only

P (w ≤ t)

Probability of waiting time t or less in the queue

1 μ(1−ρ) ρ μ(1−ρ)

1−

(6) (7)

  λ μ

e

   − 1− μλ λt

(8)

Arrival rate (p/hr) 1.0

0.0

234

233

400

600

5

6

7

8

29.8

19.0

13.5 1.5

1.0

0.7 18.6 − 4.5

− 0.5

1.4

0.2

2.7

36.5

2.6

E(m)

0.0

0.3

0.6

0.4

0.2

Public sector

0.8

0.2

ρ (0)

Assumed to be empty 7.7

P 0.8

4

15.6

19.5

15.5

–

235

235

2

3

Demand (p/payday)

469

Day #

1

Sector

Private & NGO

Table 2 Queue calculations for the first three paydays

− 2.0

20.5

3.1

1.6

4.5

38.5

4.4

E(m/m > 0)

− 3.0

19.5

2.1

0.6

3.5

37.5

3.4

E(n)

− 6.1

61.5

9.3

4.9

13.5

115.4

13.3

E(v)-min

E(w)-min

− 9.1

58.5

6.3

1.9

10.5

112.4

10.3

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0.9

17.6

0.1

6.3

4.4 8.2

7.9

Assumed to be empty, and recommended to be, as a time offset

2.6 6.1

3

0.2

0.1

4

0.8

0.9

E(m/m > 0)

15.5

E(m)

17.5

ρ . (0)

1

ρ

2

Arrival Rate (p/hr)

Day #

7.2

6.9

3.4

E(n)

24.7

23.8

13.3

E(v)-min

Table 3 Queue calculations for the private and NGO sectors, with reneging/balking adjustment

21.7

20.8

10.3

E(w)-min

0.6

0.7

0.8

P(w ≤ 25 min)

0.4

0.3

0.2

P(w > 25 min)

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In this case, the average number of waiting persons is reduced to only 8 persons, with a maximum expected waiting time of less than 25 min. Table 2 shows that the ATM system will fail in the last payday (day 8), with almost an hour of average waiting time at each ATM on day 7. This explains the observed long queues at the ATMs and especially in the last two days of the paydays. Further, not all people in each category will go to ATMs in their specified payday, but most of them will do and concurrently; this will weaken the ATMs’ system. In addition, one should note here the high average waiting time in the third public payday (day 7), which may lead to reneging or balking, and assign more demand on the last day (day 8), which is already expected to fail. For the negative values that interpret the system’s break, it is obviously correlated with the intensity value greater than 1 (ρ > 1). In this case, May [1] recommends using the deterministic approach or microscopic simulation. To avoid any failure in the system, two proposals are recommended. The first is by extending paydays and redistributing the remaining number of employees (40%) for the original day and 60% for the additional day. This will save the system; however, with relatively high average waiting time for the last three days, as shown in Table 4; a high possibility of reneging or balking that may cause another failure. The second is by adding an extra payday, and rearranging the categories’ paydays and giving priority to the highest number for the first day, and the smallest number for the second, and so on. Therefore, starting with a high number category, one can assign more demand to the next day, which is specified for a less-number category that has room for extra demand. The rearrangement will be as follows: social affairs and families of martyrs and prisoners on the first payday (SA), health and martial sectors (HM), education sector on the fourth day (ED), and the last two days for the rest of employees. With this proposal, a maximum average waiting time of less than 25 min with a maximum average number of waiting customers less than 8 persons are attained. Table 4 Queue calculations for the public sector with an extra payday ρ

ρ (0)

7.7

0.4

0.6

233

13.5

0.7

0.3

1.4

3.1

2.1

9.3

6.3

400

19.0

1.0

0.0

18.6

20.5

19.5

61.5

58.5

8

250

18.3

0.9

0.1

9.5

11.4

10.4

34.3

31.3

9

350

17.8

0.9

0.1

7.2

9.1

8.1

27.3

24.3

Day #

Demand (p/payday)

5

234

6 7

Arrival rate (p/hr)

E(m)

0.2

E(m/m > 0)

1.6

E(n)

0.6

E(v)-min

4.9

E(w)-min

1.9

Optimizing Performance and Spatial Distribution of ATMs During …

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4.2 Physical Distancing The Palestinian government recommends a physical distancing of 2.0 m (m) to avoid virus infection. By assuming that we can serve a queue of 10 persons (n) instead of 8, with a maximum average waiting time less than 25 min, with a typical depth (d) of 0.5 m for each person, the longest queue will be 25 m with an extra safety distance (e) of 2 m, as Eq. (9) shows: Maximum Queue length = n(d) + (n − 1)(s) + e

(9)

This 25-m maximum queue length fits well with distances between each pair of ATMs along the main street in one direction; the minimum available length is 60 m. The demand for ATM based on households’ distribution is shown in Fig. 2; however, their coverage area may overlap (750-m maximum walking distance). ATMs #1, 2, and 8 have the highest levels of demand, and ATM #2 receives demand from another area. Furthermore, there are some ATMs with low levels of demand, such as ATM #5 with only two demand points, since this area is covered by other ATMs. An alternative is disabling and replacing ATM #5 by two mobile portable ATMs, next to the congested ATMs (#1 and #8); a proposal that has already been launched in another city and was well received by customers. Further, in case of an inactive ATM, the mobile ATM will be an optimum solution. Therefore, the demand will be redistributed among the ATMs as the mobile ATMs will share the demand with those

Fig. 2 Demand coverage and spatial distribution of ATMs with two mobile ATM stations

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already existing to reduce crowding. In addition, these mobile ATMs can be easily relocated to share the demand with highly crowded ATMs that approach capacity.

4.3 Exploring Alternatives

Average Waiting Time (minutes)

Several alternatives were explored to improve the service characteristics of the ATMs for the study area. These are: Current Condition (CC), Scenario 1—adding an extra payday (Sc1), Scenario 2—adding an extra payday and rearranging the paydays’ categories (Sc2), Scenario 3—adding 2 additional ATMs and maintaining current categories’ arrangement; total of 10 ATMs (Sc3), and Scenario 4—adding 2 mobile ATMs while adding an additional payday, rearranging paydays’ categories, and disabling the lowest demand ATM; total of 9 ATMs (Sc4). The adjusted demand for each ATM in each scenario is estimated based on the locations of residences and the ATMs. Figure 3 and Table 5 show the comparisons between these alternatives. It is clear that scenario 4 provides the best performance; the average waiting time in the queue is much less than the other alternatives. It also achieves a healthier situation by reducing the number of persons in the queue and maintaining the appropriate physical distancing. An ATM’s queuing performance is related to more than one factor; it is affected by the number of competitor ATMs, spatial location of ATM and demand it covers, number of paydays, and corresponding categories it serves. Therefore, scenario 4 provides the best performance as it considers these factors. It should also be noted that the mobile ATMs have to be located properly to maximize demand coverage and compete with high demands’ ATMs; temporally and spatially. Therefore, the mobile ATM’s location should be disseminated to customers, as an alternative ATM. A mobile phone application could be designed for such a purpose, where the location of a mobile ATM station is established and should be 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 -10 4

5

6

7

8

9

10

-20 -30

Current Condition Scenario Number 3

Payday Number Scenario Number 1 Scenario Number 4

Fig. 3 Average waiting time at ATMs under different scenarios

Scenario Number 2

Average Waiting Time Only (E(w)-min) CC

350

CC

18.6

9.5

–

18.6

− 4.5

9

7

8

9

1.4

1.4

6

0.2

0.2

5

Sc1

7.2

5.8

1.4

6.9

1.3

Sc2

250

4.8

− 7.4

2.4

0.6

0.1

Sc3

–

–

2.6

0.9

2.9

0.8

Sc4

250

2.3

− 9.1

58.5

6.3

1.9

–

17.8

18.3

–

31.3

58.5

6.3

1.9

Sc1

17.0

17.4

10.8

–

23.8

15.2

–

29.8

13.5

Average Number Waiting to be Served (E(m))

350

19.0

9

600

19.0

Day #

350

233

17.7

Sc3 6.2

250

400

13.5

Sc2 13.2

600

233

13.5

Sc1 7.7

8

400

234

CC 7.7

233

233

Sc4 400

400

234

Sc3

234

6

233

Sc2

400

Arrival rate (p/hr)

7

Sc1

234

CC

234

Demand (p/payday)

5

Day #

Table 5 Comparison of the Main Performance Characteristics between the Alternatives Sc4

24.3

19.9

6.3

23.3

5.8

Sc2

15.1

15.4

12.0

15.8

11.7

–

1.5

1.0

0.7

0.4

CC

17.0

− 18.6

9.6

3.5

1.3

Sc3

0.9

0.9

1.0

0.7

0.4

Sc1

Intensity (ρ) Sc2

0.9

0.9

0.7

0.9

0.7

Sc3

–

10.2

4.5

11.1

4.3

Sc4

–

1.2

0.8

0.5

0.3

Sc4

0.8

0.8

0.6

0.8

0.6

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dynamic to respond to high demands. Therefore, peak periods can be controlled or split by creating a competitor mobile station that attracts demand from other ATMs. Customers might postpone going to an ATM during peak periods when they know a portable one can serve them in a reasonable time within their maximum impedance walking distance. The various dimensions of the mobile stations in terms of location, duration, performance characteristics, etc. could be programmed as a mobile application.

5 Conclusions The Palestinian government’s arrangement of paying monthly salaries for the public/non-public sectors through only ATM machines for a specified daily schedule had resulted in long queues and congestion at the ATMs. The paper addressed queuing issues at the ATM machines, as a case study for services with queuing, during the quarantine/lockdown period. Results showed that there are particular paydays when queues and waiting time would be excessively long, and result in system failure. Furthermore, by optimizing the distribution of the paydays, considering the level of demand for each sector and at each ATM, the spatial distribution of demand and ATMs, and by introducing mobile ATMs as needed, queues and waiting time would be significantly reduced; the system will perform reasonably well. Therefore, the study recommends that the responsible authority reconsiders the arrangement and number of paydays for each specific employment sector, and keeps the first payday for the public sectors after the 4th of the month to avoid congestions and any expected ATM’s failure. It is recommended that future research develops an algorithm for a system of mobile application and mobile ATMs to optimize temporal and spatial demands. Finally, the analysis relied on a set of assumptions since field data collection was not feasible during the quarantine period, which is a recognized limitation of this study.

References 1. May, A.: Traffic Flow Fundamentals, 1st edn. Prentice Hall, New Jersey (1990) 2. Sathiyabala, P., Vidhya, V.: Queuing theory and its impact on various applications—a review. Glob. J. Eng. Sci. Res. 2(6), 55–66 (2015) 3. Yakubu, A.W.N., Najim, U.: An application of queuing theory to ATM service optimization—a case study. J. Math. Theory Model. 4(6), 11–23 (2014) 4. Pazgal, A.I., Radas, S.: Comparison of customer balking and reneging behavior to queuing theory predictions: an experimental study. Comput. Oper. Res. 35(8), 2537–2548 (2008) 5. Dhar, S.K., Rahman, T.: Case study for bank ATM queuing model. IOSR J. Math. 7(1), 1–5 (2013) 6. Meares, H.D., Jones, M.P.: When a system breaks—queuing theory model of intensive care bed needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Med. J. Aust. 212(10), 470–471 (2020)

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7. Kembe, M.M., Onah, E.S., Iorkegh, S.: A study of waiting and service costs of a multi-server queuing model in a specialist hospital. Int. J. Sci. Technol. Res. 1(8), 19–23 (2012) 8. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics: Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census 2017. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Ramallah (2018) 9. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics: Palestinian Labour Force Survey—Revised Annual Report 2017. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Ramallah (2018) 10. Ministry of Health: Health Annual Report—Palestine 2018. Ministry of Health, Ramallah (2019) 11. Ministry of Education and Higher Education: Education Statistical Yearbook For Scholastic Year 2017–2018. Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Ramallah (2018) 12. MoLG Homepage: http://www.geomolg.ps. Last accessed 2020/5/30 13. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials: A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets, 7th edn. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, DC (2018)

Innovative Clusters of Transport Security as a Component of the National Security of Ukraine Ferdman Hennadii , Brodsky Yuri , Bugaychuk Vita , Grabchuk Inna , Khodakyvskyy Volodymyr , and Misevych Mykola

Abstract The article is devoted to the study of the main proposals for the creation of innovative clusters of transport security in Ukraine. The analysis of transport security of Ukraine is carried out in the context of this study, in particular, the main problems of its innovative activity and policy are highlighted, as well as the experience of creation and functioning of innovative systems of the leading countries of the world is summarized. The main proposals for the creation of innovative clusters of transport security in Ukraine are presented. The study was conducted using empirical (observation and comparison), complex (analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction) and theoretical (ascent from the abstract to the concrete and the general form of scientific cognition, the law of representation of reality in thinking) methods of scientific research. The methodology of the study includes: problem statement, brief analysis of transport security; some problems of innovative activity in Ukraine; brief review of innovative policy of Ukraine, basic analysis of the experience of creation and functioning of innovative systems of the world leading countries, proposals for the creation of innovative clusters of transport security in Ukraine, examples of innovative modes of transport and conclusions. The main proposals for the creation of innovative clusters of transport security, both in the interests of the transport industry F. Hennadii (B) Research Center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine «State Oceanarium» Institute of Naval Forces of the National University of Odessa Marine Academy, Deputy Head of the Research Center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine «State Okeanarium» On the Scientific Work of the Institute of Naval Forces of the National University of Odessa Marine Academy, Odessa, Ukraine e-mail: [email protected] B. Yuri Department of Computer Engineering and Cyber Security, Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University, Zhytomyr, Ukraine B. Vita · G. Inna · K. Volodymyr Department of Economics, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Polissia National University, Zhytomyr, Ukraine e-mail: [email protected] M. Mykola Management and Marketing, Polissia National University, Zhytomyr, Ukraine e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_78

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and in the interests of national security of Ukraine, are presented. The proposals for the creation of innovative clusters of transport security in Ukraine are presented for the first time. In recent decades, the world has seen a rapid increase in the number of vehicles and traffic intensity, which leads to an increase in the number of transport accidents and their negative consequences. At the present stage, the increase in the volume of international transit through the territory of Ukraine can become an important factor in the stabilization and structural reorganization of its economy. In addition, it should be mentioned that Ukraine has the highest transit rating in Europe, respectively, it can receive significant profits from transit and other types of transport services, under the condition of building a reliable transport security system. Given the need for integration into the European and world community, Ukraine is doomed to focus on transport security issues. Therefore, the main directions of development of the transport industry and the prospects of its integration into the international community are as follows: the introduction of effective public administration in the transport sector and improving transport safety. Keywords Transport · Transport security · Innovative activity · Innovative policy · Innovative system · Cluster · Innovative cluster

1 Introduction In the modern conditions of market economy functioning, due to the geopolitical location of Ukraine and its regions, the issues of effective use of their transit potential are becoming relevant. The transit potential of Ukraine determines its place in the system of international relations and should be effectively implemented due to the advantageous geo-economic and geopolitical potential and location of Ukraine. Assessment of transit opportunities of Ukraine in the world economic space is an integral part of improving the functioning of the national economy. Throughout history, our country has been the center and the most convenient transport hub between Europe and Asia. Ukraine’s economic benefits are seen in the provision of a full range of transit services for flows of goods and services through its territory. Land, air and sea routes can provide such services both in latitudinal and meridian directions. Given the need for integration into the European and world community, Ukraine is doomed to focus on transport security issues. In addition, it should be mentioned that Ukraine has the highest transit rating in Europe, respectively, it can receive significant profits from transit and other types of transport services, under the condition of building a reliable transport security system, which also determines the importance of transport security issues for Ukraine. The transport security issues have become even more acute in recent years, as transport has actually become one of the most risky areas of life, which, unfortunately, regularly causes deaths. Thus, with an overall decrease in the number of transport accidents in 2020 by 18% (from 4923 transport accidents in 2019 to 4039 in 2020),

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the severity of the consequences of such accidents has increased. Specific indicators that allow determining the level of severity of the consequences of transport accidents indicate an increase in this level in 2020 compared to 2019 by 22% (the number of deaths due to such accidents per 100 accidents in 2020 was 13.77 compared to 11.29 in 2019) and 37% (the number of deaths due to such accidents per 100 injured as a result of such accidents in 2020 was 29.46 compared to 21.58 in 2019). At the same time, the level of severity of the consequences of these accidents for the injured persons decreased by 20% (the number of injured as a result of such accidents per 100 accidents in 2020 was 32.96 compared to 41.04 in 2019). Herewith, the total number of deaths as a result of transport accidents remained at the level of 2019 (556 people died in 2020 as a result of such accidents), and the number of injured people decreased by 34% (from 2020 people in 2019 to 1331 in 2020). A significant number of transport accidents that occurred in Ukraine during 2019–2020, as well as the number of people injured as a result of such accidents, affects the economy and healthcare sector of Ukraine. The study conducted by a number of countries has identified a general rule that each death of one person caused by a road traffic accident costs the country about 70 GDP per person, and each serious injury of a person caused by a road traffic accident costs about 17 GDP per person. If we apply this rule to the indicators given above, it is clear that the cost estimate of socio-economic losses of Ukraine (excluding material costs associated with property damage and reduced productivity) from these transport events and their consequences for 2020 alone is about 224,647 million USD (0.15% of GDP) [1]. During 2020, the number of transport accidents involving public road transport, aviation, urban electric, railway, sea and river transport, as well as departmental road transport was 4039 compared to 4923 in 2019, which is 18% less. A total of 556 people died in transport accidents that occurred in 2020. The same number of people died as a result of the transport accidents in 2019. At the same time, in 2020, 1331 people were injured as a result of such transport accidents against 2020 people injured in 2019, which is 34% less. At the same time, 2288 accidents occurred on public road transport in 2020 against 2829 in 2019, which is 19% less; 724 accidents occurred on urban electric transport in 2020 against 683 in 2019, which is 6% more; 155 accidents occurred on departmental road transport in 2020 against 108 in 2019, which is 44% more. Moreover, in 2020, 693 transport accidents occurred on railway transport (excluding accidents at railway crossings) compared to 1088 in 2019, which is 36% less; 74 accidents occurred on air transport in 2020 compared to 114 in 2019, which is 35% less; 43 accidents occurred on sea and river transport in 2020 compared to 30 in 2019, which is 43% more; 62 accidents occurred at railway crossings in 2020 compared to 71 in 2019, which is 13% less. Meanwhile, 184 people died in accidents that occurred in air transport in 2020 against 10 in 2019, which is an increase of 1740%; 206 people died in railway transport (excluding accidents at railway crossings) in 2020 against 314 in 2019, which is 34% less; 139 people died in public road transport in 2020 against 184 in 2019, which is 25% less. Also, 7 people died on urban electric transport in 2020 compared to 9 in 2019, which is 22% less; 8 people died on sea and river transport in

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2020 compared to 20 in 2019, which is 60% less; 8 people died at railway crossings in 2020 compared to 15 in 2019, which is 47% less; 4 people died on departmental road transport in 2020 compared to 4 in 2019. In accidents that occurred in air transport in 2020, 5 people were injured compared to 3 in 2019, which is 67% more; 126 people were injured in railway transport in 2020 compared to 181 in 2019, which is 30% less; 973 people were injured in public road transport in 2020 compared to 1588 in 2019, which is 39% less; 163 people were injured in urban electric transport in 2020 compared to 194 in 2019, which is 16% less. Also, 4 people were injured on sea and river transport against 16 in 2019, which is 75% less; 31 people were injured at railway crossings against 25 in 2019, which is 24% more; 29 people were injured on departmental road transport against 13 in 2019, which is 123% more [2]. Consequently, ensuring transport security is aimed at guaranteeing the right of a person to security in a broad sense (protection of life, health, constitutional rights of citizens in general and obtaining financial resources from safe transit through the territory of Ukraine). The priority in this area is to prevent real and potential threats of accidents and disasters in transport and their consequences.

2 Literature Review Considering the need to integrate the transport security of Ukraine into the European security system, in particular, we can distinguish the works of S. I. Azarov, T. V. Bludova, S. S. Bohatchuk, O. S. Bodruk, V. I. Hurkovskyi, B. Yu. Deputat, O. M. Dudnikov, V. K. Konakh, V. R. Kotkovskyi, P. P. Lutsiuk, Yu. V. Marchenko, V. P. Mateichyk, V. A. Myslyvyi, O. A. Palii, V. Y. Razvadovskyi, S. V. Rudenko, H. I. Rudko, H. P. Sytnyk, O. Y. Sokolov, V. I. Tvoronovych, I. V. Toloknov, O. V. Filipenko, I. K. Shasha, V. M. Shmandii and other domestic and foreign scientists. The study of various aspects of the development of the transport industry, including international transport corridors in Ukraine, is reflected in the works of O. Bakaev, S. Pirozhkov, V. Revenko, S. Krol, V. Novikova, V. Mironenko, V. Miroshko, L. Pozdniakova, N. Yakymenko, T. Bludov, O. Yedin, M. Ishchenko, V. Karasov, Y. Kolosov, E. Korolov, A. Tkachenko, Yu. Tsvetov, Yu. Shcherbanin and others. Particularly noteworthy are the works of O. Bakaev, S. Pirozhkov, V. Revenko and O. Sapronov, which consider international transport corridors as a special priority of Ukraine on the way of integration into the world economic system. Essential for the study of the problem of public administration of transport systems are the scientific works of V. F. Andresiuk, L. M. Artiushyn, A. S. Halchynskyi, B. Hurne, Zh. Ziter, O. S. Ignatenko, V. V. Lisnychyi, O. M. Lozhachevska, G. I. Mishchenko, V. F. Opryshko, M. V. Onyshchuk, I. M. Pakhomov, Y. E. Pashchenko, V. Y. Razvadovskyi, V. M. Ryzhykh, A. G. Savchenko, A. I. Semenchenko, V. A. Skuratovskyi, D. A. Tymokha, A. M. Tkachenko, V. V. Yurchyshyn. The problem of cluster formation and impact on the economy is studied by numerous scientists: American scientists J. Berkowitz, E. Glaser, M. Enright, W.

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Kerr, J. Kortright, D. Odretch, A. Saxenian, M. Storper, S. Rosenfeld, M. Feldman, J. Francis and others; domestic scientists, such as: Z. Varnalii, M. Voinarenko, B. Hubskyi, O. Yermakova, V. Zakharchenko, S. Krymskyi, S. Sokolenko and foreign scientists and economists: M. Enright, P. Krugman, F. Cook, A. Marshall, M. Porter, R. Hasanov and others. In particular, the issue of clusters as a tool for development and competitiveness was studied by I. Babenko, O. Varianychenko. Such scientists as R. Hlushanytsia, I. Kosach, O. Kuzmin, L. Levkovska, O. Mazur, V. Melnychuk studied the impact of clusters on regional development. The main focus of specialists in the above works is on the analysis of the advantages and positive aspects of economic clustering.

3 Methodology As can be seen from the analysis of recent studies and publications, attention is hardly paid to the prospects for the creation and development of clusters in the state and in the transport sector. Priority sectors such as transport and its components, and especially transport security, require further research. Although some issues are considered in the studies of the above-mentioned and other authors, the definition of the main proposals (directions) for the creation of innovative transport security clusters in Ukraine is almost not studied, which has led to the accumulation of a set of problems of regulatory, financial, logistical, social, informational, scientific and technical nature. The article is aimed at: 1. Conducting a brief analysis on: a. transport security of Ukraine; b. brief coverage of the main problems of its innovative activity and policy, as well as the experience of creation and functioning of innovative systems of the world leading countries. 2. To provide the main proposals for the creation of innovative transport security clusters in Ukraine based on the analysis. Structurally, the materials of the article can be divided into the following parts: problem statement, brief analysis of transport security; some problems of innovative activity in Ukraine; innovative policy of Ukraine, basic analysis of the experience of creation and functioning of innovative systems of the world leading countries, proposals for the creation of innovative clusters of transport security in Ukraine, innovative modes of transport and conclusions. Empirical (observation and comparison), complex (analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction) and theoretical (ascent from the abstract to the concrete and the general form of movement of scientific knowledge, the law of representation of reality in thinking) methods of scientific research were used in the development of the article.

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4 Results The transport sector resolves two tasks in our conditions. The first one is to meet the needs of the country with modern and safe transportation, the second one is to bring the transit potential of Ukraine to the European and international level, which directly depends on the development of international transport corridors, in order to solve the economic issue that is the flow of funds to the state budget of the country. Despite the fact that it has both public and private components. Both components are aiming at solving these tasks simultaneously. The concept of transport security has a systemic nature and therefore determines the need for a comprehensive, systematic solution to the problems existing in this area. Transport security is a component of national security and consists in preventing transport accidents and incidents. Given the priority of human rights and freedoms, such activities are carried out by creating a system of rational preventive security in order to minimize the probability of transport accidents and minimize their consequences as much as possible, on the economically justified basis. Ensuring transport security should be understood as a social process of activity of relevant subjects of social relations to prevent transport accidents and incidents [3]. The issue of ensuring transport security is of particular importance for Ukraine. First of all, it is associated with the size of the territory and geopolitical location of our country, as well as with the political and socio-economic policies aimed at further strengthening of sovereignty. However, against the background of growing rates of accidents, injuries, losses, and deterioration of technical means, the Ukrainian transport industry’s way to sustainable development with integrated security is very difficult [1]. Transportation security level, energy consumption and environmental impact in Ukraine do not meet modern requirements. In recent decades, the world has seen a rapid increase in the number of vehicles and traffic intensity, which leads to an increase in the number of transport accidents and their negative consequences [4]. Therefore, the primary task is to reach an adequate understanding of the role and place of transport security in ensuring the national interests of Ukraine by the public and government institutions. The issue of economic welfare is of concern to every Ukrainian. But no less important are the issues of transport and national security of the country on which the welfare directly depends. One of the main directions of development of the transport industry and the prospects for its integration into the international community are the following: the introduction of effective public administration in the transport sector and improving transport security [4]. Ukraine, as well as all leading and developed countries of the world, is in need of innovative activity development. Innovations in Ukraine are not yet crucial for the development of economic activity and ensuring the economic stability of the state, while weak and outdated equipment is currently the «Achilles’ heel» of the Ukrainian transport system, which requires modernization, in particular, through innovative

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projects. Thus, these issues require further discussion, development, improvement and adoption of appropriate decisions at the state level. One of the medium-term priority areas of innovative activity at the state level for 2017–2021 was the development of new technologies for high-tech development of the transport system [5]. The transport industry has a separate innovation system, which includes scientific (research institutes, research centers, scientific testing and training centers, higher education institutions), industrial (transport enterprises), and commercial components. For example, according to the State Statistics Committee, in 2015, industrial enterprises introduced only 3136 innovative products, of which 548 were new exclusively for the market, 2588—new only for the enterprise. Out of the total number of introduced products, 966 are new types of machinery, equipment, devices, apparatus, etc. Innovation is not only the key to dynamic development, welfare, personal success, but also a means of ensuring the sovereignty of the country, its competitiveness in the modern complex world [6]. Innovation is a defining characteristic of modern scientific, technical, industrial, socio-economic and all social processes. The fate of Ukraine depends on mastering innovative mechanisms of development: whether it will move towards joining the developed countries or remain a stagnating country on the sidelines of scientific, technical and social progress. This is due to the general laws of social development, according to which the world is transitioning from mainly reproductive to innovative type of development. Innovation activity is an activity aimed at the use and commercialization of results of scientific research and development that leads to the launch of new competitive goods and services on the market [6]. Innovative activity is of particular importance not only in high-tech, but also in traditional sectors of the economy. Covering various aspects of market relations (production, entrepreneurial, social, scientific, technical and marketing), the innovative process contributes to the growth of industrial production, increase of labor productivity, attraction of new reserves to the production field. Unfortunately, the realities of the current economic situation in Ukraine are that, contrary to the developed countries, which provide up to 85–90% of GDP growth due to the so-called «intensive factors», including innovations, Ukraine does not use its innovation potential sufficiently. The market of scientific and technical products continues to degrade, due to insignificant demand for innovative developments as a result of low solvency of domestic consumers [7]. The main source of threats to the existence of Ukraine as a state is not only an external enemy, or an increase in the level of criminal terrorism in the country, but also a sharp decline in the scientific and intellectual level of society, which may result in complete dependence of the economy and population on the assistance and support of the powerful. A country that does not protect and support its science becomes vassal dependent on the science and economy of other countries and loses the ability to guarantee its security more or less independently. Therefore, one of the main priorities of the state authorities in Ukraine should be the scientific and technical

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sphere. And it is necessary to start with the system of public administration, which provides both the focus of state policy in this area and the diversification of tools to support and stimulate science [8]. A high level of science is a key element to ensure the security of the country and the high patriotic spirit of its citizens. Ukraine will not have a successful and safe tomorrow without it. But today Ukraine is at the stage when there is an understanding that we are significantly lagging behind the leaders in terms of technological and innovative solutions. There is an understanding that the existing system of innovation is outdated, it does not produce geniuses, does not provide a formal process of creating new ideas, and even if it does, it cannot provide them with proper work and its payment, which leads to the outflow of talented young people and experienced professionals abroad. Certainly, any war is a driving force of progress. A lot of ingenious modernizations, design solutions and inventions were made during the wars. But, despite the aggression of the Russian Federation in the East of the country, the innovations of the country’s population, including the transport innovation system, works hard, with obstacles and minimal efficiency and does not solve the problems of increasing the pace of economic development and ensuring national security. An important component of the «smart innovative policy» of the countries of the world in the post-industrial society are measures to resolve external economic integration problems, primarily associated with a significant increase in global and regional competition. For this purpose, the role of innovative systems of different levels is actualized, which enhance the synergistic effects of innovative development both under the direct control of the state and on the principles of self-regulation and self-organization. The network organization of such systems especially contributes to strengthening the interaction of regions and is characterized by the influence of interregional cooperation on ensuring their competitiveness. The main purpose of the state innovative policy of Ukraine is the creation of socio-economic, organizational and legal conditions for the effective reproduction, development and use of scientific and technical potential of the country, ensuring the introduction of modern environmentally friendly, safe energy and resource-saving technologies, production and sale of new types of competitive products, including military. The current state of the national innovative system of Ukraine has scientific and industrial-commercial components. The scientific component includes institutions of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, sectoral research centers and institutes, higher education institutions. The industrial and commercial component includes manufacturing enterprises, regardless of ownership. Due to the fact that the scientific potential of domestic scientific institutions is not competitive in Ukraine, scientific and production structures have been formed, the most powerful of which are the design bureaus «Pivdenne» and «Antonov», which have independent scientific tactics and strategy, human resources and supervise the process of training specialists in the relevant areas in selected higher educational institutions of Ukraine. State regulation of innovative activity is carried out by:

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• identification and support of priority areas of innovative activity; • formation and implementation of state, sectoral, regional and local innovative programs; • creation of a regulatory framework and economic mechanisms to support and stimulate innovative activity; • protection of rights and interests of subjects of innovative activity; • financial support for the implementation of innovative projects; • stimulation of commercial banks and other financial and credit institutions that credit the implementation of innovative projects; • establishment of preferential taxation of subjects of innovative activity; • support of functioning and development of modern innovative infrastructure [9]. The existence of scientific and production enterprises captures the fact that the institutions of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, sectoral research centers and institutes, higher education institutions are actually rudiments of the Soviet system, which did not use the principles of innovation. Speaking about a qualitatively effective mechanism for creating innovations, in the format of imitating the experience of DARPA, which is the most respected in the world, we must understand that in Ukraine it should pursue one important component. Namely it is to look for people in their own country, to create an environment where these people can implement their ideas, to propose and create mechanisms of crystallization, to transfer them into specific products that are needed either for the state as a whole or for the transport sector in particular. Speaking about Ukrainian products, we need to understand the criteria of innovation. For example, when domestic manufacturers began to produce passenger cars at our enterprises—will it be an innovative product? From the point of view of the needs of the railway and in the absence of a full market, this is an innovative product. From the point of view of global trends, such cars are not an innovative product because we cannot sell them to a country that produces the above-mentioned cars that are more comfortable using the latest materials and technologies than ours. But in any case, among innovative projects, it is possible to cite similar samples among private companies—they are quite important and interesting. But it is also necessary for the state to create a mechanism that allows the introduction of these products. And they, in turn, then became the basis for economic movement forward [10]. Experience of creation and functioning of innovative systems of the world leading countriesindicates that its basic element is cooperation. According to some expert estimates, clustering covers about 50% of the economies of the world leading countries. Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish industries are fully covered by clustering. The process of clustering is actively going on in Southeast Asia, China, Japan. The EU approved the «The European Cluster Manifesto» (July 2006) and the «The European Cluster Memorandum» (January 2008), the main purpose of which is to increase the «critical mass» of clusters, which can affect the competitiveness of both individual countries and the EU as a whole.

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The development of innovation activities is also promoted by the framework agreements of the European Union. «Horizon 2020» is the eighth such agreement that is currently valid. The development of innovation activities is also promoted by the framework agreements of the European Union. «Horizon—2020» is the eighth such agreement that is currently valid. In the United States, an important area of development of innovative systems is the creation of regional innovative clusters in key scientific and technical fields, which since 2010 have been supported at the state level by a special federal program (previously, funding was provided by regional authorities). The most striking example of the US innovative system is «Silicon Valley» which is the leading innovative cluster that receives a third of all venture capital (highly profitable but risky) investments made in the United States, and in 2010 the US government created a special commission (the Federal Task Force on Regional Innovation Clusters) in the field of cluster policy. Innovative systems, which are extremely necessary for the development of transport and its safety, can and should be created in the transport sector. Analysis of innovative systems, for example, in the military sphere of the world leading countries, primarily NATO member states, clearly indicates the advantages of the system that has been created and successfully operates in the U.S. Armed Forces. This system includes species research centers and the interspecies Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).The distinctive feature of the DARPA is the development of interagency, most risky and long-term projects (2–4 year research programs), support for breakthrough research, bridging the gap between fundamental research and its implementation in the military sphere. On the example of DARPA, analogues have been created in other countries, for example, GDA (France), SASTIND (China), MAFAT (Israel), DRDO (India). As of May 2016, there are 24 Centers of Innovation subordinated to the Department, whose structural units, in turn, are located outside the United States. Each Center has specific tasks and areas of activity. Despite all the advantages of association, innovative clusters do not arise spontaneously and do not begin to integrate by themselves. Very often the initiators of clusters are their future residents, while only the state (Ukraine) can launch clusterforming mechanisms, which in turn can ensure the acquisition of new developments, becoming a customer of innovative products and create fiscal and other incentives to attract cluster residents. The development of scientific and technological progress increases the development of innovative activities, which also covers the transport sector. In turn, the transport development will require new approaches to transport security, so the abovementioned topic will remain relevant for a number of years and in the long term. Here are some examples of the implementation of innovative activities in the transport sector. Innovative developments already provide the opportunity to move very quickly, comfortably and economically. British company ‘The Economist Intelligence Unit’, which deals with economic forecasting, has determined what transport will be like

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in the next 5, 10 and 25 years. Some of its modes are already plying the streets of some cities, and some we have not even heard about yet. • Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) Most representatives of the automotive industry believe that people will start using unmanned trucks, taxis and buses en masse by the end of 2021–2022. Tesla, Toyota, Ford, Volvo, Renault and other manufacturers are already testing prototypes of such cars, and even robotaxis have appeared in Dubai, Tokyo, Sydney and Las Vegas. Nowadays, the share of unmanned cars on the roads is minimal, and the credibility is not very high. However, experts say that such cars are the future. They react faster than common cars to obstacles on the road, which prevents accidents. They also do not violate traffic rules and minimize traffic jams. • Flying trains The technology of magnetic levitation or maglev is that the train travels due to the force of the electromagnetic field and, unlike traditional trains, does not touch the surface of the rails. The first full-fledged magnetic levitation line Chuo Shinkansen was opened in Japan. It connects Tokyo, Nagai and Osaka. The advantage of such trains is high speed, they can accelerate to 603 km/h. Though, Elon Musk introduced an even faster mode of transport called Hyperloop. This is a ground pipeline, inside which transport capsules will travel at speeds from 480 to 1220 km/h. Both maglev and hyperloop can become an alternative mode of transport by the end of 2022. • Face ID The widespread use of identification systems will soon make keys completely unnecessary to access the cabin and start the engine. Cars will learn to recognize the driver just by face and by voice, and the engine will start automatically after recognition of the fingerprint by the sensor built into the «Start» button. • UAM: a symbiosis of personal air transport and urban air mobile services Hyundai’s solution for the cities of the future is Urban Air Mobility (UAM), which is an innovative mobile platform that combines personal air transport and urban air mobility services. UAM provides seamless urban flight with personal air transport capable of vertical takeoff and landing using electric propulsion (eVTOL). UAM is considered to be a key innovative business of the future that will contribute to solving urgent transport problems of megacities, such as traffic jams, and transform the mobility paradigm. • Hub: a brand new space Hub, is an innovative space that combines air and ground vehicles. The hub has a rooftop take-off and landing module and ground docking stations. In the future, Hyundai plans to make intelligent mobility more accessible by placing similar hubs

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in the cities of the future and creating a new mobility ecosystem around the UAMPBV-Hub network [11]. Creation of an innovative cluster is a complex multi-stage project. Each stage of cluster building is the solution of a certain range of priority management tasks, without the successful solution of which the implementation of the next stage is impossible. A cluster is a geographically close group of interconnected companies and related organizations, associated institutions in a particular industry, sphere, linked by common technologies and skills. They are characterized by a commonality of activities and complement each other. Typically they exist in a geographical area where communications, logistics and human resources are readily available. Clusters are usually located in regions and sometimes in a single city. Rosenfeld emphasizes that clusters must have active channels for business transactions, dialogue and communications. «Without active channels, even a critical mass of relevant firms does not constitute a local production or social system and thus does not function as a cluster» [12]. An innovative cluster is an integral system of enterprises and organizations for the production and consumption of a finished innovative product, which includes the entire innovative chain starting from the development of a fundamental scientific idea to the production and distribution of finished products, as well as a system of close connections between firms, their suppliers and customers, and knowledge institutes that contribute to the emergence of innovations. An innovative cluster forms a certain system of dissemination of new knowledge and technologies, ensures acceleration of the process of transformation of inventions into innovations, and innovations into competitive advantages, development of highquality sustainable connections between all its participants. The emergence of such clusters is a natural process in the presence of a common scientific and industrial base. The cluster includes companies that both cooperate and compete with each other. For the most complete provision of the security level in the transport complex of Ukraine and decent entrance to the European transport system, it is proposed to create the Innovative Cluster of Transport Security of Ukraine. The Cluster Council is a collegial, consultative and advisory body that determines the policy of cluster development and decides on the emergence of new cluster residents and exclusion from the cluster of participants who do not meet the requirements and policies of the cluster. It also serves as an arbitration body in disputes between cluster residents, on which enterprises are unable to agree independently and is formed from top managers of enterprises that are cluster residents. Cluster management company standardizes relationships between cluster residents, which represents the interests of the cluster in the government. In addition, the Management Company provides support to the cluster members in accounting, preparation of mandatory reporting, conducts general events, etc. The cluster core is the Interagency Center for Transport Security, which is the executive body of the cluster and the center of attraction for the cluster residents.

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Product engineering companies are small, compared to the core, enterprises that create and supply innovative products. The first environment is innovative clusters of transport modes that provide services to the core and product engineering companies. It includes research and development companies, software developers, manufacturers of critical components, testing laboratories, departments of technical universities. The second is the infrastructure environment which is the organisations that support the cluster’s innovative environment, ensure the livelihoods of cluster residents, and serve the cluster’s internal and external commodity, information and financial flows. The second environment includes: business incubators, training centers, research and development companies, software developers, outsourcing manufacturing companies, logistics companies, branches of banks and insurance companies, landlords and service companies that maintain office and production facilities and equipment. Given the above, it is possible to provide the main proposals for the creation of the transport security innovative clusters, both in the interests of the transport industry and in the interests of national security of Ukraine: 1. In order to cover the full range of transport security, starting from space and computer systems and software to them, new transport security systems, communications, transport facilities and means of communication and movement, etc. to applied research of communication routes and ocean depths; from new materials that are integrated into the systems to household items on transport facilities and rolling stock, it is necessary to create an Interspecies Agency for Advanced Transport Security Projects (similar to DARPA or MAFAT). The basic idea of building such a structure is that every citizen of Ukraine, both military and civilian, can submit their innovative ideas, proposals, inventions to the relevant Center, which will review, analyze, study and, if necessary, implement them in the interests of transport. At the same time, taking into account the number of people involved in the transport industry and practitioners in their field, the main proposals should come from them. 2. In order to concentrate technologically interconnected organizational structures of transport and dual-purpose, which will interact and enhance the effectiveness of transport and national security of Ukraine, it is necessary to create innovative clusters (innovative centers) by modes of transport. This will enable cluster members to become successful structures capable of functioning outside the cluster and responding to challenges in transport security in a short time, insuring each other. At the same time, voluntarily uniting in clusters, its members get access to each other’s resources, turning into rapidly progressing technological associations. As a result of such associations, each of the cluster members benefits, in addition, the mode of transport and the region in which the cluster is formed receive a separate benefit, which will lead to an increase in the level of both transport and national security. 3. In order to optimize transport security measures and improve the state defense order and use it as a factor of stimulating innovative processes, it is necessary

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to improve the system of state management of innovative activities in the public sector of the economy. 4. Providing the opportunity to draw up documents for an invention to every ordinary citizen who has a talent for this business, which should be accessible to both individuals and legal entities (the prohibitive amount of fees for actions related to the protection of intellectual property rights does not allow to do this), as a result, it will encourage the talented population of the country to engage in scientific, inventive and rationalization work. This will also lead to a high educational and scientific potential that will be able to produce various innovations in the form of ideas, scientific developments and patents. So, there is a need to revise and cancel the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated June 12, 2019 No. 496 «On Amendments to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated December 27, 2001 No. 1756 and December 23, 2004 No. 1716». 5. In order to encourage talented citizens of Ukraine to engage in inventive, rationalization and scientific work, which will lead to high educational and scientific potential that will be able to produce various innovations in the form of ideas, scientific developments and patents: • to raise the prestige (explanatory work, advertising, increasing the number of awareness-raising events and their audience) of the researcher; • to provide effective funding for inventive, rationalization and scientific research; • to create social programs aimed at the population (by categories: children, students, workers and employees, etc.) to attract and popularize (wide use of mass media) inventive and rationalization activities and scientific work; • to make a decision at the legislative level on rewards for innovative achievements (for example: for children—free education in universities; for students—employment or refund of costs spent on education; for employees— additional paid leave or bonus). 6. In order to increase the demand for national innovations, both in domestic and foreign markets, as well as to boost the country’s economy, including in the transport sector, the role of the factor of demand formation is growing, which requires appropriate conceptual development in the field of formation and implementation of the state order, therefore it is necessary to develop a draft of the Concept of stimulation and formation of demand for Ukrainian innovations. 7. In order to conduct an objective and qualified expertise in the decision-making system on scientific and technical issues and the choice of development priorities, to promote the expansion of public recognition of the importance and prospects of innovation and strengthen its role in solving the dual task: increasing the competitiveness of the domestic economy and ensuring national security of the state, it is necessary to raise the level of innovative culture.

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5 Conclusions Thus, given the above and the proposals provided, the following key findings can be made: 1. Transport security is an extremely important element of national security of Ukraine; its state and problems of development turn into a serious obstacle to the implementation of national interests, ensuring economic security of the state and integration of transport networks and transport of Ukraine into the European transport security system. 2. The need for innovation is more urgent today than ever before. Firstly, this is due to the need to restore the economy and state security and the development of the entire transport complex, in which case innovations can become an effective means of achieving this goal.Secondly, with the change in the way the economy and society function as a result of modern technological transformations, especially in the field of information and communication technologies (for example, the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies, blockchain, Internet of Things and industrial Internet of Things, 3-D printing, 6G communication, augmented and virtual reality, etc.), which radically change the processes of production and construction, trade and logistics, training and knowledge accumulation, etc. 3. Innovations in Ukraine are not yet crucial for the development of economic activity and ensuring the economic stability of the state and the development of transport, although innovative activity is now probably the most important condition for the creation of competitive goods and services as a factor in the growth of our country’s economy. 4. The state should provide direct financing of innovative projects, stimulate investment in innovative projects by private and public enterprises by establishing preferential conditions for those enterprises that introduce advanced equipment and technologies, as well as engaged in scientific and technical activities. We consider proposals to improve transport security both for each mode of transport and in general for the transport industry as prospects for further development in this direction.

References 1. Burdina, M.Yu., Burkina, N.V.: Analiz stanu transportnoi bezpeky Ukrainy. p. 162. [Analysis of the state of transport security of Ukraine.]. Available at: file:///C:/Users/%D0%A4%D0%B2%D1%8C%D1%88/Downloads/6185-12420-1SM%20(11).pdf 2. Analiz avariinosti na transporti Ukrainy za 2020 rik. [Analysis of transport accidents in Ukraine in 2020]. Available at: https://mtu.gov.ua/files/bezpeka

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3. Beschastnyi, V., Sobakar, A.: Derzhavna polityka transportnoi bezpeky Ukrainy: aktualni pytannia realizatsii. (Viche. 2010. № 4, p. 2). [State policy of transport security of Ukraine: actual issues of implementation]. Available at: http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/viche_2010_4_2 4. Natsionalna transportna stratehiia Ukrainy na period do 2030 roku. [National Transport Strategy of Ukraine for the period up to 2030]. Available at: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua 5. Dodatok do postanovy Kabinetu Ministriv Ukrainy vid 28 hrudnia 2016 roku. № 1056. [Annex to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1056 of December 28, 2016]. Available at: http://zakon.rada.gov.ua 6. Borysova, I.M., Cherniuk, V., Chervonyi, I.F., Choporov, O.N., Lvovich, I.Ya., et al.: Some proposals for the establishment of innovative transportsafety clusters in Ukraine H. Ferdman. Erbe der europaischen wissenschaft technic und technologie, informatik, sicherneit, verkthr, architektur. Monographic series «Europian Science» Book 2. Part 3, p. 110. Karlsruhe, Germany (2020) 7. Innovatsiina Ukraina 2020: natsionalna dopovid/za zah. red. V.M. Heitsia ta in.; NAN Ukrainy. 2015. 336 p. [Innovative Ukraine 2020: national report/edited by V.M. Heits and others; NAS of Ukraine. Kyiv, 2015. 336 p.] 8. Ferdman H.P.: Innovatsiina diialnist v systemi transportnoi ta natsionalnoi bezpeky Ukrainy. Aktualni problemy derzhavnoho upralinnia, (Vyp. 1 (81)), p. 83 [Innovative activity in the system of transport and national security of Ukraine. Actual problems of state management, (Vol. 1 (81)), p. 83] (2020) 9. Zakon Ukrainy «Pro innovatsiinu diialnist» [Law of Ukraine «On Innovative Activity»]. Available at: http://zakon.rada.gov.ua 10. Zghurets, S.: Armiia maibutnoho: podviinyi pohliad na innovatsii. «Ukrainska pravda» vid 21 zhovtnia 2016 p. [Army of the future: a dual perspective on innovations. «Ukrainska Pravda» of October 21] 11. Maibutnie poruch: innovatsiini vydy transportu. [The future is near: innovative modes of transport]. Available at: https://sfii.gov.ua/majbutnie-poruch-innovacijni-vidi-transportu/ 12. Ferdman, H.P.: Innovatsiina diialnist v systemi transportnoi ta natsionalnoi bezpeky Ukrainy. Aktualni problemy derzhavnoho upralinnia, (Vyp. 1 (81)), p. 85 [Innovative activity in the system of transport and national security of Ukraine. Actual problems of state management (Vol. 1 (81)), p. 85] (2020)

Managing Intangible Value Drivers of Technology Companies: Reporting Paradox Effects Zavalii Tetiana , Valinkevych Nataliia , Ostapchuk Tetiana , Lehenchuk Serhii , Laichuk Svitlana , and P. Reznik Nadiia

Abstract The major role in creating value for technology companies undoubtedly belongs to intangibles. The management total intangible value of technology companies as a driving force is not only in creating added value but in creating a unique competitive advantage. Management needs require relevant information and a clear understanding of the relationship between the assets to be managed and the metrics that characterize the management outcome. The purpose of this article is to establish the impact of managing of disclosed intangible assets on the market value of technology companies. The regression analysis was used based on data from annual reports of 97 U.S. technology companies for 2020 (Form 10-K).It has been established that disclosed intangible assets are not a significant driver of the value of technology companies. This highlights the problem of irrelevant disclosure of information on intangible assets in the financial statements of technology companies, which necessitates improving the accounting of human resources as a significant impact on the value of technology companies. Despite the fact that researchers confirm the significant impact of intangible assets on the value of companies, it was in our study based on data from technology companies that disclosed intangible assets were recognized as an insignificant parameter of impact on their market value. In this regard, one of the prospects for further research is to improve the standards

Z. Tetiana · O. Tetiana Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University, Zhytomyr, Ukraine e-mail: [email protected] L. Serhii · L. Svitlana Department of Information Systems in Management and Accounting, Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University, Zhytomyr, Ukraine V. Nataliia Department of Economics, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Polissia National University, Zhytomyr, Ukraine P. Reznik Nadiia (B) Department of Management, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_79

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governing the process of recognition and accounting of intangible assets in technology companies, in terms of developing a methodology for capitalizing the costs incurred for the development of human capital, and taking into account the strategic potential of human capital as a component of their brand value. Keywords Intangible assets · Brand · Goodwill · R&D expenses · Market value · Technology company · Management · COVID-19

1 Introduction If the business with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic daily hoped for its end and the return of the pre-COVID-19 reality, then it is already clear that now companies must develop in new conditions with the necessary adaptation. The technological sector of world business is a supporting force in the limited conditions because it is these companies that are developing technologies for the needs of rapid digitalization, which is already an integral part of both the modern individual and the competitive company. The major role in creating value for technology companies undoubtedly belongs to intangibles. The management total intangible value of technology companies as a driving force is not only in creating added value but in creating a unique competitive advantage. As economies shift from manufacturing to service industries, an increasingly large proportion of the firms derive their value from intangible assets ranging from technological patents to human capital. Market studies suggest that the highest magnitude of this shift is witnessed in the United States, while global markets have also experienced a similar value transition since intangible assets as a percentage of market capitalization is proportionately increasing compared to tangible assets [1]. 90% of the company value (the Standard and Poor’s 500 or the S&P 5001 ) today is in intangible assets. The structure of business value assets for S&P 500 companies has changed radically over the past 45 years. The share of tangible assets (buildings and equipment, cash and bonds, inventory, land, etc.), which was prevalent in 1975 (83%) in 2020 decreased to 10%. The share of intangible assets (patents, brand value, customer data, software, etc.) increased by 17% (1975) to 90% (2020). The biggest shift occurred between 1985 and 1995–intangible assets, responsible for business value, increased by 36%. At present, when intangible assets make up 90% of the company’s value, the focus of researchers is precisely on intangible assets and information sources in which information about them can be found. It is in the technology sector that there are leaps up in market value, rapid business development, inclusion in the rankings of the most expensive brands, etc. For example, according to Kantar’s report the Chinese brand «Tik Tok» (the short-format 1

The S&P 500 is a stock market index that tracks 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States.

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video app) was among five newcomers that joined the Top 100 most valuable global brands in 2020. In addition, having led the Top 100 fastest risers a year ago, with a 95% increase in value, «Instagram» added another strong performance, rising 47%. Brands such as «LinkedIn», «Microsoft», «Adobe», «Intel», «Tencent» were also in the BRANDZ™ Top 20 risers, showing a significant increase in brand value (15– 31%) compared to 2019 [2]. We consider it necessary to list in more detail some of the arguments updating the study of intangible assets in terms of their impact on the market value of technology companies in modern business development conditions. Firstly, the relevance of the study of intangible assets of technology companies is primarily due to the fact that these companies are the brand leaders. The technological sector is the leader in total world brand value, which is $986.5 billion in 2020. In percentage terms, this is 14% of total brand value of 500 companies analyzed by «Brand Finance» [3]. Secondly, in the event that intangible assets form the backbone of technology companies, this should be reflected in the relevant reporting. It is clear that intangible assets, having no physical substance and having difficulties with identification and assessment, may not be reflected in the reporting, but the needs of management determine the need for relevant and complete information about them. Thirdly, the researchers have raised a number of questions about the relevance of information on intangible assets in financial statements. For example, «Is IAS 38 «Intangible assets» relevant in today’s digital economy?» [4], «Which intangibles should be reported as assets?» [5], «Can financial reporting for intangibles be improved?» [6], «Isintellectualcapitalfullyreflectedinthefinancialstatementsofhightechenterprises?» [7]. IAS 38 «Intangible assets» regulates the principles of accounting for intangible assets, but was created in 1998, which leads to its inability to consider all aspects of intangible assets of modern technology companies. The stumbling block of accounting and reporting of intangible assets is the question that arises for the manager during studying the financial statements, namely, «Can the presented data be trusted?». The range of users of such reporting is quite wide, therefore, the quality of such data can distort not only theoretical research of establishing correlation between variables, what we are doing, but also can lead to incorrect argumentation of management decision-making processes, which will subsequently determine the effectiveness of the measures taken to achieve the set goals. Fourthly, such an unpredictable modern challenge as the COVID-19 pandemic has become not an obstacle, but rather an incentive for the development of information technology, which is the main activity of technology companies. The limiting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have led to an even greater need for high-quality services and products provided and created by technology companies. Value is increasingly derived from digital platforms, software and other intangible investments rather than physical assets like real estate, oil wells or other capital. This growth has intensified this year (2020) as the pandemic. Zoom Video Communications (ZM)—Get Report is an example of a business that benefited from the COVID19 pandemic [8]. The Covid-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented rise in the use of information and communication technologies and digitization in almost all areas of life [9].

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Considering the above, the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many companies to adapt quickly to avoid collapse, in a peculiar way contributed to the faster development of technology companies, which led to their growth. Fifthly and finally, management needs require relevant information and a clear understanding of the relationship between the assets to be managed and the metrics that characterize the management outcome. In our case, it is necessary to establish a relationship between intangible assets and an indicator that characterizes the market value of technology companies.

2 Literature Review The impact of intangible assets on the market value of companies is not a new area of such research. In particular, as early as the mid-twentieth century, researchers noted that intangibles are often more essential for the success of a business than brick and mortar (Fisher 1951). The issue of establishing links between intangibles and the market value of companies has been raised in many articles [9–21]. In most articles, the existence of such relationships was confirmed as a result of calculations; specifically intangibles had an impact on the market value. Test results of Behname’s study showed that reported intangible assets have a significant positive relation with market value in Tehran Stock Exchange as in Metals industry of Tehran Stock Exchange [11]. Jaara and Elkotayni’s research focused on the impact of intangible assets internally generated (development costs and patents) in the market value of pharmaceutical companies in Jordan. The results showed that investment in intangible assets strongly affects maximize the market value of companies [17]. The results of Kimouche and Rouabhi’s article indicate that intangible items as a whole are value relevant. However, the amortization and impairment charges of intangibles do not affect the market values of French companies, unlike intangible assets and goodwill, which affect positively and substantially the market values of French companies. The authors found that goodwill is more associated with market values than intangible assets [18]. According to Ievdokymov’s [16], Lehenchuk and Zavalii [22], the correlation between intangible assets and the market value of companies was identified, but the strength of this connection was different between the analyzed U.S., German, French and British companies. R. Buzinskiene, D. Rudyte analyzed the value of the intangible assets recorded in firms’ books according to international accounting standards (financial information) and focused on information about additional intangible resources—as recorded expenditure into annual reports (nonfinancial information). The results provide empirical evidence that the value of intangible assets is divided into two kinds of value, financial and nonfinancial information, which have different effects on the market value of companies. Findings confirm that the value of intangible assets is important for companies to maximize their market value [9]. As L. Basso notes, the main difference between service companies and manufacturing is the focus on intangibles. Service companies present a higher degree of

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intangibility when compared with manufacturing companies that present a higher degree of tangibility [10]. Some of the analyzed articles directly investigate the issue of such relationships between intangible assets and market value for technology companies. Supriyo’s article analyzes the impact of intangible assets on the market value of Indian software firms using a dynamic panel data model. The results conclusively show that intangible assets have a significant impact on market values of Indian software firms [21]. The results of Danko’s study (the regression model) analytically confirm the hypothesis about the impact of intangible assets on the Apple’s competitive position in international ratings of high-tech companies in the IT market, the company’s market value, and sales revenue [13]. In Postula and Chmielewski’s paper, using the panel regression model with fixed effects, it was verified whether there is a relationship between intangible assets and R&D expenses on one side and the EBITDA level and market capitalization of 222 publicly listed companies from the Information and Communication Technology sector [19]. Qureshi and Siddiqui’s paper supports the impact of intangibles on profitability, efficiency, capital structure, and dividend policy, and market value of technology firms. The results direct managers to understand and realize the importance of Intangible Assets and keenly invest in R&D, technology, software, advertising, CRM and human resources to further augment their performance [20]. In particular, articles were analyzed where the authors do not come to unambiguous conclusions, in particular focusing on the current problems of disclosing information about intangible assets in the company’s reporting. Castro and Benetti’s study confirmed the existence of a negative relationship between these variables and allowed the development of an indicative model of potential intangible assets not recorded, which explains part of the difference between market and accounting values. Given the relevance of intangible assets and the impact they have on the evaluation of public traded companies, it is expected that in the future the recording will be allowed, or at least, the disclosure of the fair value of internally generated intangible assets will be mandatory. Certainly, the recognition of these values will increase the relevance of accounting information to stakeholders [12]. Results of Glova and Mrazkova’s analysis point to the interesting fact that intangible fixed assets to total assets are not statistically significant, indicating that the market does not evaluate passive strategy of externally acquiring intangible assets instead of their own development [15]. The above articles use different methods of data collection and processing, different analytical tools, study companies in different industries and countries, but in fact they all actualize the issue and importance of proving the impact of intangible assets on the market value of companies. The management needs in the aspect of intangible assets are met by relevant information from the financial and non-financial statements of the company. Consequently, irrelevant information leads to suboptimal decisions. According to Leitner, the characteristics of intangible assets cause severe difficulties for developing and running management and accounting systems in general [23]. Owolabi and Aguguom’s paper highlights irrefutably that intangible assets and goodwill identification, management, measurement and reporting are key burners and center of

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discussion in the academic arena with important management and policy implications. The authors recommend a major focus be on improving reporting of intangibles in a more consistent, transparent and more acceptable manner to provide an expected quality financial report and confident desirable [24]. That is, the question of the necessity to change the existing approach to reporting on intangible assets is raised by researchers.

3 Materials and Methods Initially, the sample for the study was a list of 22 technology companies drawn from the 100 U.S. stock market leaders for Q1 2021. But based on the fact that such a sample is not enough to obtain more reliable regression results, we increased the number of technology companies using the Dow Jones U.S. Technology, up to 97 companies. To achieve the objective of the study (establishing the relationship between intangible assets and the market value of technology companies), regression analysis is used. To build regression models, an analysis of scientific publications was carried out, in particular, the following problem areas were identified regarding the impact of intangible drivers on the market value of the companies: • common analysis of the impact of intangible drivers on the market value of companies; • analysis of the impact of intangible drivers on the market value of companies on the stock market of a specific country; • analysis of the internally generated intangible assets on the market value of the companies with the high level of innovation activity; • analysis of the difference between books and market value of disclosed intangible assets for the different types of companies; • analysis of the relationships between intangible assets and different indicators of technology companies performance (market value, profitability, capital structure, dividend policy, etc.); • analysis of the impact of non-financial intangible drivers and goodwill on the market value of companies. To assess and investigate the relevance of the study of the role of managing intangible drivers of technology companies in shaping their market value, the top 10 most valuable global brands of 2020 was analyzed based on a study of the ratings of world-leading companies in the field of brand valuation («Interbrand», «Forbes», «Brand Finance», «Kantar»), and also was investigated the structure of intangible assets U.S. technology companies for 2016–2020.

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4 Results and Discussion A regression model (Model 1) was built that included dependent and independent variables (parameters). The hypothesis of Model 1 is that the intangible assets of the technology companies that they report explain changes in their market value. In addition to disclosed intangible assets, Model 1 uses parameters such as disclosed goodwill and disclosed R&D expenses, since these indicators also characterize the intangibles of the company. In particular, goodwill is the most commonplace unidentifiable intangible asset, and R&D expenses can fall into the category of internally-generated intangible assets of the company. Accordingly, the variables (dependent, independent) and the hypothesis of the model to be analyzed are given in Table 1. The presented model is multifactorial given the use of three independent variables. Using the application software product «GRETL» (in particular such method as ordinary least squares) and the estimated data given in Annex 1, we present the results of calculations for Model 1 (Table 2). Mean dependent var.

93,147.35

S.D. dependent var.

281,991.6

Sum squared resid.

1.56e+12

S.E. of regression

129,646.5

R-squared

0.795232

Adjusted R-squared

0.788627

F(3, 93)

120.3911

P-value (F)

6.53e−32

Log-likelihood

− 1277.534

Akaike criterion

2563.067

Schwarz criterion

2573.366

Hannan-Quinn criterion

2567.232

Table 1 Variables and hypothesis of Model 1 Dependent variable

Independent variables

Hypothesis

Market value (MV)

1. Disclosed intangible assets (DIA)

The disclosed intangible assets, disclosed goodwill, disclosed R&D expenses affect the market value of technology companies

2. Disclosed goodwill (DG) 3. Disclosed R&D (service or product development) expenses (RD)

Table 2 Model 1: ordinary least squares (OLS), using observations 1–97, dependent variable—MV Const DIA DG DRD

Coefficient

Std. error

834.238

15,131.0

0.0332549

8.62747

t-ratio 0.05513 0.003855

− 5.07532

2.49867

− 2.031

61.9839

3.64716

17.00

P-value 0.9561

–

0.9969

–

0.0451

**

< 0.0001

***

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Despite the fact that the regression equation of Model 1 should explain the changes of the dependent variable (MV) by 79.52% (R2), the need to optimize Model 1 by eliminating the parameter, which is statistically insignificant (DIA), is obvious. Interestingly, of the three parameters that were selected for our model, it was disclosed intangible assets that showed statistical insignificance in such a study. The failure of Model 1 is caused by the presence of statistically insignificant parameters. Therefore, we improve the proposed model (Model 1) by optimizing its parameters, namely, excluding statistically insignificant ones. The hypothesis of new model (Model 2) is that the goodwill and R&D expenses of the technology companies that they report explain changes in their market value (Table 3). The presented model is multifactorial given the use of two independent variables. Using the application software product «GRETL» (in particular such method as ordinary least squares) and the estimated data given in Appendix 1, we present the results of calculations for Model 2 (Table 4). Mean dependent var.

93,147,35

S.D. dependent var.

281,991.6

Sum squared resid.

1.56e+12

S.E. of regression

128,955.1

R-squared

0.795232

Adjusted R-squared

0.790876

F(3, 93)

182.5284

P-value (F)

4.26e−33

Log-likelihood

− 1277.534

Akaike criterion

2561.067

Schwarz criterion

2568.791

Hannan-Quinn criterion

2564.191

The R2 is also quite high (0.795) signifying a strong positive relationship between the market value of technology companies and parameters, which established by disclosed goodwill and disclosed R&D expenses. Model 2 looks like the following regression equation: yˆ = 836.932 − 5.0673x1 + 61.98x2 ,

(1.1)

Table 3 Variables and hypothesis of Model 2 Dependent variable

Independent variables

Hypothesis

Market value (MV)

1. Disclosed goodwill (DG)

The disclosed goodwill and disclosed R&D expenses affect the market value of technology companies

2. Disclosed R&D (service or product development) expenses (RD)

Table 4 Model 2: ordinary least squares (OLS), using observations 1–97, dependent variable—MV Coefficient

Std. error

Const

836.932

15,034.3

DG

− 5.06730

1.37474

− 3.686

61.9800

3.48673

17.78

DRD

t-ratio 0.05567

P-value 0.9557 0.0004

***

< 0.0001

***

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where y—market value (MV); x1 —disclosed goodwill (DG); x2 —disclosed R&D expenses (DRD). The coefficient of determination (R2) of Model 2 is 0.795, which indicates that the corresponding regression Eq. (1.1) by 79.5% explains the value of the dependent variable. The adjusted coefficient of determination equal to 0.791 similarly shows how many percent (79.1%) the obtained regression equation explains the changes in the value of the dependent variable, but taking into account such characteristics as the number of observations (1–97) and the number of independent variables (2 parameters). According to Fisher’s test, which allows us to understand whether the constructed model is adequate in terms of statistics, based on a comparison of the calculated value (F = 182.5) with the critical (F = 2.7), we conclude that the hypothesis of insignificance of the above regression is rejected. Therefore, the regression of Model 2 based on the results of the F-test is considered adequate for the sample data and is acceptable for further use. Another stage of testing Model 2 for the adequacy of its use is to check the independent variables for multicollinearity. That is, if two independent variables within one model show a high level of multicollinearity (0.7 and more), it is necessary to adjust the number of parameters due to their removal from the model. Thus, the very essence of independent variables changes due to their high interdependence, which is unacceptable in such a study. Using the application software product «GRETL», we confirm the fact of the absence of multicollinearity (the level of correlation between the specified parameters is 0.5392, which is less than 0.7). To check the quality of Model 2, it is also necessary to conduct a test for the normality of residues, which is functionally accessible through the use of software application product «GRETL». The p-value is close to 0 (4.7554e−027), which is less than the accepted level of significance of 0.05 (5%). So we conclude that the residuals of Model 2 are not normally distributed. This means that the value of the chi-squared statistic (121.221) and the probability that such a value is random, if the null hypothesis is accepted, are equal to a value close to zero with a given significance level that should be greater than 5%. The results of the previous test may be due to various factors (for example, insufficient number of observations). Therefore, to confirm or refute the fact of the normality of the distribution for the variable uhat1, we will perform additional tests (Table 5). Table 5 Tests for the normal distribution for the variable uhat1 Test

P-value

Comparison with a given level of significance

Doornik-Hansen = 121.221

4.7554e−027

< 5.00

Shapiro–Wilk W = 0.547976

8.61069e−016

< 5.00

Lilliefors = 0.274281

~ =0

< 5.00

Jarque–Bera = 1398.74

1.8519e−304

< 5.00

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Table 6 Model 3: ordinary least squares (OLS), using observations 1–97, dependent variable—log MV Coefficient

Std. error

t-ratio

P-value

72.29

< 0.0001

Const

9.31170

0.128807

DG

2.69017e−05

1.17781e−05

2.284

0.0246

DRD

0.000213901

2.98727e−05

7.160

< 0.0001

*** ** ***

The tests performed confirmed the result of the previous test, i.e. all four additionally calculated tests show p-values that are less than the specified level of significance of 5%. Therefore, Model 2 is not considered to be recommended for further use due to the rejection of the hypothesis of normal distribution of residues. It is possible to improve the situation with the abnormality of the distribution of the residuals of Model 2 by transforming the variables, for example, by their logarithm. The hypothesis of the new model (Model 3) is that the goodwill and R&D expenses of the technology companies that they report explain changes in their market value, expressed as a logarithm. Here are the calculation results for Model 3 (Table 6). Mean dependent var.

9.897599

S.D. dependent var.

1.588762

Sum squared resid.

114.7404

S.E. of regression

1.104827

R-squared

0.526492

Adjusted R-squared

0.516417

F(3, 93)

52.25912

P-value (F)

5.50e−16

Log-likelihood

− 145.7831

Akaike criterion

297.5663

Schwarz criterion

305.2904

Hannan-Quinn criterion

300.6895

Model 3 demonstrates a significantly lower coefficient of determination (0.526) in comparison with Model 2 (0.795), which characterizes the fact that the regression equation of Model 3 explains the changes in the logarithm of the market value of technology companies by 52.6%. Model 3 looks like the following regression equation: yˆ = 9.3117 + 0.000027x1 + 0.000214x2 ,

(1.2)

Test the normality of the distribution of the residuals according to Model 3 gave the following results. The p-value is 0.6525 (65.25%), which is more than the accepted level of significance of 0.05 (5%). Thus, we conclude that the residuals of Model 3 are normally distributed, so this model is recommended for further use. The presented study has several limitations, so its results can be reviewed over time if more complete and relevant data are available. The first limitation is related to dates. It is due to the fact that the official reporting of different technology companies ends with different dates, which is indicated in Appendix 1. Within the framework of our study, all data was taken from the official reporting, which we took exactly as a result of 2020. In turn, we took the prices for shares of the analyzed technology companies on the date that coincides with the reporting date. But if that reporting date

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was on a Saturday or Sunday (when the stock market (NYSE, NASDAQ) was closed), then the next day’s stock price was taken into account. The second limitation is that the study was conducted only on data from U.S. technology companies, which can reflect the geographical or regulatory features of the development of such companies, their policies regarding the disclosure of information about intangible assets, etc. Immediately we can say about the sample of 97 companies, which could have been larger, thereby influencing the results of the regression analysis. The third limitation is the choice as a dependent variable that characterizes the market value of technology companies, their market capitalization, which is calculated as the total number of issued shares multiplied by the closing price of one share at the reporting date (on or after the same date). While market capitalization is often used to determine the value of a company when analyzing potential trading opportunities, it is not the same as the market value of a company, which is more difficult to calculate. Surprisingly, being a backbone of the development and viability of technology companies, disclosed intangible assets according to the results of Model 1 turned out to be a statistically insignificant parameter of impact on the market value of such companies. In turn, leaving as the parameters that also characterize the intangible assets of the company (disclosed goodwill and disclosed R&D expenses) Model 2 also did not confirm its practical adequacy already due to non-compliance with the tests for normal distribution of residues. In order to eliminate this moment, Model 3 was proposed with the only amendment that the logarithm of the company’s market value was taken as the dependent variable. For further use, Model 3 is proposed, which takes into account the indicators characterizing the intangible assets of technological assets (disclosed goodwill, disclosed R&D expenses), and are statistically significant parameters.

5 Conclusions In the process of establishing the link between intangible assets and the market value of U.S. technology companies, it was found that disclosed intangible assets are an insignificant parameter (Model 1).According to our opinion, the problem of the lack of links between these measures is that disclosed intangible assets of technology companies do not demonstrate the real value of such assets. This paradox does not allow ensuring the organization of effective work to manage the drivers of the value of technology companies, among which a fundamental place is occupied by intangible assets. The next model (Model 2), which considered the relationship between other indicators that characterize intangible assets (disclosed goodwill, disclosed R&D expenses) and market value of technology companies, was also considered not recommended due to the rejection of the hypothesis of normal distribution of residues. Modifying the dependent variable (MV → log MV) and repeating parameters from Model 2 led to optimization of the results, which made it possible to recommend the new model (Model 3) for further use. That is, having data on disclosed goodwill and

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disclosed R&D expenses, it is possible to predict the market value (log) of technology companies with a probability of 52.6%. The balance sheet, as confirmed by modern researchers (Lev 2001), does not currently reflect all the assets that create value for companies. Therefore, its use as a source of reliable information can be somewhat meaningless, because many of the key intangible assets that lead to value creation are not displayed in it or are undervalued. In particular, the reporting does not at all reflect the human capital of technology companies, which is most likely the main driver in creating their market value, since the presence of high-quality teams of programmers and other IT specialists is the main guarantee of the successful implementation of IT projects. In this regard, one of the prospects for further research is to improve the standards governing the process of recognition and accounting of intangible assets in technology companies, in terms of developing a methodology for capitalizing the costs incurred for the development of human capital, and taking into account the strategic potential of human capital as a component of their brand value.

References 1. Deloitte: The Future of Intangible Assets in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2020). Available at: https://cutt.ly/KQe6hUR 2. Kantar: The BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands (2020). Available at: https://www. kantar.com/campaigns/brandz-downloads/brandz-top-100-most-valuable-global-brands-2020 3. Brand Finance (2020b) Global 500 2020. The annual report on the world’s most valuable and strongest brands. Available at: https://brandfinance.com/wp-content/uploads/1/brand_fin ance_global_500_2020_preview.pdf 4. Tan, P.: Covid-19 and Intangible Assets (2020). Available at: https://www.accaglobal.com/vn/ en/member/discover/cpd-articles/corporate-reporting/c19intangible-assetscpd.html 5. Financial Reporting Council: Business Reporting of Intangibles: Realistic Proposals. A Discussion Paper Prepared by Staff of the UK Financial Reporting Council (2020). Available at: https:// www.frc.org.uk/getattachment/bcdd05f7-6718-4daa-a42d-712024adb170/-;.aspx 6. The Footnotes Analyst: Intangible asset accounting and the «value» false negative (2020). Available at: https://www.footnotesanalyst.com/intangible-asset-accounting-and-the-value-falsenegative 7. Serpeninova, Yu., Lehenchuk, S., Mateášová, M., Ostapchuk, T., Polishchuk, I.: Impact of intellectual capital on profitability: evidence from software development companies in the Slovak Republic. Prob. Perspect. Manag. 20(2), 411–425 (2022) 8. Dorger, S.: The Companies with the Highest Intangible Value (2020). Available at: https:// www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/companies-with-highest-intangible-value 9. Buzinskiene, R., Rudyte, D.: The impact of intangible assets on the company’s market value. Montenegrin J. Econ. 17(2), 59–73 (2021) 10. Basso, L.F.C., Saliba de Oliveira, J.A., Kimura, H., Braune, E.S.: The impact of intangibles on value creation: comparative analysis of the Gu and Lev methodology for the United States software and hardware sector. Inv. Europeas Dirección Economía Empresa 21, 73–83 (2015) 11. Behname, M., Pajoohi, M.R., Ghahramanizady, M.: The relationship between intangible assets and the market value; metals industry of Tehran Stock Exchange case study. Aust. J. Basic Appl. Sci. 6(12), 115–122 (2012) 12. Castro, W.B., Benetti, C.: The impact of intangible assets on the market value of companies that compose the Brazilian stock exchange index. In: Impact of Intangible Assets on Companies’ Market Values, vol. 11, 1–13 (2017)

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13. Danko, T.P., Vyazovikova, A.S., Kiselev, V.M., et al.: Impact of intangible assets on competitive positions of the Apple Company. J. Adv. Res. Law Econ. X, No 6(44), 1850–1860 (2019) 14. Garanasvili, A.: Global recession impact on the market value of intangible assets, 2019 Papers pga1043, Job Market Papers (2020) 15. Glova, J., Mrazkova, S.: Impact of intangibles on firm value: an empirical evidence from European public companies. EkonomickýCasopis 66(7), 665–680 (2018) 16. Ievdokymov, V., Ostapchuk, T., Lehenchuk, S., Grytsyshen, D., Marchuk, G.: Analysis of the impact of intangible assets on the companies’ market value. Naukovyi Visnyk Natsionalnoho Hirnychoho Universytetu 3, 164–170 (2020) 17. Jaara, O.O., Elkotayni, K.A.R.: The impact of intangible assets internally developed on the market value of companies: a field study in the pharmaceutical companies in Jordan. Account. Finance Res. 5(2), 154–163 (2016) 18. Kimouche, B., Rouabhi, A.: The impact of intangibles on the value relevance of accounting information: evidence from French companies. Intangible Capital 12(2), 506–529 (2016) 19. Postula, M., Chmielewski, W.: The impact of intangible assets and R&D expenditure on the market capitalization and EBITDA of selected ICT sector enterprises in the European Union. Int. J. Econ. Financ. 11(8), 117–128 (2019) 20. Qureshi, M.J., Siddiqui, D.: The effect of intangible assets on financial performance, financial policies, and market value of technology firms: a global comparative analysis. Asian J. Finance Account. 12(1), 26–57 (2020) 21. Supriyo, D.: Intangible determinants of market value in the new economy: a dynamic panel data analysis of the Indian software industry. Singapore Econ. Rev. 54(03), 379–398 (2009) 22. Lehenchuk, S., Zavalii, T.: The impact of customer capital on company’s market value: an empirical study from 100 U.S. stock market leaders. Int. J. Manag. Econ. 57(4), 299–312 (2021) 23. Leitner, K.-H.: Managing and reporting intangible assets in research technology organisations. R & D Manag. 35(2), 125–136 (2005) 24. Owolabi, S.A., Aguguom, T.A.: Value paradox: accounting for intangible assets. Unique J. Bus. Manag. Res. 3(1), 022–031 (2016)

Building Contract in the Fifth Industrial Revolution: Embedding Sustainable Design and Construction Practices Khariyah Mat Yaman

and Zuhairah Ariff Abd Ghadas

Abstract Green buildings with sustainable design and construction (SDC) practices are key to the transition of the Malaysian construction sector towards a more sustainable built environment in response to global agendas of Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals. From a legal standpoint, the contract is one essential tool that could ensure the achievement of SDC-compliant or green building targets. Contractual terms and conditions would bind the parties towards achieving sustainability goals in a project. In Malaysia, standard contract forms are widely used and have become standard practice. However, despite the widespread use, no standard contract terms and conditions have been developed explicitly for green construction projects in Malaysia. The highlights of the discussion in this paper are on the improvements that could be made in the prevalently used standard contract forms in Malaysia to meet the requirements of SDC. The methodology adopted in this study was doctrinal legal research methodology aimed to highlight the gaps in the standard contract instrument and recommend improvements. Within the parameters of this methodology, this study adopted descriptive analysis, content analysis and analytical analysis approaches. The requirements of the Malaysian Carbon Reduction and Environmental Sustainability Tool (MyCREST), Penarafan Hijau Jabatan Kerja Raya (pHJKR), Green Building Index (GBI), Melaka Green Seal, and GreenRE were analysed in developing the SDC parameters, which were then critically compared and analysed within the common structure of the selected standard forms. This study found that the terms and conditions of the standard forms in their current structure are insufficient to cater to specific requirements and new approaches within the SDC parameters. Standard terms and conditions or an SDC-compliant standard form of contract should and could be developed, setting out the respective parties’ rights and obligations and properly allocating risks associated with SDC implementation in Malaysia. K. Mat Yaman (B) · Z. A. Abd Ghadas Faculty of Law and International Relations, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin Gong Badak Campus, Gong Badak, 21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] K. Mat Yaman Advocate and Solicitor, Messrs Hisham, Sobri & Kadir, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_80

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Keywords Construction industry · Good construction practices · Green building · Sustainable design and construction · Malaysia

1 Introduction With climate change becoming a major concern, it is time to usher in a new industrial revolution, with all efforts focused on enhancing sustainability. As we develop and forge new territory in the geological epoch of the Anthropocene, where human actions have become the primary driver of global environmental change, every sphere of human endeavour is under pressure to go green. The goal of green buildings with the implementation of sustainable design and construction (SDC) practices is to create a balance between the necessity for rapid economic expansion to meet the demands of a growing population and the environmental harm this expansion poses. At the heart of the transition is the industry’s ethical response to the rapid changes in the ecosphere, which are affecting humankind. SDC is a subset of the global agenda of Sustainable Development, Sustainable Development Goals, and the by-product of Global Environmental Governance [1]. Green building with the implementation of SDC is central to the Malaysian construction industry’s transformation programmes. Under the 11th Malaysia Plan [2], the government of Malaysia developed the Green Technology Master Plan 2017– 2030 (GTMP), which focuses on six key sectors, which include the building sector [3]. GTMP was backed by the Construction Industry Transformation Programme 2016–2020 (CITP) as a national construction industry transformation initiative [4]. CITP identified, among other things, the prevalence of inefficient construction practices that endanger the environment and compromise quality, safety, and productivity, necessitating a paradigm shift in construction methods and processes [4]. The 12th Malaysia Plan [5], the National Construction Policy (NCP) 2030 [6], and the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 [7] continue and bolster these agendas and objectives for the transformation of the construction sector. A significant milestone towards meeting its Sustainable Development Goals, causally related to green buildings and SDC, is the introduction of sustainability rating tools into the Malaysian construction market [8]. The first voluntary sustainability rating tool was developed by the Green Building Index Sdn. Bhd. (GBI) and introduced in 2009, known as the GBI rating tool. For the government sector, the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), Malaysia produced a rating tool called the Malaysian Carbon Reduction and Environmental Sustainability Tool (MyCREST), and the Malaysian Public Works Department (PWD) came up with the Skim Penarafan Hijau JKR (pHJKR). From the GTMP report, a target has been set that all new buildings designed after 2016 with a developmental value of more than RM50 million must be MyCREST certified and those with a developmental value of less than RM50 million to be certified by pHJKR [9]. From a legal standpoint, the entire process of construction by which structures are constructed is governed by construction contracts [10]. In other words, a contract is a

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component of the legal framework governing building construction. The process and administration of construction works are generally facilitated through standard form contracts. In Malaysia, standard contract instruments or standard forms, which are formulated and published by authoritative bodies of the industry, are predominantly in use. However, these standard forms are currently designed only for use in conventional buildings applying the conventional construction method [11]. No standard contract terms and conditions have been developed explicitly for green construction projects in Malaysia. These have served as the impetus for this research. It is the proposition of this study that the legal instrument, in this case, the standard forms produced by the authoritative bodies in Malaysia, should support the transition and endeavours towards embedding and enculturing SDC practices in the Malaysian construction industry. Accordingly, this study focused on examining gaps in Malaysia’s commonly used standard forms of contract in addressing the specific requirements, approaches, and risks unique to SDC, as well as potential improvements that can be made to close the gaps. The highlights of the discussion in this paper are on the improvements that could be made in the prevalently used standard building contract forms in Malaysia to meet the requirements of SDC.

2 Problem Statement Green buildings differ in many aspects from conventional buildings, and they would involve different requirements and attract risks that are different from their conventional counterpart [12]. From the literature, among the matters concerning SDC and green building requirements that the terms and conditions of the standard contract forms generally fail to address include the absence of ‘green’ terminology, such as ‘sustainability’ or ‘green certification’ and their specialised definitions which renders the green expectation ambiguous [13, 14], party/parties responsible for failure to achieve green certification or sustainability goals may not be specified [15, 16], party/parties responsible for registering the project and administering the green certification process may not be designated [16, 17], appropriate insurance policies for green building issues may not be required, provided or available [14, 18], consequences of decertification may not be addressed in the contract [19], responsibility for due diligence regarding green products and technologies may not be addressed [12, 19], consequential damages associated with the green building (such as lost tax credits and diminution in property) may not be addressed [20], and impact of the long lead time to achieve a green certification may not be addressed or addressed in a detrimental manner [14]. All the matters identified are matters of concern that, currently, the terms and conditions of the standard form contracts in Malaysia have failed to address. No reference, let alone the definition of any ‘green’ terminology, such as ‘sustainability’ or ‘green certification’, is found or provided in standard forms. Accordingly, there is no contractual guidance and coverage by way of standard terms and conditions

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on SDC and green building principles and procedures, particularly standards and requirements of the respective rating tools for obtaining green certification and green building status and the related inherent risks. The absence of these specific green building requirements, specialised definitions and scope in the available standard forms’ conditions of contract may render the ‘green’ expectation ambiguous and ultimately lead to disputes [21–23]. Necessary modifications must be effected to have a well-drafted SDC-compliant standard form of contract.

3 Materials and Methods This study adopted doctrinal legal research methodology, pure theoretical research that aims to identify the gaps in the standard contract instrument, i.e., the standard forms of contract commonly adopted in the Malaysian construction industry in addressing the new development of SDC vis-a-vis green building and the proposed improvements. The doctrinal approach is an appropriate methodology for achieving these objectives as ‘the identification of ‘gaps’, ‘loopholes’, ‘ambiguities’, or ‘inconsistencies’ in the substantive law is one of the areas of research identified as apposite for doctrinal legal research methodology’ [24]. For the analysis, this study examined the widely used standard forms of contract written or commissioned by PWD, intended for government projects, and the standard forms of contract commissioned by Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (PAM), which are mainly adopted in private sector projects in Malaysia [25]. For completeness, the analysis included the standard forms produced by CIDB and the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) to appraise the perspectives of statutory authority and an arbitral institution, respectively. The forms shall be collectively referred to as the ‘Standard Forms’ in the discussion. The Standard Forms and the rating tools, in particular, MyCREST [26], pHJKR [27], GBI [28], Melaka Green Seal [29] and GreenRE [30], are central to the whole analyses. Reference was also made to other standard forms of contract published locally and in other jurisdictions, mainly the standard forms designed for sustainable projects in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US), with specific reference to the standard forms of contract produced by the UK Joint Contract Tribunal (JCT), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and the Associated General Contractors of America ConsensusDocs® Green Building Addendum. Specific reference was made to the analysis of requirements of the US Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and the UK Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) within the context of its application in the UK JCT standard forms. The analyses were further supported by published guidelines, official reports and statistics by the relevant government ministries, departments, and agencies of Malaysia and other local and international industry standards. To facilitate data analysis, the study adopted descriptive analysis [24], directed content analysis method [31] and analytical analysis [24, 32] to establish the SDC

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parameters, identify the gaps in the Standard Forms and correspondingly propose the improvements.

4 Results and Discussion The study found that specific terms and conditions should and could be developed to cater to the SDC requirements. These terms and conditions to deal with the SDC requirements can be incorporated through special conditions introduced through an Addendum to the Standard Forms (the SDC Addendum). The introduction of the SDC standard terms and conditions does not necessitate a total revamp of the current structure of the Standard Forms, save for certain parallel modifications that need to be made to be streamlined with the SDC Addendum. From the directed content analysis method employed to appraise the common submittal requirements under MyCREST, pHJKR, GBI, GreenRE and Melaka Green seal, the components and subcomponents of each primary sustainability theme that make up the baseline model of the SDC parameters were deduced. These baseline model features were then analysed within the framework of approaches and delivery systems unique to SDC to have complete parameters of the SDC and, accordingly, the legal risks inherent within these parameters appraised. In this context, it was found that the SDC features complemented a concept known as the whole-systems approach. This approach adopted different strategies that culminated in what is known as the IDP or the integrated design process [33]. From the analysis, the SDC parameters could be classified into four general taxonomies, i.e.: (i) planning, management, and execution of the project using the IDP methodology and the allocation of associated risks; (ii) SDC-compliant technical documents (i.e. drawings and specifications) to facilitate the execution and implementation of the SDC parameters; (iii) technical requirements of the SDC’s primary sustainability themes and risks allocation; and (iv) integration of green rating certification procedures into the terms and conditions of the contract. The implementation of item (i), i.e., the project planning, management and execution via the IDP approach, would further entail: (a) a project needs assessment that must include, apart from market conditions and physical needs of a project, among others, the environmental goal, a specific rating tool and its certification level, and the amount of capital investment towards green initiatives; (b) appointment of multidisciplinary project team members with clearly defined roles and responsibilities; (c) appointment of an expert green building consultant (GBC); (d) establishment of a collaborative working environment with decisions based on wide team input from all relevant stakeholders; and (e) the application of computer simulations in certain areas and the building information modelling or BIM for integration throughout the construction process. These requirements were then analysed, adopting the analytical analysis approach, within the main structure of the Standard Forms. The analysis revealed the following components that have not been addressed and should be addressed in the SDC

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Addendum and consequently streamlined into the Standard Forms as governing contracts towards SDC-compliant standard forms of contract.

4.1 Green Project Goals and Objectives The first component that must be expressly specified in the SDC Addendum, as gathered from the analysis, is the ‘green project goals and objectives’. The contract must assign and clarify special definitions to reflect these goals and objectives. In the context of the proposed SDC Addendum, this component entails the drawing up of a ‘sustainability plan’ or any equivalent document that should address, among others: (i) the sustainable objective and targeted sustainable measures; (ii) implementation strategies selected to achieve the sustainable measures; (iii) the project team’s roles and responsibilities associated with achieving the targeted sustainable measures; (iv) the specific details about design reviews, testing or metrics to verify achievement of the targeted sustainable measures; and (v) the sustainability documentation required for the project.

4.2 SDC Requirements, the IDP Team, and Allocation of Duties/Risks The SDC requirements affect the fundamental duties of the respective parties involved within the main structure of the Standard Forms. The analysis found that the fundamental obligations of the employer, employer’s representatives (ERs), and contractor typically structured into the Standard Forms will remain relevant and be maintained. However, as far as the SDC implementation is concerned, these fundamental obligations will now have to be augmented with the green project goals and objectives requirements. For the employer, the identified augmented obligations that the SDC Addendum should address include the obligations to (i) elect the rating tool, identify the targeted green status to be achieved under the elected rating tool and the green measures required to be implemented for certification to achieve the green status; (ii) prepare or cause to be prepared the specification, drawings and the contract bills which conform to the green measures identified, showing and describing the works to be carried out by the contractor; (iii) provide and supply the necessary instructions as to the carrying out of the works, which include the green measures; (iv) giving possession of the site that conforms with the identified green measures; (v) nomination of specialist sub-contractors and suppliers; and (vii) appointment and nominations of a qualified person that conforms with the SDC requirements. GBC and commissioning specialists are among the qualified person identified for appointment under the SDC requirements.

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The appointment of these qualified persons, in particular GBC, necessitates the inclusion of relevant contractual provisions to cater to potential collaboration and interfacing between them. The potential interfacing identified from the analysis includes any change in the approved green measures or sustainability plan to attain the elected green status. Instructions for any change that results in a variation to the contractor’s works (variation orders or VOs) can only be issued by ERs under the authority given to them by the relevant provisions of the Standard Forms [34]. On the other hand, the requirements under the SDC parameters dictate the involvement of GBC in verifying the adequacy of the materials and goods to be incorporated into the works following the relevant submittal requirements. In this situation, verification from GBC may be needed by ERs before any approval can be made. Another aspect concerns the authority conferred on ERs as certifiers. It is found that there is a need to tie the issuance of the ERs’ certificates contingent upon the contractor’s compliance with the green measures identified for their execution and submission of all the relevant documentation required from the contractor. This mechanism would necessitate an interface whereby GBC will have to verify compliance on the contractor’s part for ERs, acting as certifiers, to issue the relevant certificates to the contractor. Similar to the position of the employer and ERs, the contractor’s fundamental obligations under the main structure of the Standard Forms will also remain applicable. However, as far as the SDC implementation is concerned, these fundamental obligations will now have to be augmented with the green project goals and objectives and the related requirements. Therefore, all green measures within the contractor’s purview must be identified in the sustainability plan (or its equivalent) and contract documents with the introduction of a contractual term imposing the contractor to perform those green measures identified to be within the contractor’s responsibility. Identifying these obligations in the sustainability plan and contract documents will resolve the issues concerning the contractor’s obligations in implementing the SDC parameters. Provisions should also be made in the SDC Addendum concerning (i) contractor’s submittals, (ii) waste management, and (iii) time for completion and green certification, affecting the contractor’s obligations.

4.3 Design Charrette Process The Standard Forms do not cater to this activity as it is to be carried out prior to the construction stage or pre-construction activity. If the design charrette process is to be implemented, the Standard Forms must reflect the process, timelines, and activities. Accordingly, provisions should be made under the SDC Addendum to allow for the design charrette process to be carried out before the construction work commences. However, finality must be afforded if the contractor’s involvement during the workshop(s) concerns the project’s sustainability plan or its equivalent. Apart from that, the SDC Addendum should also discuss the contractual status of the design charrette report compared to other contract documents.

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4.4 SDC-Compliant Technical Working Documents—Drawings and Specifications The analysis pointed to the importance of drawings and specifications in implementing the SDC requirements. The functions of these technical working documents, under the SDC parameters, are augmented to serve as documentary evidence for the intended certification. Therefore, these technical working documents should incorporate and integrate the requirements of the SDC. The timeline that ties the preparation and production of the ‘contract drawings’ by the employer and the ‘as-built’ drawings by the contractor should also be streamlined to the certification timeline.

4.5 Technological Aid and Advancement Two aspects of the SDC requirements for technological aid and advancement are identified under the SDC parameters. Firstly, the requirements for computer simulations and calculations as specified in certain credit requirements under the rating tools. Secondly, the use of BIM software as a medium of integration throughout the construction process. Regarding the required computer simulations and calculations, the main issue identified is the allocation of risks. The requirements to carry out the simulations and calculations are, therefore, very much related to under whose obligations the credit requirements that necessitate the carrying out of the simulations and calculations will be allotted. In comparison, the use of BIM software would render a more significant impact as it would affect the structure of the construction process and require familiarity with a specific system throughout the construction process by all the stakeholders. There is also cost consideration that should be taken into account. One possible option is to incorporate a BIM protocol into the Standard Forms. BIM protocol is a contractual document that ‘enables contractual incorporation of BIM terms, allowing for legal implementation of the processes and procedures required to produce a model that adheres to the employer’s information requirements and BIM execution plan’ [35]. Necessary modifications should be made to the Standard Forms’ terms and conditions to streamline the BIM protocol requirements and other related BIMspecific documents [36, 37].

5 Conclusion The study has established that the components of contractual terms that need to be devised for an SDC-compliant standard form of contract can be identified, developed, and standardised without having to revamp the Standard Forms’ structure, save for

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the parallel modifications that may be required to streamline the provisions accordingly. The industry players’ familiarity with the commonly used contract structure is therefore maintained. This approach would ease the transition from not having the requirements (related to SDC implementation) to understanding the requirements within the contract procurement structure of the Standard Forms familiar to the Malaysian construction industry players. This immediate measure can be taken up by the respective producers of the Standard Forms to have the SDC Addendum introduced into the governing standard form for use in green projects. Similarly, the producers of the Standard Forms should also look into the development of the BIM Protocol as proposed in this study. This study has shown that the BIM implementation can also be incorporated into the Standard Forms, subject to the introduction of the BIM Protocol. For the BIM Protocol, it is recognised that further studies must be carried out to ascertain, among others, the best approach to suit the needs and capacity of the Malaysian construction industry players, particularly in dealing with the collaborative nature of the BIM processes and deliverables.

References 1. Baker, S.: Sustainable Development, 2nd edn. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London and New York (2016) 2. Economic Planning Unit: Eleventh Malaysia Plan 2016–2020: Anchoring Growth on People. Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department, Malaysia, Putrajaya (2015). Accessed 26 Oct 2019. [Online]. Available: http://rmk11.epu.gov.my/book/eng/Elevent-Malaysia-Plan/ RMKe-11Book.pdf 3. Ministry of Energy Green Technology and Water Malaysia (KeTTHA), Green Technology Master Plan Malaysia 2017–2030. Ministry of Energy Green Technology and Water Malaysia (KeTTHA), Putrajaya (2017). [Online]. Available: https://www.pmo.gov.my/wp-content/upl oads/2019/07/Green-Technology-Master-Plan-Malaysia-2017-2030.pdf 4. Ministry of Works (MOW) Malaysia and Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia: Construction Industry Transformation Programme (CITP) 2016–2020. Programme Management Office, CIDB Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur (2015) 5. Economic Planning Unit, Twelfth Malaysia Plan 2021–2025: A Prosperous, Inclusive, Sustainable Malaysia. Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department, Malaysia, Putrajaya (2021). [Online]. Available: https://rmke12.epu.gov.my/en 6. Ministry of Works (MOW) Malaysia: National Construction Policy 2030 | Ministry of Works. Government Official Portal Ministry of Works, 2021. https://www.kkr.gov.my/en/node/45034. Accessed 12 Feb 2022 7. Ministry of Economic Affairs: MyGOV—Government Policies | Shared Prosperity Vision 2030. Government Policies (2019). https://www.pmo.gov.my/2019/10/shared-prosperity-vis ion-2030-2/. Accessed 12 Feb 2022 8. CIDB Malaysia: Built It Green: An Overview of Sustainability Green Building Rating Tools in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur (2018) 9. Ministry of Energy Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA): Green Technology Master Plan Malaysia 2017–2030. Putrajaya (2017) 10. Hibberd, P.: Sustainability—The Role of Construction Contracts. In: Brandon, P.S., Lombardi, P., Shen, G.Q. (eds.) Future Challenges in Evaluating and Managing Sustainable Development

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The Impact of Using Technology Integration on Supply Chain Functions and Stages Ibrahim Ezmigna

and Siti Zaleha Omain

Abstract This research paper aims to examine the effect of information technology (IT) integrations on supply chain functions and stages. A competitive advantage is founded on skills that enable a company to distinguish itself from rivals. Therefore, the study focuses on research that examines the links between IT integration and supply chain performance. A systematic literature review methodology was incorporated to facilitate the achievement of study objectives. As a result, a total of 36 research studies were identified from the databases and sites, but only 12 met the inclusion–exclusion criteria and quality (reliability) requirements. The data analysis process adopted the thematic approach, which involves identifying the prevalent themes or variables in the selected studies through synthesis. According to the data analysis, inventory management and the timely delivery of products to satisfy consumer demand are the two major obstacles facing the supply chain. Therefore, the supply chain performance is evaluated by its effect on inventory turnover and lead time. The Research laid forth the expectations of transparency of demand across the supply chain, namely product visibility throughout the supply chain. However, there are some limitations, especially in the methodology, implying that further studies should consider employing a solid research design. The main recommendation of this study addressed the responsibility of companies’ stakeholders in the supply chain. Still, it also focused on adopting technology integrations to solve the identified challenges and achieve a better supply chain performance. Keywords Technology integration · Supply chain functions · Supply chain stages

I. Ezmigna (B) · S. Z. Omain Azman Hashim International Business School, University Technology Malaysia, Johor, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] S. Z. Omain e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_81

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1 Introduction Evaluating critical operational and management parameters is a fundamental part of efficient IT integration and management of the Supply Chain (SC). Globalization, complicated client requests, and increasing product complexity continue to compel firms to utilize technology to modify the SSCF [1, 2]. Real-time tracking and precise delivery systems enable the supply chain management to meet technological innovation—and mobile wireless, portable technologies guide the logistics and transportation industries. With the continuously changing technology element, it may be challenging for large firms with substantial investment in older technology to maintain new capabilities and best practices—it is a continuous process [3, 4]. While transformations take time, it is essential in this competitive sector to use new technology. Over the last two and half decades, scientists have emphasized two main issues: the importance and technology’s role integration of the supply chain [4]. Reference [5] finds integrating technology into the external and internal SCF to be typically a successful SCM. Technology development is gaining momentum [6]. For example, to review its SC and collaborate with third parties involving customers and providers, a multinational clothing firm based in Spain consistently employs visibility enriched by technology, which gives rise to various advantages, including fast-powered delivery, quick lead times, and new technologies [7]. More companies in many types of technology are presently using SCs [8]. Supply chain management has become a method of management increasingly crucial for businesses to enhance their company. While the ICTs have been widely employed in supply chains, the methods via which IT produces value are not systemically shown [4]. Moreover, as the supply chain goals get above organizational effectiveness in seeking advanced objectives, such as realizing market dynamics and new partnership arrangements.

2 Literature Review The supply chain provides a new way of improving efficiency via comprehensive methods to reduce production and production costs and seamlessly integrate systems across distribution channels [9, 10]. Therefore, the improvements in the supply chain must be measured. The two major obstacles in the supply chain are capital budgeting and the timely supply of products to satisfy consumer demand [4]. There are two kinds of performance indicators for online supply chains [11]. Additionally, the first group covers transaction fees and delivery timeframes. The second measure is the proportion of inbound purchases and products sold through the Internet. The supply chain is a connected collection of resources and procedures which starts with raw material procurement and continues to the end customer by supplying finished products [12].

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2.1 Supply Chain Function The supply chain function refers to managing activities, including raw material acquisition, processing, and delivery to the end customer [13]. Most industrial organizations, which involve many providers and even outsourcing activities, have a more complicated supply chain [13]. Therefore, any business was intended to have benefited from effective management of the supply chain by simplifying the procedures found at each stage of the supply chain to guarantee that customers get the correct quantity at the right time [14] In most companies, the supply chain handles most inventories, manages 60–70% of costs, and contributes to revenue generation via exceptional product availability; the “Great Recession of 2008–10” concentrated on the company’s financial health via a supply chain [15]. Supply chain leverage is available in an era of restrictive loans instead of dependent on limited credit markets to release cash reserves from balance sheets; a wellmanaged supply chain maintains a balance between demand and supply [16]. Besides, supply chain management has to be adequate to minimize waste, enhance revenues, reduce costs and guarantee timely delivery [17]. Therefore, manufacturing companies need to know how to improve the efficiency of their activities, which is why the five functions of supply chain management are vital [4]. More businesses are integrating technology in their supply chain functions nowadays to remain competitive internationally and at the leading edge of a complicated business environment [15].

2.2 Supply Chain Stages SCIT came into being in the 1980s and initially focused on manual, automated processes, such as ordering and settlement of accounts [18]. Over time, SCIT has created various additional capabilities such as communication on information exchange that link companies with SC partners; therefore, internal procedures like SCM also make relationships favorably moderate [19]. As a result, it allows the company to benefit greatly, including competitive advantages, better customer service, and decreased operating expenses [20]. The development of such a supply chain network consists of four stages: Stage 1: Management of Supply: The most basic level is based on a lead-time internal MRP and ERP systems; for instance, most scheduled vendor interactions are documented and seldom require reporting of status transactional communications, which involve quotes, purchases, and releases [21]. Stage 2: Management of the supply chain: This phase has an expanded scope and involves two and more providers. Status reporting, the exchange of specific data amongst the participants, and increasingly complicated interrelationships are also increasing concerns because communications with the inclusion of data flow are transactional [22].

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Stage 3: Integration of the supply chain that includes programs benefiting all chain members. It increases the provision of cooperation, including strategic planning and risk-sharing among members. Those transactions and data go well beyond communications at this level and include information of all kinds [23]. Stage 4: Collaboration with the Demand–Supply Network. Critical information flowing freely and concurrently throughout the supply network is used to cooperative engagement and proactive conduct [24]. Moving beyond supply chain management calls for cooperation, and collaboration calls for common goals and confidence; the association promotes channel parity and tends to enhance itself; besides, visionary leaders in the supply chain ultimately shared and coordinated their path plans with the rest of the canal [25].

2.3 Patterns of IT Use in SCM Previous studies have distinguished two categories: internal and external IT usage in Supply Chain Management (SCM). Internal IT usage is designed to exchange information inside the company during the production processes; it usually comprises apps inside the focus company that simplifies its internal functioning and improves cooperation between the various departments [15, 26]. For example, the most frequent scenario of internal IT is conventional systems such as ERP. It serves as an electronic connection across company borders integrated with suppliers and customers into business processes [27]. External IT usage does not, by contrast, mean the use of a particular IT tool. Software programs, cloud computing, and real-time status updates accessible by pressing a button have significantly improved the monitoring of materials and goods [28]. The timetables and inventory levels of businesses may also be adjusted the fly. More and more multinationals continue to no stand out as trendsetters as the number of businesses that realize the advantages of supply-chain management technology is rising [29]. This applies in particular to portable gadgets that are “rugged out” or mainly built to resist harsh conditions and possible damages resulting from dropping or banging. The degree to which SC partners integrate and digitize operations that go outside corporate borders is characterized as IT such as EDI, CRM, the Internet, or cloud computer. In particular, IT usage by providers is the integration of providers and the digitization of supplies such as buying and managing inventory materials [30].

3 Methodology 3.1 Research Design The study was based on the systemic design of literature based on analyzing secondary data that is the most suitable method. It is a research process that finds and

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critically assesses relevant studies and data collection and analysis from acknowledged investigations [28]. The most recent studies are preferred since they provide the current trends [31]. Nevertheless, a systematic literature review dictates welldeveloped inclusion and exclusion criteria to ensure that the study objectives are achieved [32, 33]. The review aims to uncover empirical data following a predetermined integration mode to solve particular research issues [34]. In addition, a qualitative technique was applied to examine the quality of the results from different investigations.

3.2 Research Philosophy The researcher’s vision is linked to his research philosophy. The scientific and the society schools of philosophy are the two primary schools of thought [35–37]. The positivist method, in which the hypothesis can be scientifically confirmed or mathematically proved via a set of definite complex numbers, is more consistent with scientific philosophy. On the other hand, the societal school focuses on the study of consciousness, where reality is determined by perception. It may be used in conjunction with qualitative and inter-pretivism methods [38, 39].

3.3 Data Collection As its core data sources, the study employed secondary data [40]. The highlight is the need to draw a broad conclusion on the effects of technology on the functions of the SCM. The study collected secondary data from corporate data, reporting, newspapers, the Internet, researches, and business magazines [41, 42]. Other databases include academic databases such as Scopus, Science Direct, IEEE, EBSCO, and Scopus. According to [43], data must be linked to current SCM characteristics (2015) to facilitate the achievement of the objectives. In the four typical locations, the researcher selected previous studies based in China. In particular, different places are in the northeast, central and western parts of China, which are less economically developed than the other three coastal regions industries, including cars, electronics, computers, food, logistics, and chemicals [34]. Accordingly, generalized findings on this dataset were achieved. Therefore, the data collection process was entirely based on previously conducted studies on the research topic.

3.4 Data Analysis Data analysis is a sensitive aspect of research as it involves exploring the information based on the objectives. Therefore, a researcher has to analyze data appropriately

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[44]. The gathered information on this research was analyzed to answer the subject of the study using qualitative data. Therefore, a thematic approach was adopted for the data analysis process. The process entails the identification of the prevalent or critical themes from the collected data through synthesis. Furthermore, the procedure is dictated by data synthesis based on the research objectives [45].

4 Result The research assessed technological integration impacts on the SCF and its phases. The study topic also intended to uncover the causes of the varying technological adoption results among various companies. Nevertheless, the study’s findings were obtained from the 12 articles meeting the inclusion criteria and the quality requirements. In addition, the preview showed that the principal technology employed comprised of IT systems and technology. Operations with different levels of influence were overall renewed in SC with the increasing use of different types of technology, such as machine learning and sophisticated robots; On the other hand, the diverse retail, medical and industrial companies encountered considerable interruptions between 2014 and 2016 in their SC [34]. Nevertheless, the first projected result is a significant influence on company performance from technology. So, the effect of technology on company performance has been favorable and detrimental. Second, IT has been known for many years as a facilitator of successful SCF [18]. Due to its capabilities, organizations invested in technology with anticipation of enhanced performance being presumably vital. Third, the technology positively harmonized with different SCs to influence performance [46]. Finally, the improved performance was based on several variables. First, the cost-efficiency in SC was achieved. The deployment of information systems collaborated with regularly changing contexts by concentrating on their implementation specifics that ensured adaptability. The advantages of technology like RFID technology included enhanced traceability and speed of delivery and counting procedures of items throughout the SC [18]. The varied results achieved from technological adoption by some companies were another potential effect [15]. The absence of proper analyses regarding the advantages of application addressing the unique demands of information processing and controlled management was an essential explanation for the inconsistent results. Another possible reason may have been that business strategy was poorly integrated with technology applications [47]. After completing the work, the findings were intended to form the basis for improving IT integration on SCM using appropriate technologies. The main benefits were for various enterprises, including production businesses, logistics suppliers, and e-commerce organizations. Operational and operating costs were eventually reduced, resulting in lower prices and costs for consumers [47].

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5 Discussions The controlled movement of raw materials and information, commonly known as the supply chain, impacts everything from the Gross domestic product to where the jeans may be bought [48]. Therefore, the structure of the company’s supply chain has significant effects upon its success or failure. This article highlights state-of-the-art innovations contributing to the success of the vertical levels of the suppliers and refers to the capability of SMEs to be viable players. Furthermore, strategies to achieve these skills are recommended at national, state, and local levels, via developed by the company centers and other customer support providers [49]. The research discussed models for the supply chain of consulting companies, colleges, manufacturers, and organizations. The topics include the responsibilities of suppliers and other players in the supply chain, increasing outsourcing, information management significance, a natural conflict between buying and selling, sources of support for small and medium-sized businesses, and many more [50]. Supply Chain Integration examines this critical component of the company during a dramatic and worldwide change in design, manufacturing, and delivery. This paper examined the advantages of strengthening the links between the company, its providers, and consumers constantly to achieve the most value-added. The findings indicated that it is possible to increase supplier and customer resilience with IT exploration only with SC partners, whereas IT exploitation does not substantially influence the results. According to this result is that when companies utilize IT for exploitation rather than exploration, they are in danger of obsolescence and exploitation. The employment of IT for usage leads to quick positive feedback, leading to a high reliance on trajectories and eventually damaging long-term survival in the face of turbulent and untraditional conditions [51]. The results showed that IT utilizes standardized information formats in structured transactions, particularly between SC partners. It enhances SC exposure and enables companies to search for information quickly. The IT usage is, however, not enough for SC resilience to be developed. According to [18], companies must carry with the unstructured process in unpredictable environments involving suppliers and customers. The platform for absorbing more diverse knowledge and building an integrated connection amongst SC partners in IT usage exploration. It improves SC resilience and effectively maintains the continuity of operations upstream and downstream. In contrast, the effect on inventory turnover of product visibility is less apparent. The final findings indicate that the value values are much more significant than 0.05 and thus do not match the trust interval [46]. Therefore, the increase of the visibility of supply chain information does not impact supply chain inventory turnover. In contrast, previous investigations based on mathematical models have been carried out. In conclusion, these results showed that the ambidextrous use of IT integration might assist the focal point in controlling SC disruptions to reconcile the contradiction between IT exploitation and IT customer exploration [15]. Thus, attempts to use IT for operation may enhance its efficiency when it explores new information and

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initiates reconfigurations to SC disorders. Expertise in exploratory IT management in companies enhances its capacity to operate successfully. However, the results showed that the focus company and its SC partners must handle the contradiction by emphasizing IT research comparatively more when resources are constrained [46]. However, the tension between two patterns in IT usage was experimentally demonstrated to enhance customers and supplier strength in most configurations due to the rivalry for limited resources and IT exploration for exploration with the SC partners; these results supported the principles of IPT as well [15].

6 Conclusions This study provides a research methodology for examining the effect of ICT integration on SCFs. It is based on research in supply chain integration and information and communication technology (ICT) impact on the SCFs and stages. Literature on supply chain management was also examined. The model includes a set of control procedures and several essential areas to consider when looking at the effect of ICT on integration [52]. The kinds of ICT used for information exchange, the many aspects of integration, the varied impacts of ICT and variables affecting the effect, and the supply chain integration area are among these categories. Thus, this study adds to our understanding of the complicated relationship between ICT and supply chain integration. From the standpoint of research, the model provides an overview of key areas that must be considered while researching the phenomena. It also offers assistance to academics who wish to dig further into the effect of ICT [46]. Improving the performance of the supply chain was the primary emphasis of this research. Inventory sales and lead time are the metrics used. The expectations established by this research were to enhance the transparency of the supply chain, i.e., the product visibility throughout the supply chain. The study suggests that product visibility or demand transparency throughout the supply chain leads to improved supply chain lead times from IT integration. Previous studies also showed this based on improvements in the supply chain. Nevertheless, the results imply the necessity of the determination of these facts based on industrial responses. While in the US, Europe, and other industrially developed countries, there have been extensive awareness and study in this field, Asia has recently grown in its industries with economic reforms and governance [52]. Therefore, it has taken time to percolate the upgrades in this supply chain. This research indicates that specific industries use mostly IT to enhance the supply chain in particular areas. The usage for the seller and wholesaler of third-party logistics and MIDAS software and SAP for Marico Industries business operations is an example [53]. Another example is the usage of HUL salespeople in PDAs to transmit sales point data to the headquarters for a demand estimate [53].

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6.1 Limitation While this research contributes to theories and practice, some limitations need to be taken into account. First, the adopted methodology makes the findings questionable since many previously conducted studies have been omitted. Second, concentrating on articles authored in English means that a lot of content that might have been useful is not incorporated. Consequently, the reliability and findings of the study have been compromised. Additionally, the research looked solely at the history and results of external resilience while failing to play the function of internal resilience. Primarily, the study examined just how SC resilience enhances inter-company IT adoption. Future studies may include intra-company IT and investigate how intra-corporate IT trends enhance SC resilience [51, 54]. Thirdly, this research dealt with IT as nonspecific, and companies with providers and clients may use various IT technologies. Therefore, the scope of the study is limited. According to the limitations, the findings might affect the results.

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Prioritization of the Digital Banking Services in Islamic Banking Achmad Hidayat and Salina Kassim

Abstract Technology has been identified as the driver for innovation in financial services to take place. The growth of internet users, the domination of the younger generation, and the pandemic Covid-19 have increased the importance of digital banking to deliver financial services. Digital banking which refers to internet banking and mobile banking has been embraced by Indonesian banking. However, Indonesian banking particularly Indonesian Islamic banking has experienced issues in the adoption of digital banking such as slower adoption, a sizable investment, and a budget constraint. It is necessary for Islamic banks to prioritize the selection of services in digital banking. Based on the literature on digital banking and Islamic banking, a framework is built to be analyzed using the Analytic Network Process method involving respondents from Islamic bank managers, regulators, and academicians. The ANP results show that technology is the main factor to be considered in the selection of services in digital banking by Islamic banks. Furthermore, the security and risk of the technology are the main element of technology as the main concern for the selection of services. Of the alternative services available in digital banking, transfer and payment services along with opening accounts are the most important alternative services for Islamic banks. Keywords Digital banking · Internet banking · Mobile banking · Analytic network process

1 Introduction Technological advancement has enabled innovations in financial services to take place. Van Horne [68] revealed that innovations may take forms as a new product or a new process that may modify the existing innovations. The adoption of Automated A. Hidayat (B) · S. Kassim IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_82

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Teller Machines in the 1970s is an example of innovation in financial services. Afterward, with the diffusion of the internet to the people, internet banking and mobile banking emerged to enable financial services progress in the 1990s and 2000s, respectively [42, 64]. Internet banking and mobile banking represent the digital banking channel [59]. Customers access the bank website to have internet banking services whilst mobile banking is accessed through mobile devices. In the more advanced services, digital banking employs large-scale automation across front-end and backend systems, advanced digital analytics connected to the banking ecosystem [38], extensive use of technology [37], and wholly or almost wholly banking business carried out through digital or electronic means [9]. The growth of internet users and the younger generation in the structure of demographics have promoted to develop the digital banking [56]. Digital banking has become more important during the pandemic Covid-19 [28]. Indonesia has had a similar experience with the growth of internet users and the domination of the younger generation in the structure of demographics [8]. Indonesian banking, which has adopted a dual banking system in which Islamic banking operates along with conventional banking, has been in the progress of adopting digital banking emphasizing more on mobile banking compared to internet banking [51]. However, the survey conducted by Bank Indonesia [8] revealed a relatively slower adoption of digital technology by Indonesian banking, including Islamic banking [48]. Investment in digital banking requires a sizable investment [49], however, Indonesian Islamic banking has faced a budget constraint on such investment [1]. Therefore, banks should make prioritization the services delivered to the customer concentrating on high-value investment [49]. Most of the studies, that include internet banking and mobile banking, have been concentrated on the customer perspective whilst studies on banks’ perspectives are still scarce [44]. For studies in Islamic banking, most of the studies have been done by taking broad-term approaches, for instance, financial innovation or product development perspectives, in particular, focusing on digital banking adoption. Academically, there is a need to study various parts of the world to provide a comprehensive picture since there are countries’ differences in the market as well as practices [44]. Therefore, it is important to study digital banking adoption from the Islamic banking perspective. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. The next section elaborates on the theoretical framework and previous studies that have been conducted in the realm of digital banking. Afterward, the data and methodology used in this study are presented in the following section. The result of the analysis and its interpretation is deliberated in Sect. 4. Lastly, the paper concludes the study and proposes a recommendation based on the findings.

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2 Literature Review 2.1 Digital Banking Concept Digital banking generally refers to internet banking and mobile banking [16, 23, 36]. Internet banking allows the customer to access the services by accessing the website [12, 16, 25, 36] while digital banking is accessed by customer using a mobile device such as a smartphone or a tablet [23, 36, 59]. The advantage of digital banking to the bank as well as the customer has motivated banks to adopt digital banking [63] such as lowering the costs and increasing customer experience [25, 58, 62, 66]. Bank has alternatives to digital banking adoption. Banks may opt multi-channel strategy by adopting internet banking first then continue to adopt mobile banking, or vice versa [57]. Integrating all the channels into seamless and personalized services to the customer lead bank to the omnichannel strategy [24, 31, 69, 70]. Banks also may choose to operate fully digitally without having physical branches or having limited physical branches, namely internet banks (using the internet) or digital banks [12, 17, 55, 70]. Differing from the conventional bank, Islamic banks should adhere to the Islamic principle [18] including digital banking services. Therefore, Sharia compliance is critical for such banks [2, 3, 7, 19, 32, 71]. However, Islamic banking has been criticized for only replicating conventional products [15]. Moreover, a conflict may arise between emphasizing the Sharia aspects or economic rationale [2].

2.2 Empirical Studies on Digital Banking The Diffusion of Innovation theory has been employed extensively to study digital banking adoption [52, 53]. The theory stated that advantages, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability influence the adoption of innovation or technology [30, 53]. Digital banking also has been discussed through the lens of financial innovation. Simply, financial innovation refers to a new product or a new process that is aimed at reducing costs, reducing risks, or providing improved products/services/instruments that better satisfy financial system participants’ demands [21]. Studies on digital banking adoption by taking banks’ perspectives have been conducted in various methods and samples. Most of the studies involve technology, customer, internal aspects of the bank such as strategic and operational, and external aspects of the bank such as market or competition. Table 1 presents the summary of studies that have been conducted in digital banking. Studies of digital banking by taking a bank perspective in Islamic banking are limited. Digital banking has been approached in the general context such as financial innovation [7, 26] or product innovation [15, 19, 65]. The main findings of the studies suggest that important aspects need to be concerned such as Sharia compliance [7,

8 general managers, 8 IT managers, 64 customers • Ideas of online banking stemmed from the internal bank, not the customer Kuwaiti Banks • Customer-oriented: enhancing customer Interviews and field study experience • Market-oriented: competitive and image consideration • Challenges/issues: top management support, lack of specialists, internet technology progress (continued)

Aladwani [4] Issues with internet banking

• Investigated variables: strategic, operational, customer and technology • Internet banking is essential for survival • The main benefits: improving reputation as a cutting-edge bank, lowering the cost of the transaction, enabling ancillary services, improving service quality, increase customer convenience (anytime) • The main challenge is the scarcity of human resources for operating the technology

75 bank executives USA banks Survey/questionnaire, mean the difference

Nath et al. [43] Bank perception of Internet banking

Main finding/critical points

Sample/method

Author(s)/topic

Table 1 Summary of studies on the digital banking adoption taking bank perspectives

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Sample/method

Mullan et al. [42] Drivers and barriers to mobile banking adoption

72 participants from various sectors: academics, retail banks, mobile banking providers, and telecommunication Delphi method

Panelists: decision-makers from retail banking, Bradley and Stewart [14] Drivers and inhibitors of internet banking adoption non-financial entrants, technology and software suppliers, consultants, academics Ireland and USA banking industry Delphi Study

Author(s)/topic

Table 1 (continued)

• Key drivers: compatibility with customer needs (convenience) and compatibility with the strategic objective of the bank • Key barriers: low level of customer demand, lack of evidence of Return on Investment • Specific barriers to consider: the reach of bank infrastructure and the absence of partnerships • DOI theory needs to accompany by enabling the environment to obtain a comprehensive understanding (continued)

• Key drivers are associated with external factors such as the number of other banks that have adopted internet banking, competitive forces, consumer demand, and technology availability • Key inhibitors are associated with internal factors such as lack of ability to deal with customers, resistance to change, attitude within the bank, availability of resources, and presence of legacy systems • Benefits on customer experience should be demonstrated

Main finding/critical points

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The main challenge is customer convenience regarding perceived ease of use and determining appropriate products, legal regulation, and developing Omni Channel • Digital banking is perceived to affect customer experience and bank financial performance • Digital banking enables a good customer experience that leads to satisfaction and loyalty • Key attributes affecting customer experience: brand trust, perceived risk, service customization, service speed, service convenience, perceived value, perceived usability service quality, functional quality, employee-customer engagement, and digital banking innovation • Innovation is needed to be competitive and stay in the business

10 bank managers Swedish banks Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) Ten bank managers UK banks Semi-structured interviews, thematic analysis

Larsson and Viitaoja [33] Challenges for maintaining customer loyalty through the digitalization process

Mbama et al. [39] Perception of digital banking effects on customer experience and bank financial performance

• Demographic: age and occupation • Technology: perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness • Service component: security concern, trust, and risk • Intention to use customer attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control • Electronic banking channel priority: (1) ATM, (2) internet banking, (3) mobile banking

110 respondents, including customers and bank managers Banks in India Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)

Mishra and Singh [41] The priority of electronic banking channel alternatives

Main finding/critical points

Sample/method

Author(s)/topic

Table 1 (continued)

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26], the high cost of innovation and lack of research [15], and the importance of the Sharia Board [19, 65]. Table 2 presents the summary of the studies on digital banking in Islamic banking taking a bank perspective.

3 Data and Methodology

3.1 Analytic Network Process (ANP) Method In this present study, Analytic Network Process (ANP) is applied to explore the adoption of digital banking by Islamic banks considering, as the general form of AHP, ANP allows for more complex, interdependent, relationships and feedback among elements in the hierarchy [60]. Following Ali et al. [6] and Ali and Kassim [5], the procedure of ANP is as follows, 1. Model construction The first phase is addressed to develop the model for the ANP framework [5]. The model is derived from the literature review that consists of theories, empirical studies, and reports on digital banking adoption. Using an online questionnaire, the initial model was evaluated by four bank managers related to digital banking (three bank managers from Islamic banks and one bank manager from the conventional bank that owns Islamic windows) and two academicians on Islamic banking/finance/economics A higher agreement is achieved on the element involved in the ANP model. Several discussions were also conducted with the Scholars and Islamic bank managers. The final model consists of main criteria, sub-criteria, and alternatives as illustrated in Fig. 1. 2. Model quantification In this second phase, quantification and measurement of the ANP network are carried out by exploiting the pair-wise comparison questionnaire [6] that reflects the relative influence of factors on a specific factor for all possible pairs [45]. The present study employs an online questionnaire considering the flexibility of time for the respondents to fill out the questionnaire. The categories and criteria of the respondents are presented in Tables 3 and 4. Data obtained from the questionnaire is calculated with the Super Decision software to generate the ANP Results that is the Priorities values which show the level of importance. The robustness of the ANP results can be determined using a parameter, namely, Consistency Ratio (CR) [54] whereas the CR does not exceed 10% [29]. If the value is more than 10%, following Saaty (1995) the judgment must be revised [46].

Sample/method Review of literature, reports, and articles

Six countries: Egypt, Indonesia, Morocco, Pakistan, Turkey, and UAE Review of literature, reports, and articles

Author(s)/topic (s)

Al-Salem [7] Financial product innovation in Islamic finance

Iman [26] Financial innovation in Islamic countries by focusing on payment systems, internet banking, and mobile banking

• Characteristics of financial innovation in Islamic countries: relatively slower in adoption compared to non-Islamic countries, product in the market is not always comply with Sharia, customer engagement in the production process is low and innovation takes place in a top-down manner (government-driven) • The challenges are regulation complexity and pursuing the advent of technology (continued)

• Islamic banks are regarded as the most successful institution in financial product innovation • The main issue is compliance with Sharia • Other issues: inappropriate traditional financial instruments with Sharia, standardization of Islamic finance rules, the absence of good governance, monetary instrument operation and rate of return risk management, and globalization impacts • Needs to continually innovate for meeting the market demand and complying with sharia

Main finding/critical point

Table 2 Summary of studies on the digital banking adoption in Islamic banking taking bank perspectives

976 A. Hidayat and S. Kassim

Sample/method

26 well-known global financial institutions (13 conventional financial institutions and 13 Islamic financial institutions) Review of literature, review of banks’ websites

Dinc [19] Product development in Islamic banks

• For the accepted conventional products, it is suitable to employ conversion modeling • Sharia Board should be engaged with the majority stages of product development although acting as a sub-committee or legal adviser

Two senior Islamic bank officials • The center of the product innovation process is Sharia compliance issues UAE Islamic banks Interview, semi-structured questionnaire, Thematic • Employee involvement is greater for the retail consumer compared to the corporate consumer analysis • Building a multi-functional team and management support are ways to leverage employee involvement in product innovation

• The barriers are the high cost of innovation, lack of staff training, lack of research on Islamic banks, and different schools of thought among members of the Sharia Supervisory Board • The barrier from the customer side: a lack of awareness • The barrier from external factors: critics of Islamic banks only changing terminology, imitation by competitors, and limitation of development tools • The main barrier is the high cost of innovation

Main finding/critical point

Tipu [65] Employee engagement in product innovation

Five experts from Islamic banks and five experts Chaudhry et al. [15] Inhibitors in product innovation in Islamic banks from academics Pakistan banking industry Interview, Interpretative Structural Modelling (ISM)

Author(s)/topic (s)

Table 2 (continued)

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Fig. 1 The ANP model for prioritizing the services of digital banking Table 3 Criteria of respondents for each category Category

Criteria

Islamic bank practitioners

Islamic bank managers holding a position at least as a head of a division or group with experience in Islamic banking of at least five years

Regulators

Regulators related to Islamic banking (Bank Indonesia and Otoritas Jasa Keuangan)

Academicians and consultant

Academicians holding Ph.D. degrees with at least five years of experience teaching Islamic banking/finance/economics and consultant with at least five years of experience in Islamic banking in Indonesia

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Table 4 Number of respondents for each category Category

Number of respondents

Islamic bank practitioners

4 respondents (Director, Head of Digital Banking, Head of Shariah Governance, Head of Sales)

Regulators

3 respondents (Deputy Director, Head of Product Development, Banking Supervisor)

Academicians and consultant

3 respondents (Director at Center for Islamic Economics and Business, Professor of Islamic Economics, Islamic banking consultant)

3. Result analysis In the third phase, the Priorities values which are the result of ANP are analyzed and interpreted. Since the goal of the study is only to identify the priority in the selection of services, a rater agreement of Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (Kendall W) is not calculated.

4 Findings and Discussion 4.1 The ANP Results The ANP results are indicated with the priorities values generated by Super Decision software. The ANP result for the main criteria shows Technology is the most important being considered in the selection of services in digital banking by Islamic banks with Priority values of 34.53%. The priorities values for the each of sub-criteria are also calculated. Customer convenience is regarded as the most important to be considered in the Customer criteria with a priority value of 40.06%. Security and risk of technology with the priority value of 47.48% achieves the highest value in the Technology criteria. Innovation culture is considered to be the most important in the Internal Bank criteria with a priority value of 34.28%. Regulation with a priority value of 39.23%, Sharia compliance with a value of 43.39%, and omnichannel with a priority value of 46.78% are regarded as the most important to be considered in the Environment, Sharia, and Channel criteria, respectively. In addition, the Super Decision software also calculates the priorities values for the alternative services. Interestingly, two elements obtain similar value accounting for 28% which achieves the most important alternative services to be selected by the Islamic banks, namely, Transfer and Payment services and Opening Accounts services. Tables 5, 6, and

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Table 5 The ANP result for the main criteria

Main criteria

Value

Customer

0.1444

Technology

0.3453

Internal

0.1444

Environment

0.0770

Sharia

0.1444

Channel

0.1444

7 present the ANP results for the main criteria, each sub-criteria, and alternative services, respectively. Table 6 The ANP result for the sub-criteria Customer

Value

Internal bank

Value

Sharia

Convenience

0.40066

Strategic objectives

0.21973

School of thought 0.09422

Demand

0.24864

Human resources

0.33822

Sharia compliance

0.43385

Awareness

0.24685

Legacy systems

0.09927

Uniqueness of products

0.28196

Religiosity

0.10385

Innovation culture 0.34277

Internal dynamics

0.18997

Technology

Value

Environment

Value

Channel

Value

Advantage

0.17505

Adoption by competitors

0.24857

Multi-channel1

0.11877

Innovation cost

0.17505

Communication

0.10300

Multi-channel2

0.20672

Security and risk

0.47485

Regulation

0.39228

Omni-channel

0.46779

Development

0.17505

Partnership

0.25615

Digital only

0.20672

Table 7 The ANP result for alternative services

Value

Alternative services

Value

Transfer and payments

0.2800

Opening accounts

0.2800

Protection

0.0726

Social

0.1225

Investment

0.1225

Beyond

0.1225

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4.2 Discussion The technology achieves the most important criteria to be considered in the selection of services in digital banking by Islamic banks. The finding corroborates the studies on financial innovation which have identified technology playing an important role in the emergence of financial innovation, for example, ATM, internet banking, and mobile banking [20, 68]. Furthermore, analysis of the sub-criteria indicates that security and risk of technology are the main concern in the selection of digital banking services. BCG [13] has outlined how the bank needs to address the risks such as consumer protection, cybersecurity, and data protection [13]. One of the advantages of digital banking is increasing customer satisfaction [66] for instance enabling customers to make a real-time financial decision conveniently anytimeanywhere and deciding the product fit best for the customer [25]. The internal aspect of the bank considers innovation culture to be critical in the selection of services in digital banking. Mbama et al. [39] revealed that innovation is important for the bank to stay in the competition. Regulation and omnichannel are the main elements in the Environment and Channel criteria, respectively. The findings corroborate the study by Larsson and Viitaoja [33] which emphasized the importance of regulation and omnichannel for the bank in digital banking. As Islamic banks should comply with the Islamic principle [18], Sharia compliance achieves the most important to be considered in the Sharia criteria. The finding supports studies conducted by Al-Salem [7] and Iman [26]. The ANP results indicate that Transfer and Payment services along with the Opening Accounts services as the most preferable services to be adopted by Islamic banks. Transfer and payment services are the basic services to be delivered to the customer [22]. Transfer and payment services and opening account services are suitable to the pandemic Covid-19 condition which has changed customer behavior in which they prefer to conduct the cashless transaction and minimize physical contact [28].

5 Conclusions This present study has elaborated on digital banking adoption in Islamic banking particularly prioritization in the selection of services in digital banking. Prior to the selection, the study also identifies the factors that are being considered in the selection of services in digital banking by Islamic banks. Based on the literature on digital banking and Islamic banking, a framework is built to be analyzed using the Analytic Network Process method involving respondents from Islamic bank managers, regulators, and academicians. The ANP results show that technology is the main criterion to be considered in the selection of services in digital banking by Islamic banks. Furthermore, the security and risk of the technology are the main element of technology as the main concern

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for the selection of services. Of the alternative services available in digital banking, transfer and payment services along with opening accounts are the most important alternative services opted for by Islamic banks.

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Factors Influencing Employee Turnover in Banking Sector Qais Ahmed Almaamari

Abstract The purpose of this research paper is to examine the factors influencing the turnover of employees, namely: job stress, low salary, lack of career growth and job dissatisfaction. This paper intends to report a literature review examining key factors for employee turnover in banking sectors. The finding of the current study is Job stress, low salary, lack of career growth and job satisfaction have a significant negative influence on employee turnover. Practical implications—The findings of this paper could furnish policymakers and corporate managers alike with a practical implication and understanding of the factors that could likely influence employee turnover in the banking sector, thereby the possibility of attracting and winning more employees could be realized. This paper will help the managers of the banks to recognise the factors that are likely to influence employee turnover in the banks and develop effective strategies for reducing employee turnover in the banking sector. Keywords Job stress · Low salary · Lack of career growth · Job satisfaction · Turnover · Banking sector

1 Introduction Employees are the most valuable assets for a service sector like a bank sector, a bank sector cannot meet its obligations without retaining employees. The banking industry is one of the fastest expanding industries, and it is one of the options that job seekers are looking for. For several years, bank jobs were in great demand (Kuruvilla and Alex 2019).

Q. A. Almaamari (B) Administrative Science Department, College of Administrative and Financial Science, Gulf University, Sanad 26489, Kingdom of Bahrain e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_83

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Price (1977) illustrates that employee turnover is a ratio that is indicated by dividing the number of employees who left during the period under consideration by the average number of employees in the company during the period while Tilahun [39] states that employee turnover refers to describing the end of the relationship between an organization and an employee who receives a salary from an organization to fulfil specific duties. Additionally, Tilahun [39] states that turnover intention is an intentional and clear desire to leave a job. Nowadays, employee turnover is a serious issue that treats many organizations since it negatively affects the performance and effectiveness of the organization. The bank managers must be able to control the employee turnover in order to avoid its negative impact. According to Arvindraj and Shanmugam [5] employee turnover issues must be managed effectively in order for the organization to maintain its success. Excessive employee turnover can have a negative impact on business activities, and it also leads to increasing the recruitment cost as well as the inability to meet goals and objectives. This research helps in understanding how job stress, low salary, lack of career growth and job dissatisfaction will influence the employee turnover in banking sectors. The findings of this research will benefit both the bank managers and the employees since understanding the main factors can help the organization reduce the cost of hiring employees. Therefore, this paper aims at exploring the influence of the aforementioned factors on employee turnover in the banking sector.

2 Literature Review 2.1 Relationship Between Job Stress and Employee Turnover According to the research conducted by Arvindraj and Shanmugam [5], Akther et al. [3] describe job stress as a harmful physical and mental condition that occurs when the job tasks do not align with the employee’s limit, assets or needs. Workers who are stressed in their jobs may cease working. Purohit [36] conducted research and focused on the link between job stress and employee turnover in India. The findings show that job stress has a significant positive impact on employee turnover. This means that the employees who are working in the banking sector face job stress. Stress expression is commonly used for expressing the feeling of weakness, discomfort and inability to adapt [5]. On the other hand, stress is a state that forces individuals to depart from their usual capability due to the changing in mental or physiological conditions, necessitating deviation from regular functioning. Employee satisfaction is reduced in unreliable and indeterminate workplaces that lack job security, manageability, and rationality, which can lead to stress, as well as an increase in the likelihood of turnover. Employees are stressed by unrestricted budget problems, and they frequently leave

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businesses for financial reasons to seek better work alternatives Arvindraj and Shanmugam [5]. In addition, the stress on the job drives the acquisition of workers. This results in a lack of confidence in the job. This might be owing to a lack of comprehension of what is expected, how to fulfil desires or the employee’s acceptance that the job will be completely unusual. According to Qureshi et al. [37] employees may feel less integrated, unhappy in their jobs and careers as well as less dedicated to jobs, when exposed to stress and pressure, as they will eventually discover turnover intentions due to lack of data about the most effective way to perform tasks appropriately, unexpected desires of superior employees and managers, and a lack of confidence in the work. Furthermore, Arvindraj and Shanmugam [5] illustrated in their research that stress is an individual’s environmental improvements or neuroticism toward nature. Arvindraj and Shanmugam [5] showed the outcome of the research of Husain et al. [28] and Qureshi et al. [37] which has taken place in Pakistan, they studied the link between job stress and employee turnover intent. The findings of the research reveal a link between job stress and the likelihood of employee turnover. This revealed that employees at many banks are under stress and pressure while performing their duties and responsibilities. Furthermore, individual banks may suffer as a result of this, causing employee turnover. The perception of excessive stress at a bank is a barrier to implementation, not simply an acquisition cost, because banks and other companies may lose a percentage of their prospective workers while still needing to plan and invest considerable resources to hire new staff. Executives will establish arrangements to allow them to apply a customised strategy to minimize employee stress, allowing them to be more fulfilled and focused on their work [17]. H1: Job stress has a positive significant influence on employee turnover.

2.2 Relationship Between Low Salary and Employee Turnover Tilahun [39] conducted research which demonstrates the impact of low salaries on the turnover of employees in the banking sectors. Tilahun [39] also mentioned in his research at low salaries are the most common reason for employee turnover since employees are seeking well-paying jobs. Kariuki [31] explains that the monthly payment that is paid to employees at the end of each month as compensation for completing the duties of the work is called salary. On the other hand, bonuses are monetary incentives given to employees in addition to their salary. Bonuses are frequently linked to an organization’s profitability, and employees are rewarded depending on their contribution to that profitability. The main reason that makes individuals work is to earn money to satisfy their fundamental needs of survivability such as shelter, food and clothes. Employee retention is influenced by the satisfaction of employees’ salaries. Salaries given to workers in the banking sector may

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easily provide a competitive edge, allowing it to decrease any salary-related turnover because the market will not attract people willing to leave. Employees leave their jobs for economic difficulties. The research of Kariuki [31] echoes the opinion of previous studies like Campbell [18], Greenberg and Baron [27] and Walia and Bajaj [40] who claim that low salary is the most prevalent cause of employee turnover in banks. Furthermore, the researchers believe that if an employee gets low salary than the current market rate, the intention of turnover increases since they are continuously seeking other institutions that may provide a higher salary. Employee turnover, on the other hand, is a result of the compensation scale, according to Franken [26]; typically, employees resign or seek employment that pays them better than their earlier ones. This viewpoint is countered by Franken, who claims that wage inequities contribute to not just dissatisfaction and lack of performance, but also employee turnover. Dissatisfaction and turnover are common when different workers accomplish the same job tasks and duties but are paid differently. In most cases, an employee’s compensation serves as a means of informing them of their worth [19]. Employee compensation, according to the theory of instrumentality, is a source of power [1]. As a result, banks must comprehend the link between low salaries and employee motivation and attrition [26]. Salary remuneration, on the other hand, must be appropriately established to avoid conflicts and office regulations. This may be accomplished using standardized or custom-designed scores [23]. H2: Low salary has a negative significant influence on employee turnover.

2.3 Relationship Between Lack of Career Growth and Employee Turnover According to Kahyarara (2018), career growth is a lifetime process in which a person handles the learning tasks and changes for gaining self-determination and for shaping the desired future. The study of Kahyarara (2018) revealed that lack of career growth contributes to employee turnover. Kariuki [31] discusses career growth, and shows the opinion of different researchers. Career growth opportunity, according to Mayrhofer et al. [33], is the existence of options that an employee encounters or is willing to face in order to encourage upward movement in his or her career. The majority of the time, these possibilities are offered by the organization where the individual works. However, the individual may be able to locate these possibilities elsewhere, particularly in his or her current position. The cost issue is one of the reasons why most firms do not give possibilities for professional advancement. Organizations confront contradictory issues of professional progression for their employees while attempting to devise measures to decrease staff turnover and expenses. Employees who desire career progress inside their existing firms have a larger affinity for career growth chances than those who do not [20, 31].

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There is a link between career growth possibilities and employee turnover [35]. The significant association between career growth plans and employee turnover, according to Chen et al. [21], attempts to increase employee work performance while also boosting companies’ growth goals. Employee turnover is a common occurrence in organizations that do not have a contingency plan in place to manage their employees’ career development [4]. Similarly, Agarwal et al. [2] claim that failing to satisfy employee expectations for career advancement chances leads to significant turnover as employees look for these opportunities elsewhere. Understanding the professional worth of workers and fostering growth and development methods, according to Jones and McIntosh [30], may dramatically minimize employee turnover intentions. According to Duffy et al. [24], businesses that obstruct employees’ career growth have a higher probability of mentoring unsatisfied individuals who may leave the job at any opportunity for advancement. Samuel [38] compares improving an organization to leaving it and accounts for fundamental career growth that might lead to turnover. Feldman and Nigel [25], on the other hand, make a case that staff turnover might be required if there is a chance for growth or promotion outside the business. Employees that have a strong desire for growth usually prefer to work in jobs that could offer them such possibilities or better opportunities with higher pay packages Kariuki [31]. H3: Lack of career growth has a negative significant influence on employee turnover.

2.4 Relationship Between Job Satisfaction and Employee Turnover Arvindraj and Shanmugam [5] conducted research discussing how job dissatisfaction influences the turnover of employees in the banking industry. The research combines several opinions of different researchers regarding job satisfaction. Job satisfaction, according to Islam and Rahman [29, 7], is an elevated attitude toward employees’ work. In light of Islam and Rahman’s [29] study on the connection between job satisfaction and the likelihood of employee turnover in Bangladesh, the findings show a link between job dissatisfaction and the intention of employee turnover. This means that people who work in those specific institutions are more satisfied with their jobs. Employees at banks may decide to quit because they are dissatisfied with their current workplace environment. Job satisfaction is a pleasant sensation that an employee gets when there is a match between what he or she anticipates and what is actually coming from his or her job [22, 8]. Rewards, bonuses, employment conditions, pay rates, promotion, supervision, and business policies or regulations are all examples of distinct components of job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is defined as an employee who is fully engaged in his job and has compelling personal circumstances as a result of his approval of all aspects of his employment. Employee satisfaction may also be

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justified as the progress of the worker’s whole task as unfavourable or productive [5, 9]. Arvindraj and Shanmugam [5] illustrates that job satisfaction is a term that is used to depict workers’ attitudes towards work and related jobs and commitments, where a deeply fulfilled employee has an inspirational mindset towards work and vice versa. Job satisfaction is commonly seen as a multi-faceted phenomenon that encompasses an employee’s sentiments regarding a wide variety of important and unusual aspects of their work. The intrinsic component of job satisfaction is obtained from benefits such as the work itself, self-development, and self-improvement. Extrinsic job satisfaction is ascribed to extrinsic incentives, such as contentment with salary and benefits, organization and support policies, supervision, partners, job stability, and growth chances. Job satisfaction is a key indicator of how individuals feel about their jobs and work practices, such as the non-emergence of businesses and acquisition. According to Olusegun [34], job satisfaction improves businesses by reducing complaints and protests, non-appearance, income, and end, as well as the labourers’ practicality and enthusiasm. Job satisfaction has also been linked to a more productive workforce and has been viewed as a long-term investment. Husain et al. [28] study the link between job dissatisfaction and the likelihood of employee turnover. The study included a modest number of banking sector employees, and the findings revealed a positive association between job dissatisfaction and the desire to shift jobs. Employees may cease working owing to job discontent, resulting in staff turnover, which may be risky for the management of a few banks. There are a variety of evaluations that are linked to job satisfaction and securing intent. In reality, job satisfaction is classified according to the number of people who are satisfied with their job. According to earlier research, formal accountability has a direct impact on profit motives and spillover consequences. Workers may increase their satisfaction with an excellent compensation scheme by receiving inspiration and awards that will lead to increased profitability. If the employee is dissatisfied with his or her employment, the likelihood of leaving is high at this moment. As a result, if the employee is satisfied with his employment, the likelihood of him quitting at this point is low [6, 28, 10]. Job satisfaction is a key factor in attracting and retaining skilled personnel. Despite this, work satisfaction can range from a high degree of satisfaction to a low level of dissatisfaction. Workers will be more satisfied at work if they have an inspirational mentality. Regardless of what one might assume, dissatisfaction will lead to plenty of issues, including treachery, unhappiness, inability to produce, and so on. Employees who are satisfied with their existing working conditions will eventually work harder and be more interested in enhancing their quality or the company’s profitability. Employee satisfaction is influenced by salary, progression, fair remuneration, supervisory mental behaviours, and a variety of other factors. Workers that are happy in their occupations are more productive [32, 16]. H4: Job satisfaction has a negative significant influence on employee turnover.

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3 The Underpinning of Theories 3.1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need Theory Abraham Maslow (1943) is a human resource theorist who stated that human needs may be classified into five levels, from the most basic to the most complex. These levels include physiological needs, safety needs, belonging and love needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. These five levels are grouped into two. The first group contains three needs that may be met externally, while the second group has two needs that can be met internally when a company fails to satisfy the needs of an employee at any stage or level in the hierarchy, resulting in a lack of career development. This may lead some employees to try to satisfy their needs on their own, while others may look for a new job. The theory ignores the fact that human needs are limitless, and that the company will never be able to meet all of the employees’ needs. As a result, Abraham Maslow’s Maslow Hierarchy Needs Theory is utilized to lead the research since employees can quit a business no matter what motivation or reward, they are provided.

3.2 Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory The two-factor theory (1959), also known as Herzberg’s Motivational Hygiene Theory and the Dual Factor Theory, claims that some workplace conditions create job satisfaction while others cause job dissatisfaction. Frederick Herzberg, a psychologist, created the theory in an attempt to expand Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. On the basis of this research, Herzberg observed that when individuals talk about feeling happy or satisfied, they think of an advantage in acknowledgement of the job example, growth in success, and work itself as a fact of leadership and hygiene.

3.3 Adam’s Equity Theory J. Stacey Adam, a psychologist and work behaviour, established equity theory, emphasizing the employee’s responsibility to preserve equality between what they put into the workplace and the outcomes produced (Adams 1963). According to the theory, people compare their efforts and rewards with those of their co-workers who have a reference to others in terms of what is considered a superstitious distribution of effort. People’s perceptions of reward fairness in comparison to other employees have an impact on employee turnover. To summarize, the employee must believe that their contribution and hard work are valued when they are rewarded.

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Fig. 1 Research model of this study [6]

4 Conceptual Framework Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual framework of this research, which was prepared to depend on the connection between the five different variables from the literature review, in which the employees’ turnover stands as the dependent variable, which is the problem statement of the research, while job stress, low salary, lack of career growth and job satisfaction stand as independent variables that basically shows its influence on the dependent variable. However, the independent variables had a positive significant influence on employee turnover in the banking sector. The conceptual framework shows that the dependent variable is influenced by the independent variable. This research explains how the independent variables influence the dependent variable. To be more specific, it illustrates how job stress, low salary, lack of career growth and job satisfaction will influence employee turnover in the banking sector.

5 Discussion and Conclusion The banking sector has evolved into a workplace where employees work hard for a long. In comparison to other sectors, the banking sector has high employee turnover. It might be decided from the study that the banking sector must enhance its technique for motivating its employees by combining several organizational criteria. There are several factors that might promote high employee turnover. The purpose of this study was to determine the most important factors that influence employee turnover in the bank sector. However, according to the findings, the intention of employee turnover as a dependent variable is positively influenced and connected with four main factors: job stress, low salary, lack of career progress, and job satisfaction as independent

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variables. The examination of these elements corresponded to the evolution of the link between employee turnover and the factors that influence employee turnover, particularly in the bank sector. Every research has its strengths and weaknesses. There are many factors that limit the author from providing effective and efficient research. The weaknesses can be analyzed for future modifications and to find gaps. The biggest gap in this research is that the study has not covered many countries as almost all of the literature reviewed indicated that factors impacting employee turnover can vary greatly between different countries and none of the studies was conducted in Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Additionally, the previous studies contained mutual independent variables which limited the diversification of the research. For preparing research in the future, it is recommended to build upon the findings of this research and to analyze each factor deeply by analyzing the lack of career growth from different perspectives since this research discussed the lack of career growth in general. There are other factors related to career growth such as training and development, career planning, and career growth opportunities. Consequently, analyzing all the other related factors will enrich the research deeply. In addition, this research did not specify a specific country or region, however, it is recommended for future researchers to address a specific country.

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An Analysis of the Use of Accounting System on Cloud: A Case Study in Malaysia Nur Hidayah Laili , Khairil Faizal Khairi , and Rosnia Masruki

Abstract The impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the rapid advances in science and technology have created the concept of cloud technology, which effectively supports the developments of Internet of Things (IoT), automation, and robotics. One of the greatest technological changes affecting the accountancy profession is cloud accounting, which helps to reduce infrastructure support costs, improve the accessibility of accounting, save time, and provide larger storage compared to traditional accounting. These changes warrant a new level of preparedness, investment, and adaptation for accounting firms. The aim of this research is to understand the cloud technology service offered by audit firms. In achieving the research objectives, this study conducted interviews to obtain insights into the issues affecting the adoption and use of cloud accounting technology. Consequently, the overview of cloud technology offered by audit firms will enable the study to support the change caused by technological developments and guide the accounting profession in implementing the cloud technology effectively. Keywords Cloud accounting · 4IR · Malaysia

1 Introduction The Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) is an extension of technological innovations and is characterised by artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, blockchain, and cloud technology. Technology has a transformative effect, and IR 4.0 is driving an era of unprecedented technological changes. The revolution leads to new breakthroughs in science, commerce, engineering and most significantly, in the governance of society and the social impacts arising from these pervasive technologies [40]. IR 4.0 is expected to bring a paradigm shift to the accountancy field, with technology enabling the completion of core tasks. Among the substantial benefits of N. H. Laili · K. F. Khairi · R. Masruki (B) Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Bandar Baru Nilai, 71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_84

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technological developments is the removal of slow and manual processes, allowing accountants to spend more time on adding value to the business. Accountants will now have to prepare to face a consistent inflow of real time financial data instead of periodically checking with a bookkeeper. Auditing in particular will become much easier. Accountants can catch financial fraud faster, minimising the damage, and can also notice financial trends and offer more real time advice. One of the greatest technological changes affecting the accountancy profession is cloud technology, which has reduced the infrastructure support costs for organisations. Cloud technology is especially useful for mobile working; it allows accountants to access data anytime and anywhere, perform real time reporting, and push more information directly to the format they prefer [3]. Thus, this new technology allows a greater analysis of business drivers by using insights and actionable analytics to achieve a competitive advantage. Hence, accountants are moving away from bookkeeping and stewardship functions to become strategic business partners. Regarding the auditing process, as data becomes increasingly digital, auditors will be able to collect more digital data for advance analytics. This data will be available 24/7 in the cloud, and auditors across borders will be able to interact far more seamlessly. Therefore, the cloud may aid auditors in extracting data that may be harder to locate within Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and other physical systems. Mobile access to data may also become easier through the cloud, enabling auditors to work more effectively remotely [37]. The centric nature of the cloud structure that uses access controls like facial recognition technology and various encryption techniques improves data security compared to physical archives that might be vulnerable to access by unauthorised parties. Most accountants agree that change needs to happen, but the delivery of change is still in its infancy. Some clients also still need persuading that technology is the way forward. Thus, this study focuses on understanding the benefit of cloud technology employed by audit firms and their clients. In achieving the research objectives, this study has conducted interviews with the directors of an audit firm. This paper is divided into four sections. The first section highlights the concept of cloud accounting. The second section discusses the role of cloud computing in accounting and the challenges in adopting cloud computing in accounting. Then, Sect. 3 discusses the study’s methodology and Sect. 4 discusses the results and conclusion of the study.

2 Literature Review 2.1 The Concept of Cloud Accounting In this technological era, the emergence of cloud computing has shaped the business environment to an entirely new level. This phenomenon has been seen not only in information technology (IT) but also in the accounting field. The term ‘cloud’ is a

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metaphor for the Internet, as all information is kept on the Internet rather than on a hard drive [25]. The Romanian Court of Auditors defines cloud computing as “a style of computing in which the use of IT capabilities is provided as a service and allows users to access distributed services based on new technologies via the Internet without the knowledge, expertise or control of technological infrastructure to support these services”. Cloud itself does not relate to any new invention in technology but is just an alteration from older technology to serve new types of structured business environment [16]. Traditionally, all information and documentations are kept either in the printed form or as soft copies stored in a hard drive, exposing them to the risk damage and theft. On the other hand, by using cloud, users can access all information anytime and anywhere as long as there is an Internet connection. The concept of cloud involves using a browser or software that can be connected to the Internet to store files on the cloud. It includes all the functionalities and services provided by the accounting software installed on the client’s computer, but it runs on the servers of the Common Service Provider (CSP). Cloud computing generally refers to either infrastructure as a service (IaaS), the rental of on-demand, on the-cloud computing infrastructure; platform as a service (PaaS), the rental of an on-demand, on-the-cloud platform for the development, running, and management of applications; and software as a service (SaaS), the rental of ready-to-use, on-the-cloud software [22]. Cloud, here, may refer to a private cloud, which can be accessed only by a single party, a public cloud, which can be accessed by multiple clients; and a hybrid cloud, which is a combination of the first two [21]. Following the above definitions of cloud computing, cloud accounting can simply be understood as the utilization of cloud computing to facilitate accounting processes. This can be understood as two modes of delivery: The provision of cloud accounting technology by a vendor to a firm (vendor–firm) and the provision of accounting services by a firm to a client via cloud accounting technology (firm–client). In the first mode, the firm pays a monthly or annual subscription fee to the vendor to gain access and use the software. In the second mode, the firm provides services to, and interact with, a client or other stakeholders of the accounting process (e.g., auditor, business partner, regulator) through cloud accounting technology [4]. In both cases, one party outsources resources and capabilities to the other. Cloud accounting, also known as “online accounting”, “web-based accounting”, “real-time accounting” or “cloud financials”, is the new term for applications and software substituting the traditional stand-alone accounting software [14]. Ping and Xuefeng (2011) referred to the cloud accounting as the use of computing on the Internet to build a virtual accounting information system. The difference that cloud computing brings to accounting is in how to access the software, either through a web browser or by using an Internet connection. One of the significant features of the cloud accounting software is it allows users to have real time access to financial data regardless of their location [9]. Cloud and traditional accounting software have the same functionalities. The difference between these two types of software is that in the former, the application runs on the cloud service, whereas the traditional accounting software is a stand-alone system that is usually installed on one or several personal

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computers [5]. Cloud accounting solutions are transforming the way that accounting applications are used, and they are modernising the entire business environment. As stated by Watfa and Yasmineh [39], cloud provides a service rather than a product. Dimitriu and Matei [14] concur with the idea that cloud offers a service and adds that the implementation of cloud does not require additional investments for infrastructure or any software that can be used on several computers only. Cloud technology improves business agility because the company can access computing resources on demand, depending on their specific needs at a specific time. Hence, the implementation of cloud accounting allows companies to empower all stakeholders in a collaborative way with the same financial data [35]. One of the concerns of the accounting and financial sector is storage. According to the study by Ren et al. [35] on data auditing of public storage, cloud storage is one of the main reasons businesses shift to the cloud system as the system allows them to move their local documentations and data to the cloud. The high capacity of cloud storage solves users’ problem as traditional systems have a limited storage capacity that requires additional investments to expand [27]. The author added that cloud storage providers such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, and Microsoft OneDrive are popular among the general users. These findings show that cloud is reshaping the manner in which people and companies collaborate, store or share information and procure computing resources for both their personal and professional use.

2.2 The Role of Cloud Computing in Accounting Technological developments have provided great solutions for developing effective business models, especially when there is an economic downturn. The accounting field has also seized this precious opportunity to grow their field to the next level. Cloud computing has become crucial for accounting and financial sectors due to the cost advantage and flexibility that will help the sectors improve their cost and performance productivity. da Silva et al. [38] have listed down the flexibilities that businesses will gain from the cloud, including: 1. On-demand service—can be used when needed. This feature provides some degree of freedom to the customers. 2. Network access—utilises the Internet and can be accessed via laptops, workstations, and smart phones. 3. Pooling of resources—resources are pooled to provide customers customisable variable costs based on business size. 4. Scalability—scale up or down based on customers’ current needs. Matarneh et al. [29] stated that companies can now expand their business through a wide range of sites and applications by sharing the resources provided by an accounting service provider without experiencing any difficulties when performing different tasks. Business is becoming more flexible with the sharing of resources, allowing users to access the cloud easily to find information and resources.

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Hence, as long the users have an Internet connection, they can access the information on their company’s financial condition. The study by Brad et al. [8] on traditional and cloud accounting found that the implementation of cloud accounting allows employees, suppliers, and clients to access and update information from any location without having to be present at the company’s office. Bogdan [7] in his paper about cloud information security stated that users want to access the information on cloud from any place and at any time without facing any obstructions from the cloud provider. The advantage of using cloud is that users and businesses can access and update financial information in real time regardless of their physical locations. Besides that, users also have the ability to control the access and resources in the cloud according to their specification to the service provider [33]. The study by Khanom [23] elaborated on the importance of cloud computing for the accounting sector. One of the justifications provided for utilising cloud is the low cost involved in investing in the software and the hosting server. Besides, with the traditional computing, changes in the accounting rules or tax regulations may force the firm to buy or set up new software for the program if the old software is not able to support the new changes. However, when using cloud, the firm only needs to pay the monthly subscriptions and the update for any changes is already included in the monthly subscriptions. Zhang [43] supports the notion that cloud accounting has revolutionised the accounting profession at a minimal cost that is incurred for the monthly subscription, unlike the sophisticated traditional accounting software that requires companies to spend more money, time, and manpower to maintain the operations of the software. The emergence of accounting software has improved the accounting practice tremendously. Considering the large volumes of information and documentation, the accounting and financial sectors need a platform or service to conveniently store all information. Liu et al. [27] stated that the cloud storage service can provide vast data storage for users that can resolve the constraint in their local storage. Safe and secure storage is crucial for the accounting field due to the nature of their business that deals with voluminous client data in addition to their own business data. Moreover, the easy access via the Internet provided by cloud allows accountants, business owners, and partners to share their financial information regardless of their location and create a paperless business environment. Traditionally, they need to print the documents or bring a hard drive to present their financial data to others, but since the emergence of cloud, they only need to have an Internet connection to open the application to view the data. With cloud, the risk of low data storage is minimal and the company can recover data from the cloud storage when an unexpected event occurs [33]. One of the job responsibilities of an accountant is to forecast market and business conditions, and better forecasts can help the company anticipate market trends better. The implementation of cloud computing in the accounting field can boost competitiveness and profitability by enabling accounting professionals to produce more accurate and detailed forecasts (Goh 2017). This is made possible by the cloud computing technology through the provision of comprehensive infrastructure for the profession. Another potential contribution of cloud computing to accounting is in risk assessment. Matarneh et al. [29] stated that professionals like accountants can

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Table 1 Disadvantages of cloud accounting Dimension

Indicator

Source

Control

Data ownership and control vendor lock-in

[10, 20, 28]

Technological

System incompatibility

[10, 41]

Legal

Poor connectivity

[2, 15, 17]

Different regulations

[10, 28]

Security

Security breach

[6, 26, 28, 41]

Awareness

Poor awareness and understanding of cloud accounting

[1, 36]

benefit from using the cloud technology as it provides a systematic approach to risk assessment. There are two risk probabilities that the profession needs to test, which are the effectiveness and the efficiency of the technology for their operations.

2.3 Challenges in Adopting Cloud Computing in Accounting Despite the extensive list of advantages, cloud computing is also exposed to risks that discourage firms from adopting it. These can be generally categorized into the dimensions of control, technological, legal, security, and awareness. They are summarized in Table 1. Control risks entail the firm’s loss of control over their data (data ownership), as they are stored on the vendor’s data centers. However, this is unlikely to happen, especially if the subscription contract clearly specifies the availability and quality of the service [12, 13]. Additionally, most cloud accounting services, or more generally cloud computing services, provides a grace period for the client to transfer the stored data or reactivate their subscription should the subscription expires or is cancelled. After this grace period, the data will be deleted from the server. A more likely risk is vendor lock-in, which may occur when the firm is entirely reliant on the vendor to provide, maintain, and update the software. In this case, the firm must incur cost or change its system to switch to another cloud accounting service provider or to their in-house infrastructure [10, 28]. This situation may lead to vendor opportunism [41]. Technological disadvantages arise from incompatible systems, perhaps the firm’s own or an external party, for instance the firm’s partner or client [10, 41]. For example, the cloud accounting software may not be linked to the firm’s bank account, perhaps because the bank does not allow third-party connection [4]. Another drawback is poor connectivity, which tends to be more prevalent in countries with poor internet infrastructure [2, 28, 36]. In such a case, the firm will not be able to maintain a stable connection with the cloud accounting server. While the data may not be lost, as they are automatically saved and backed up, this issue will disrupt the activities of the firm. Legal issues arise when the data centers of the cloud accounting provider are not located within the same country as the firm. This has some implications on legal, tax,

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and data privacy issues [29]. The firm in this case may be expected to comply with regulations of its host country and the country where the data centers are located. Security is both an advantage and drawback. While smaller firms may benefit from better security measures implemented by the cloud accounting vendor, there is still risk of data breach or manipulation by malicious internal or external parties [28, 36, 41]. Confidential data leaks will produce serious consequences for both the firm and the service provider. Finally, there is still a lack of awareness among accountants and firms about cloud accounting software and its benefits. There appears to be concern that the financial and integrity costs of implementing cloud accounting far outweigh the benefits that will be enjoyed by the firm [1, 36].

3 Research Method This study used the qualitative research approach to gain insights into the benefits of cloud technology employed by audit firms and their clients. In gathering the views and opinions, semi-structured interviews were conducted focusing on the role of cloud accounting technology offered by an audit firm. The interviews were guided by an interview protocol and probing questions were used to pursue issues and to enhance understanding of the responses, while at the same time improving the validity and reliability of the interviews conducted [42]. The interviews contribute to the understanding of the role of cloud accounting technology from a managerial perspective. Hence, the research findings from the study provide a comprehensive and realistic input regarding the potential of cloud technology as a mechanism for audit firm management and offer a rich understanding of the context in which the technology is supposed to be deployed. The audit firm, ABBAZ Advisory Sdn Bhd (AASB), is one of the leading virtual chartered accountant services firms in Malaysia. The firm was established in 2012 and provides services to over 100 clients consisting of local companies. The firm has significant presence across manufacturing, services, commercial, financial, and public sector entities in Malaysia. AASB started using QuickBooks accounting software in 2012. This software is mainly for small business owners who needs flexibility in handling accounting data with an easy-to-use software package and structure that will help in their business. Previously, the software was in the form of physical desktop software that needed to be installed via a CD-ROM. Now, QuickBooks is the preferred software among its costumers due to their cloud-based software services. This customised cloud-based technology enables the firm to deploy a mobile workforce to provide enhanced service and customer support. Data can be accessed from anywhere at any time from a laptop, smartphone or tablet. The firm’s employees can access their desktops, applications, and data from any location. This added mobility and connectivity has enabled staff members to be more productive and provide better service to their clients.

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The directors of AASB have been interviewed for this study. They have extensive experience in all areas of accounting and finance. They also have extensive knowledge about the use of QuickBooks, a cloud accounting technology, allowing them to provide customised cloud-based technology service to their clients. The insights gained from the audit firm enrich the researcher’s understanding of the cloud technology offered by audit firms. Further, the study’s results may provide support for the adoption of new technology and guide the accounting profession in the implementation of cloud computing.

4 Result and Analysis The interviewees were asked questions regarding the practices of cloud accounting at AASB. They were also asked about whether and how cloud accounting has brought any changes to their clients’ businesses. Below are some of the responses compiled from the interviews: AASB started using QuickBooks software in 2012. This small business accounting program is used to manage income and expenses and to keep track of the financial health of their clients’ business. The clients of AASB range from small to mid-sized business and the clients found this accounting software useful in managing their invoices, paying their bills, and tracking their cash flows. They also use it to generate month and year end financial reports and to prepare reports for quarterly or annual business taxes. The software is very simple to use and contains basic functions such as live feeds where the user can perform online banking and immediately the banking transactions will be uploaded. The QuickBooks software utilises the cloud to share accounting data, allowing the owner and employees to access financial information from anywhere that the Internet is available. The software is compatible with different applications and allows unlimited user access at any point of time. These features provide a high level of flexibility to small and large enterprises. Work groups and teams can access data and information from anywhere in the world and work together with no restriction caused by geographical locations, and data sharing becomes very easy with the help of the cloud accounting technology. Based on the interviewees’ responses to the first question, the researchers directed the question to the data security provided by cloud accounting by asking how well the sensitive financial data was secured by cloud accounting, how far the directors trusted the cloud accounting technology, and whether they prepared any back-ups in the event of any mistakes occurring. Several techniques can be employed to keep financial data safe. First, QuickBooks can protect sensitive financial data with the use of a strong password for the company’s data file so that no random person can assess the file without the password. AASB has implemented a policy requiring employees to change their passwords at regular intervals and employed platform tools that automatically log workers out of the system when not in use. Second, adding layers of authentication for access to hardware or other accounts can increase the security of the data. This is done by

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setting the system to automatically trigger a verification email or text when there is an attempt to log in. Third, stored files are encrypted with encryption keys and access to confidential data is restricted. Encryption scrambles data into a code that is indecipherable to anyone who does not have the key stored locally in the hardware. Hence, all the financial statements and supporting documents are secure. AASB also prepares back-ups for clients’ financial data. QuickBooks Online uses redundant back-up, and for added security, it provides online back-up and restore, which automatically backs up financial data every few minutes and allows users to restore previous versions. The interviewees were also asked on the efficiency of cloud accounting in detecting fraud. Then, they were asked about how cloud accounting can minimise accounting manipulation. Below are some of the responses from the interviews: The emergence of cloud accounting systems has shaped the accounting sector into a whole new form that affects all segments of the accounting industry, including in fraud detection. The nature of the fraudulent activity cannot be detected directly until any indirect symptoms or manipulations are found in the statements such as cash shortage, unauthorised electronic banking activity, and others. The directors of AASB have the authority to access a certain important part of the company. If there is any breach of the cloud system, there will be an audit trail that will leave details of the user who performed the transaction and show the date when the transaction was performed, or any changes made to the account. All users need to log in to the account in AASB’s system. Users or staff are assigned to specific tasks and jobs according to their positions. The segregation of duties will reduce the likelihood of manipulation and increase the probability of fraud protection. To prevent account manipulation, no one has the authority to access all the tasks except for the directors of AASB who monitor the workflow and results. If an amendment is required, the directors also need to log in to their cloud system account so that the cloud system can detect the person who amends the error.

5 Conclusion The objective of this study is to understand the cloud technology service offered by audit firms in Malaysia. The continuous changes occurring in cloud accounting allow for a greater analysis of business drivers, improvements in cost efficiency, and higher security, making cloud accounting the right choice for any business wishing to keep pace with its competitors. Cloud accounting can be highly beneficial for SMEs as it offers efficient technology and accounting services at a lower cost. Cloud accounting is expected to impact a wide range of industries and enterprises, and every business owner must sooner or later face the impact of this shift. This research is to understand the cloud technology service offered by ABBAZ Advisory Sdn Bhd (AASB), one of the leading virtual in Malaysia, hence it is impossible to generalize the result of this study to all chartered accountant services firms in Malaysia. Thus, this study recommends future research to explore other chartered

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accountant services firms in Malaysia in an effort to support the change caused by technological developments and guide the accounting profession in implementing the cloud technology effectively. Acknowledgements This research was supported by Matching Grant provided by the Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) with grant code: P2-2-165-70919-LUAR-ABBZ-FEM for the research titled “An adoption of the 4th industrial revolution: a case study of virtual chartered accountant service firm in Malaysia”. Special thanks to the Directors of ABBAZ Advisory Sdn Bhd for their full cooperation and commitment in supporting this study.

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15. Egiyi, M.A., Udeh, S.N.: Overview of cloud accounting in Nigeria. Int. J. Acad. Manag. Sci. Res. 4(6), 81–88 (2020) 16. Filippi, P.D., Mccarthy, S.: Cloud computing: centralization and data sovereignty. Eur. J. Law Technol. 3(2), 1–18 (2012) 17. Hioghiren, E.E., Ojeaga, J.O.: Cloud-based accounting technologies: preparing future-ready professional accountants. Int. J. Innov. Sci. Res. Technol. 7(2), 879–889 (2022) 18. Hisham, H.: Top 10 IT trends for 2012. Malaysian Business (2012). Retrieved from: http:// www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2012/01/31/6086248.htm 19. Howell, J.: Moving to the cloud. Economist 395(8684) (2010). https://doi.org/10.1057/978113 7496928.0014 20. Ionescu, B., Ionescu, I., Bendovschi, A., Tudoran, L.: Traditional accounting vs. cloud accounting. In: Accounting and Management Information Systems—AMIS 2013, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies (2013) 21. IBM Cloud Education: Private Cloud. IBM (2020). https://www.ibm.com/cloud/learn/introd uction-to-private-cloud 22. IBM Cloud Education: IaaS Versus PaaS Versus SaaS. IBM (2021). https://www.ibm.com/ cloud/learn/iaas-paas-saas 23. Khanom, T.: Cloud accounting: a theoretical overview. IOSR J. Bus. Manag. 19(06), 31–38 (2017). https://doi.org/10.9790/487x-1906053138 24. Kinkela, K.: Practical and ethical considerations on the use of cloud computing in accounting. J. Finance Account. 1–10 (2012). http://mobile.www.aabri.com/manuscripts/131534.pdf 25. Knorr, E., Gruman, G.: What cloud computing really means | Cloud Computing—InfoWorld. InfoWorld, 4–7 April (2011). http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-com puting-really-means-031 26. Li, S.: Research on the application of cloud accounting in government accounting under the background of big data. J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1881(3) (2021). https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/ 1881/3/032091 27. Liu, C.W., Hsien, W.F., Yang, C.C., Hwang, M.S.: A survey of public auditing for shared data storage with user revocation in cloud computing. Int. J. Netw. Secur. 18(4), 650–666 (2016) 28. Ma, D., Fisher, R., Nesbit, T.: Cloud-based client accounting and small and medium accounting practices: adoption and impact. Int. J. Account. Inf. Syst. 41 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j. accinf.2021.100513 29. Matarneh, A.J., Al-Tahat, S.S., Ali, O.A.M., Jwaifel, I.: The real intellectual impact of cloud accounting in achieving the competitive advantage in the Jordanian industrial companies. Int. J. Sci. Technol. Res. 8(12), 1763–1777 (2019) 30. Matei, M.: Accounting in the cloud computing. Tojsat 5(4), 1–11 (2015) 31. Mohanty, M.A., Mishra, D.A.K.: Benefits and issues of cloud computing in accounting. Int. J. Trend Sci. Res. Dev. 1(6), 283–288 (2017). https://doi.org/10.31142/ijtsrd2507 32. Morakanyane, R.: Cloud Computing: Emerging Trends for SMEs in Botswana How ICTs Benefit Businesses in General, 1–9 Nov (2014) 33. Pacurari, D., Nechita, E.: Some considerations on cloud accounting. Studies and scientific researches. Econ. Ed. 18, 193–198 (2013). https://doi.org/10.29358/sceco.v0i18.227 34. Sobhan, R.: The concept of cloud accounting and its adoption in Bangladesh. Int. J. Trend Sci. Res. Dev. 3(4), 1261–1267 (2019). https://doi.org/10.31142/ijtsrd24031 35. Ren, Y., Shen, J., Wang, J., Han, J., Lee, S.: Mutual verifiable provable data auditing in public cloud storage. J. Internet Technol. 16(2), 317–323 (2015). https://doi.org/10.6138/JIT.2015. 16.2.20140918 36. Rudansky-Kloppers, S., Van den Bergh, K.: The absorption and usage of cloud accounting technology by accounting firms in Cape Town for services provided to their clients. Afr. J. Sci. Technol. Innov. Dev. 11(2), 161–180 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2018.1550933 37. Sahandi, R., Alkhalil, A., Opara-Martins, J.: Cloud computing from SMEs perspective: a survey-based investigation. J. Inf. Technol. Manag. (JITM) (2013) 38. da Silva, F., Neto, P., Garcia, V., Assad, R.E.: Accounting models for cloud computing: a systematic mapping study. In: International Conference on Grid Computing and Applications |, January 2018. https://doi.org/10.6084/M9.FIGSHARE.96673

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The Impact of Legislation on the Decisions of the Governing Councils Between Public and Private Universities in Jordan Omar Almakhzoumi, Suhaib Manaseer, Yasar Alhiniti, and Mohamed Al-Daoud Abstract This study dealt with the impact of legislation on the decisions of the governing councils, which reflects the impact on achieving the highest quality standards in line with the general policies of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, where this study was divided into two sections, the first of which was devoted to talk about the governing councils and the sources of their competence, and the second section was devoted to talk about the impact of implementing legislation on the achievement of quality standards and judicial control over them, and at the end of this study we reached several consequences and recommendations that were included in the conclusion. Keywords Governance boards · Quality standards · Judicial control

1 Governance Councils in Jordanian Universities and Their Competence Sources Governance is a new concept that led to the development of administrative work towards professionalism, and hence the need for the intervention of the legislator to set controls for its formation and granting it its competencies:

1.1 The Concept of Governance Councils in Jordanian Universities and Their Justifications The concept of “Governance” is one of the newly emerging concepts in the system of legislation related to the management of a public or private facility as it began to

O. Almakhzoumi (B) · S. Manaseer · Y. Alhiniti · M. Al-Daoud Zarqa University, Zarqa, Jordan e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_85

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appear in the field of corporate management and the organization of their work, and its subsequent extension to various facilities and sectors [1, 2]. Institutional governance, in its broad concept that is abstract from privatization according to the nature of the facility, is based on the necessity of observing important main principles in the management of the facility, and making decisions in it based on (integrity, justice, and transparency), and its basis is to reduce conflict of interests and exclusivity in decision-making through the existence of a legal and legislative environment Regulating it in a way that ensures that it operates with complete sovereignty [3]. There is no specific definition of the meaning of governance, but it can be extracted from the context of the legislative texts regulating the conduct of institutional work, noting that most of these definitions are related to the work style and the rules that companies take into account, specifically the public shareholding from them in the organization of their boards of directors and shareholders, and the identification of bodies responsible for practices of an administrative nature, and its financial impact [4]. The foundations and principles on which governance is based in its concept referred to within the framework of private companies do not differ from that in the framework of educational institutions—public and private—in Jordan. These institutions play important and pioneering roles that are not limited to providing their students with the knowledge and knowhow that enable them to enter the diverse labor markets, and to contribute to construction and development. On the quality of the educational level and its improvement according to the variables, these institutions sought to lay the foundations to ensure the selection of distinguished successful departments that depend in their work on aspects of planning, organization, direction, control and evaluation, by keeping pace with developments in management methods, maximizing the capabilities of their members, and proposing and implementing creative and innovative solutions. Which reflects an advanced level of thought and management [5].

1.2 Sources of Decision-Making Authority for Governance Councils Because governance in educational institutions is based on following laws, regulations and decisions aimed at achieving quality and excellence in a manner that ensures control of relations between the parties affecting the performance of institutions, the Jordanian Universities Law [6] this philosophy within its provisions related to the controls of managing educational institutions. Article (2) of it included provisions definition explains governing councils in educational institutions. Also, the law included provisions related to the formation of (specialized committees) to ensure the highest levels of quality and efficiency in the decisions adopted by them, which is reflected in the sound performance of the educational institution.

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Article (8) of the law, it included a general provision for the formation of the Board of Trustees (Article (8) of the Jordanian Universities Law), while Article (9) of the law included a special provision for the formation of the Board of Trustees of public and private universities with explicit significance. In order to further enable the Board of Trustees to activate its functions and duties within the framework of the governance policy, paragraph (i) of Article (8) stipulated the following: “The Board of Trustees shall issue the necessary instructions to organize its meetings and work”. Article (10) of the law deals with the tasks and powers of the Board of Trustees, which vary between the tasks and powers related to the internal administration, those related to the external administration, and what is related to the management of its financial affairs (Article (10) of the Jordanian Universities Law). Then—and in the context of activating the governance system—the law included a text related to the formation of the (University Council) as contained in Article (14) of the law explains the formation of members who have experience and knowledge with members of the local community, student representatives and a university graduate, in order to ensure the greatest diversity in its composition, which is reflected in its decisions and power (Article 14 of the Jordanian Universities Law). Article (15) of the same law specified the competencies and powers of the (University Council) in line with the concepts of governance in the institutional management of higher education institutions. In reviewing the administrative hierarchy of the councils that the law requires to be formed within the framework of achieving the endorsements of governance in the decisions issued by them, Article (16) paragraph (a) of it included a provision related to the formation of the (Deans Council) and a statement of its tasks and powers. In the context of completing the governance system, Article (19) of the law contained a provision related to the formation of the College Council, which would assume the tasks and powers. The system of governance in higher education institutions extends to (department councils) as stated in Article (20) of the law, which included a provision for the formation of these councils, and clarifies the functions and powers of the department council. The mentioned legal texts clarify the importance of applying the concepts of governance, and that the formation of these councils is one of the most important elements of governance in higher education institutions. In order to achieve transparency, integrity and participation, all educational institutions (Article No. (2) of the Jordanian Higher Education) (public and private) must to be subject to the same legislative source [7]. The results were when decision-making until its completion was tainted by the defect of confusing judicial and administrative jurisdiction [8].

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2 The Impact of Implementing Legislation on Achieving Quality Standards and Judicial Control over Them For the year 2018 as the main reference for the rest of the other legislation regulating educational institutions, in order to avoid any future problems or obstacles at a time when these universities, both public and private, play the same role. It is envisaged for the Administrative Court to extend its control over the decisions issued by the governing councils in light of their application of the legislation regulating the work of educational institutions, and this is what we will address in this topic as follows.

2.1 The Impact of Implementing Legislation on Achieving Quality Standards The proper application of legislation related to the educational systems considered the most important guarantee for achieving quality standards, and this is evident through the university’s governance councils in applying the legislation that constitutes its main source in all the work it does and the decisions it takes to run the academic, research and administrative work in the private university. It means the legislation applied in universities (Jordanian Universities Law, Higher Education Law, and Higher Education Accreditation Commission Law, relevant regulations, instructions and decisions). Referring to the Jordanian Universities Law No. 18 of 2018 there are some articles that affect the achievement of quality standards required by the Education Institutions Accreditation Commission and decisions issued by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research that are enforceable by universities which also affect the achievement of quality standards. Referring to the Jordanian Universities Law, we found that it addresses Jordanian universities in general without specifying whether the university is a private or public university, and this is consistent with the legal rules that are characterized by generality and abstraction, but after reading the articles of the law, we found that it allocates some subjects to universities. Governmental and other private universities, especially regarding the formation of governance councils, specifically the Board of Trustees and the presidency of the university, and what is related to administrative formations and the organizational structure (Articles: 3, 4, 6/b, 9, 11 and 21 of the Jordanian Universities Law (Article (25/a) of the Jordanian Universities Law), and perhaps this distinction is justified in view of the sources of funding for public or private universities, and without mentioning the details of the distinction between private and public universities that are mentioned in the Jordanian Universities Law, which this study does not have the capacity to mention, we will focus on two important points that directly affect the achievement of quality standards in private universities, which set these universities are affected of unfair competition with public universities, these points are as follows.

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Article 34 of the Jordanian Universities Law No. 18 of 2018

By reviewing paragraph (a) of Article (34) of the Jordanian Universities Law, which states: “The Board of Trustees of the private university prepares draft internal regulations for it and submits them to the council for approval, provided that this includes approving the faculty system applied in any of the public universities except for the salary scale, if any.” We believe the legislator wanted to give privacy to the faculty members in private universities, similar to the faculty members in public universities, but by applying the aforementioned text and applying the legal rule “There is no jurisprudence with what is stated in a legal text” we find that some of the texts contained in the faculty system In public universities, it cannot be applied to faculty members in a private university, for example, with regard to sabbatical leave. The faculty system requires confirmation as one of the conditions for obtaining sabbatical leave, and the issue of confirmation cannot be applied in private universities because of the association of faculty members. With fixed-term work contracts, and the issue of academic sabbaticals is one of the important issues required by quality standards. Therefore, the inability to apply this part related to the installation contained in the faculty system in public universities affects the achievement of quality standards without the private universities having a hand in that, and despite the fact that attempts by private universities to achieve the requirement for faculty members to obtain sabbatical licenses, but they remain within a very narrow framework because it is not possible to achieving the required conditions in the faculty system.

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Decisions Issued by the Ministry of Higher Education That Affect the Achievement of Quality Standards

Decisions are issued by the Jordanian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and are often directed at private universities in particular, and many of these decisions constitute an obstacle to achieving quality standards for some colleges without others. Jordanian Universities Law: Universities must allocate (5%) of their annual budget for the purposes of scientific research, innovation, publication, scientific conferences, and delegation to obtain master’s and doctoral degrees, provided that the percentage allocated to delegation is not less than (1%) (Article (25/a) of the Jordanian Universities Law), and the Higher Education Accreditation Commission requires In Jordan, each of the university’s faculties has a clear dispatch plan to achieve one of the requirements of quality standards. The decisions of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research are directed to private universities to specify specific disciplines for scholarship, which are limited to scientific faculties and not to humanities faculties under the pretext that there are higher degrees in these disciplines and there is no need for delegation In it, and if one of the objectives of such decisions is to achieve the public interest and address unemployment cases by providing job opportunities for unemployed graduate degrees, but that It

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must be reflected in the requirements of the Accreditation Commission for Educational Institutions to achieve quality standards, and such decisions must be issued in partnership and coordination between the Ministry of Higher Education and the Accreditation Commission so that certain colleges do not appear that they have met these requirements and other colleges otherwise, because of their inability to achieve this requirement In implementation of the decisions of the Ministry and not because of its unwillingness or inability to do so.

2.2 Judicial Control of Decisions Issued by the Governing Councils Control of the work of the governance councils is the safety valve to ensure that all the decisions of these councils play their desired role in the process of running the educational facility that is managed by the private sector. It is mentioned in the Jordanian Universities Law, and this is what we call from our perspective the administrative control over the decisions of the governing councils, and we believe that the administrative control [9] alone is not sufficient to ensure the integrity and correctness of the decisions issued by the governing councils, Therefore, we believe that these decisions must be subject to the control of the administrative judiciary.

2.2.1

Judicial Control

Judicial control is the effective means of monitoring the extent to which institutions within the state are committed to subjecting all decisions issued by them to laws, regulations, and instructions. Ministries and government departments when making their decisions. In this, the requirements of the state of law are completed. There is no room to talk about that desired state in the absence of judicial oversight, which, according to our estimation, is one of the most important types of oversight—especially—in the field of administrative work. Legislation and comparative legal systems have given utmost importance to the establishment of annulment courts or administrative courts and state councils. To address every behavior issued by these bodies tainted by the defect of illegality, the concept of which is embodied in the idea that everyone, whether bodies, institutions, ministries, or even individuals dealing with the administration or even public administrations among themselves, are subject to the law. Judicial oversight means: “those powers and powers granted to the ordinary and administrative courts based on the provisions of the law, according to which these courts have the power to adjudicate in them and issue judgments in matters in which the administration is a party in a manner that guarantees the rights and freedoms of the litigants” [10]. It is also known as: “Assigning the task of monitoring the work of the administration to the judiciary, and then this task is assumed by the courts of all kinds” [11]. The researchers believe that the concept of judicial oversight varies

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according to the nature and type of dispute presented to the judiciary, or according to the nature of the formation of the judiciary, whether that state adopts a unified or dual judicial system. From our point of view, we can sum up the concept of judicial oversight with regard to our study as: In disputes arising from decisions issued by the governing councils of the administrative judiciary. But the problem that arises here is: the extent to which the administrative description can be attributed to the decision issued by the governance councils in private universities, and the extent to which this problem can be legally rooted, so that we can open the way for the administrative judiciary to intervene and subject these decisions to be under its control.

2.2.2

The Perceived Jurisdiction of the Administrative Court in Considering Appeals Related to Decisions of the Governing Councils

It is established in the judiciary of the Jordanian Administrative Court that it has jurisdiction over appeals related to administrative decisions in accordance with the provisions of Article 5 of the Administrative Judiciary Law, (Article (5) of Jordanian Administrative Judiciary Law) [12] which made no mention of the jurisdiction of the Administrative Court in considering appeals related to decisions issued by the governance councils in private universities However, we see, in an approach contrary to what has been established by jurisprudence and the judiciary, the necessity of subjecting these decisions to the control of the administrative judiciary and making them subject to appeal for cancellation before the Administrative Court. Considering the nature of those decisions, whether they target services provided to the public or not, and thus subject them to the control of the administrative judiciary. If these decisions target the internal affairs, such as the conduct of administrative work in a private university without those decisions related to the public services provided by it, they are subject to the administrative control contained in the system The aforementioned Jordanian universities, with the need to note that the Jordanian Universities Law contains what is contained in it that indicates the determination of judicial jurisdiction Rather, it was sufficient only to grant the governing councils, according to the hierarchy in their formation, that they have jurisdiction in the objections submitted to the decisions issued by the lower-ranking councils, provided that their decision is final, which we find a legislative flaw that requires an emergency amendment intervention on the Jordanian universities law to grant the administrative judiciary the jurisdiction to consider In the appeals related to the decisions issued by the governance councils in private universities in the event that those decisions target the public services provided by them to the public, and it is worth mentioning.

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3 Conclusion Governance councils are considered as the channels and tools through which the administrative entities carry out their work in light of the existing hierarchy and stipulated in the legal system that governs them, as these entities cannot achieve their desired goals without the presence of an administrative organization that governs the decision-making and decision-making process in a manner that is consistent with the objectives And the general policies for which that entity found—in particular— private universities, which aim to provide education services regardless of the nature of their formation and the legal system that governs them. One format according to the organizational structure of the educational facility, and accordingly, we conclude this research by listing the most important results that we reached through what was stated in the body of the study, as follows.

3.1 Results 1. All educational institutions, both public and private, are subject to one legal system, which is the Jordanian Universities Law No. 18 of 2018. 2. Governance councils derive their competencies in educational institutions, both official and private, from the provisions of the Jordanian Universities Law No. 18 of 2018. 3. The control imposed on the decisions of the governing councils is control of a purely administrative nature, which is exercised by the governing councils in accordance with the hierarchy stipulated in the Jordanian Universities Law—in particular—the text of Article 31/b of the same law. 4. The result of deciding on the objection submitted to the decisions of the governing councils shall be considered final in the event that they are issued by the council above them. 5. It is possible that the decisions issued by the governance councils will rise to the level of administrative decisions if we look at the nature of the service provided by private educational facilities, which are aimed at the public benefit. 6. The Administrative Judiciary Law No. 27 of 2014 did not provide for the jurisdiction of the Administrative Court to appeals against decisions issued by the governance councils of private educational facilities.

3.2 Recommendations 1. Amending the text of Article 5/A of Administrative Judiciary Law No. 27 of 2014, adding the following paragraph, as follows: “The Administrative Court has jurisdiction to hear appeals related to final administrative decisions, including: 1-Decisions issued by the governing councils of private universities.”

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2. Amending the text of Article 31 of the Jordanian Universities Law No. 18 of 2018, so that stakeholders may appeal the decisions issued by the governing councils before the administrative judiciary, after they have gained final status, to become as follows: “The decisions issued by any council may be appealed to the council above it. The decision issued by him is a decision that can be appealed before the administrative Court.”

References 1. Saleh, W.: The Impact of Applying Corporate Governance Principles on Financial Performance Evaluation (Case Study: Construction Companies Listed on the Amman Stock Exchange). Master Thesis, College of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Zarqa University, Amman (2014) 2. Afroukh, R.: The Role of Corporate Governance in Improving Institutional Performance “A Case Study of the Alliance Insurance Company”. Master’s Thesis, Faculty of Economics, Commercial and Management Sciences, Mohamed Khider University—Biskra, Algeria, 2014– 2015 3. Al-Sanawi, Abdul-Raouf, et al.: The availability of the elements of institutional governance related to auditing and company management “A field study from the reality of public shareholding companies in Palestine”. Jordan. J. Bus. Admin. 11(2) (2015) 4. Ghader, M.: Determinants and standards of governance. In: International Scientific Conference “Globalization of Management in the Age of Knowledge”, 15–17 Dec 2012, Jinan University, Tripoli, Lebanon (2012) 5. Al-Awadi, R.: A proposed vision for the governance of higher education institutions as an entry point to achieve competitiveness requirements. Al-Istiqlal Univ. J. Res. 5(2) (2020) 6. Jordanian Universities Law No. 18 of 2018 issued in the Official Newspaper No. 5513 dated 2/5/2018 on page 2343 and its amendments. https://www.pm.gov.jo/ar/Pages/NewsPaper 7. Raba’a, S., Al-Sharman, M.: The degree of application of administrative governance at Yarmouk University from the point of view of academic leaders, faculty members, obstacles, and proposed solutions. Educ. Sci. 3(C2) (2017) 8. Abu Al-Layl, I.: The Origins of the Law, Part One, Theory of Right. Scientific Publication Council (2006) 9. Berish, R.: Administrative Control of Public Utilities. Master’s Thesis, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, Larbi Ben M’hidi University—Oum El Bouaghi, Algeria (2013) 10. Al-Hashemi, R.: Judicial Oversight of the Administration’s Authority to Impose Sanctions with its Contractor, A Comparative Study, 1st edn. Al-Halabi Human Rights Publications, Beirut (2010) 11. Al-Ani, W.: Administrative Judiciary, 1st edn. Al-Sanhouri Library, Baghdad (2015) 12. Jordanian Administrative Judiciary Law No. 27 of 2014, published in the Official Newspaper No. 5297 dated August 17, 2014 on page No. 4866. https://www.pm.gov.jo/ar/Pages/New sPaper

Modelling the Significance of UTAUT Model in Predicting the Intention and Adoption of eWallet Among Malaysians Mengling Wu , Qing Yang , Mcxin Tee , and Abdullah Al Mamun

Abstract COVID-19 pandemic has made individuals are worried about the COVID19 virus can be transmitted through physical cash transaction. Hence, there are more consumers adopt cashless payment systems with the aim of taking extra safety measure. This research investigated the impact of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and hedonic motivation on intention to adopt eWallet among Malaysians. Then, this research studied the impact of intention to adopt eWallet and facilitating conditions on adoption of eWallet among Malaysians. Cross sectional design was adopted and quantitative data from a total of 366 Malaysians through online survey was collected. Findings of the study revealed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and hedonic motivation have significant positive influence on intention to adopt eWallet. Then, intention to adopt eWallet and facilitating conditions have positive and significant influence on adoption of eWallet. To promote economic growth through the mass adoption of eWallet practices among Malaysians, the policy makers, eWallet service providers and merchants should therefore enhance features of eWallet app and highlight advantages of using eWallet to promote the development of cashless society in Malaysia. Keywords Cashless transection · Intention and adoption · eWallet · UTAUT

1 Introduction eWallet has existed for over decade in some countries [1, 2]. It gains widespread acceptance in China market as the technological advancement and legislative orientation of China has urged the Chinese citizens to adopt cashless economy [3]. Later, M. Wu · Q. Yang (B) · A. Al Mamun UKM-Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] M. Tee Faculty of Business and Communications, INTI International University, Negeri Sembilan, Persiaran Perdana BBN, Putra Nilai, 71800 Nilai, Malaysia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_86

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eWallet has evolved to become more common in many countries due to the COVID19 global outbreak. During the global pandemic period, consumer behavior has changed. There are more people accept cashless payment systems with the purpose of getting extra safety measure and preventing physical contact because greater part of the society thinks that COVID-19 virus can be spread through physical cash transaction. Mobile cashless payment system such as eWallet is becoming more popular because the safety features of avoiding direct physical contact can be maximized. eWallet does not require the consumers to have any physical contact, such as to hand out physical money, credit card or debit card to the merchant. eWallet is an online app for smartphones or electronic devices to keep consumers’ debit and credit card details, link to individual’s bank account or store preloaded money. Hence, consumers can use the eWallet app with biometrics systems, such as fingerprint scanner on their smartphone, or PIN code to make contactless payment directly to the merchant. During the COVID-19 global pandemic, World Health Organization recommends people to follow strict physical distancing policy and utilize digital payment method with the aim of reducing the widespread of COVID-19. The reason is physical money have higher possibility to become a medium for COVID-19 virus to be transmitted to other individuals [4]. In Malaysia, there are a variety of server-based eWallet providers such as Boost, Touch N’ Go ewallet, WeChat Pay, Grab Pay, and AEON Wallet. There are few previous researchers have studies adoption of eWallet in Malaysia [1, 5–7]. However, as stated by findings of Alam et al. [5], eWallet payment system in Malaysia has still not fully reached its objective but then there is huge possible capacity to do so. Yaakop et al. [8] have mentioned that consumers download eWallet apps due to heavy promotions and advertisements, but the consumers are not certainly using the eWallet apps. Moreover, Teng and Khong [9] have highlighted that businesses must learn latest trend in consumer behavior in order to achieve a sustainable business model through the mobile payment ecosystem. Besides, Aji et al. [1] have proved that there is negative relationship between perceived risks of COVID-19 and intention to use physical cash transaction. Hence, this research will further investigate the other various factors of determining intention and adoption of eWallet among Malaysians during the COVID-19 outbreak. This research will be based on a conceptual model to study statistically about intention and adoption of Malaysians to embrace eWallet. The model is important as it raises attention to the latest change in consumer behavior, and it has high explanatory power for predicting the factors of Malaysians to adopt eWallet during the COVID19 pandemic. To offer more fruitful insight, this research will also compare the importance level and performance of factors in affecting intention and adoption of ewallet.

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2 Literature Review 2.1 Theoretical Foundation UTAUT theory introduced by Venkatesh et al. [10] is employed in this study by exploring on how the four main constructs of UTAUT model (effort expectancy, performance expectancy, facilitating conditions and social influence) affect the intention and adoption of eWallet among Malaysians. The theory is valuable as it evaluates the factors of acceptance of new technological systems. Widodo et al. [11] have applied UTAUT theory in Indonesia context and discovered that performance expectancy, facilitating conditions and trust positively affect intention to use eWallet in Indonesia, however, perceived risk, social influence, effort expectancy and hedonic motivation have no impact on the use of eWallet. Besides, Teoh Teng Tenk et al. [6] have applied UTAUT theory and found out that performance expectation, social influence and effort expectation positively influence intention to use eWallet in Malaysia, however, perceived risk and perceived costs have no influence on the intention to adopt eWallet. This research will focus on adapting the UTAUT theory to explore further on the intention to use and adoption of eWallet during COVID-19 outbreak.

2.2 Adoption of eWallet The revolutionary characteristics of eWallet provide the advantages of high flexibility, secured payment, user-friendly interface, convenience, fast speed, time and costeffectiveness, and simpler payment procedure to the consumers [3, 6, 7]. During COVID-19 pandemic, many merchants such as transportation providers, food and groceries retailers are fostering customers to adopt cashless payment method [1]. The adoption of eWallet signifies protective health behavior of consumers during the COVID-19 outbreak [12].

2.3 Performance Expectancy Performance expectancy is about the extent of trusting a technological innovation will provide benefits and usefulness to users [10]. Previous studies have stated that performance expectancy positively influence the use of eWallet as eWallet offers strength of easy to access from anywhere and at any time, quick to administer, and provides various extended services that are believed is able to produce further values to individuals [5, 6, 11, 13, 14]. However, Lin et al. [15] have demonstrated that performance expectancy does not significantly influence the intention to adopt mobile payment in Taiwan. Hence, due to the contradict results, we tend to have further study by proposing our first hypothesis:

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Hypothesis (H1 ): Performance expectancy has a positive impact on intention to adopt eWallet among Malaysians.

2.4 Effort Expectancy Effort expectancy is about the extent of ease of use and ease of learning of technological innovation [10]. Previous studies have proved effort expectation has direct relationship with behavioral intention of adopting new technological innovation [6, 15, 16]. Teng and Khong [9] have stated successful e-wallet business model provides customer service with real-time problem-solving and user-friendly interface. Saha [17] has proved that how easy is to use eWallet is the second important reason of using eWallet in India. However, findings of Syifa and Tohang [14] and Widodo et al. [11] have demonstrated that effort expectancy does not significantly influence the intention to use eWallet in Indonesia. Due to the contradict results from existing scholars, we tend to further investigate the relationship in Malaysia context by proposing the following hypothesis: Hypothesis (H2): Effort expectancy has a positive impact on intention to adopt eWallet among Malaysians.

2.5 Social Influence Social influence is about the degree of perception of other people who are important to think he or she should adopt a new technological innovation [10]. In today’s world, individuals are relying heavily on online social platforms for communications. The online platforms are one of the facilitators that let individuals to be easier influenced by their family members, friends or peers in adopting new technology. Previous studies have proved that social influence affects individuals to adopt new technological innovations [6, 15, 18]. Significance and consciousness of using eWallet to avoid the use of physical cash transaction during COVID-19 outbreak have been educated by friends, family members, and peers [17]. Hence, we propose the hypothesis below: Hypothesis (H3): Social influence has a positive impact on intention to adopt eWallet among Malaysians.

2.6 Hedonic Motivation Hedonic motivation is about the degree of consumers’ willingness and enjoyment to embrace evolving technological innovations [19]. Existing literature has proved that hedonic motivation is a significant factor for inspiring individuals to adopt new

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technological innovations [3, 15]. Zhipeng [3] has shown that hedonic motivation is significant positive impact for people to accept the technological innovation on mobile commerce industry and adoption of e-wallet in China. However, discoveries of Widodo et al. [11] have shown that hedonic motivation does not significantly influence the adoption of eWallet in Indonesia. Thus, due to the contradict results from previous scholars, we tend to further examine the relationship by proposing the subsequent hypothesis: Hypothesis (H4): Hedonic motivation has a positive impact on intention to adopt eWallet among Malaysians.

2.7 Facilitating Condition Facilitating conditions is about the degree of believing there is infrastructure to support new technological innovation [10]. Existing scholars have proved effort expectation has direct relationship with behavioral intention of adopting new technological innovation [11, 20, 21]. However, Jesuthasan and Umakanth [22] have found out that there is no significant relationship between facilitating conditions and behavioral intention to adopt eWallet in Sri Lanka during COVID-19 period. Hence, due to the contradict results from existing literature, we tend to further investigate the relationship by proposing the hypothesis: Hypothesis (H5): Facilitating condition has a positive impact on the adoption of eWallet among Malaysians.

2.8 Intention to Adopt eWallet Behavioral intention is about individuals’ subjective probability that is meant to be achieved within a certain time phase [23]. Aji et al. [1] have demonstrated that intention to adopt eWallet in Malaysia is directly affected by perceived usefulness and perceived risks of COVID-19. Besides, Yang et al. [24] and Karim et al. [25] have shown that intention to adopt eWallet have direct relationship with eWallet use in Indonesia and Malaysia respectively. Hence, we propose the subsequent hypothesis: Hypothesis (H6): Intention to adopt eWallet has a positive impact on the adoption of eWallet among Malaysians.

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2.9 Mediating Effect of Intention to Adopt eWallet Intention is about the measure of intensity of an individual’s plan to behave in certain behavior, such as intention to purchase a product or to adopt new technological innovation [10]. Yang et al. [24] have demonstrated that intention to use eWallet have mediating impact between the factors and adoption of eWallet. Hence, we propose the next hypothesis: Hypothesis (H7): Intention to adopt eWallet m effect mediates the impact of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and hedonic motivation on the adoption of eWallet among Malaysians.

3 Research Methodology 3.1 Research Design This research paper investigated determining factor of intention and adoption of eWallet among Malaysians. Quantitative research method was employed for gathering data to further recognize features of the relationships empirically.

3.2 Population and Sample Malaysians were aimed as sample population for this study. This study implemented non-probability convenience sampling procedure because it can achieve cost- and time- efficiency. Sample size was assessed by G*Power software, which the research successfully compiled a total of 366 samples.

3.3 Survey Instrument As shown in Table 1, measurement items for all variables were adapted from existing literature. Close-ended questionnaire design with 5-point Likert scale was applied.

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Table 1 Measurement items Variables

Items

Performance expectancy (PE)

5 items Onaolapo and Oyewole [26]; Boonsiritomachai and Pitchayadejanant [27]; Sun et al. [28]; Venkatesh et al. [31]

Sources

Effort expectancy (EE)

5 items Alalwan et al. [29]; Tak and Panwar [30]; Venkatesh et al. [31]

Social influence (SI)

5 items Venkatesh et al. [10]; Venkatesh et al. [31]

Facilitating conditions (FC)

6 items

Hedonic motivation (HM)

5 items Boonsiritomachai and Pitchayadejanant [27]; Lin [32]

Intention to adopt eWallet (BI) 5 items Venkatesh et al. [31]; Yang et al. [33] Adoption of eWallet (AeW)

5 items Yang et al. [33]; Zhou et al. [34]

Note PE Performance expectancy; EE Effort expectancy; SI Social influence; FC Facilitating conditions; HM Hedonic motivation; BI Intention to adopt eWallet; AeW Adoption of eWallet

3.4 Data Collection and Analysis Online questionnaire was performed because it can attain larger target audiences in cost- and time-saving way. Data analysis was accomplished with PLS-SEM and by following thresholds suggested by Hair et al. [35] and Ramayah et al. [36].

3.5 Demographic Characteristics Table 2 presents demographic characteristics of respondents, with a total of 366 respondents. All the respondents are Malaysians.

3.6 Measurement Model Analysis Next, measurement model analysis was conducted for verifying validity and reliability of measurement instruments. As shown in Table 3, values of Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) are less than the threshold of 3.3, Average Variance Extracted (AVE) are more than the threshold of 0.5, and Cronbach’s Alpha (CR) are more than the threshold of 0.7, hence the results present reliability and validity of measurement instruments are achieved [35–38]. All loadings for measurement items are more than the threshold of 0.708 except HM1 (0.646) and HM6 (0.689). Ramayah et al. [36] have pointed out that loadings can still be kept if the AVE is more than 0.5. Hence, we decided to keep the two items.

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Table 2 Demographic characteristics (N = 366) Age

Percent

Below 21 years old

31.1

21–25 years old

62.8

26–30 years old

3.3

31–35 years old

0.3

36–40 years old

2.5

Total

100%

Income level

Percent

Below RM2500

87.1

RM2501–RM5000

9.6

RM5001–RM7500

2.5

RM7501–RM10000

0.0

RM10001–RM12500

0.3

Above RM12500

0.5

Total

100%

Gender

Percent

Female

64.2

Male

35.8

Total

100%

Living area

Percent

Rural

28.1

Urban

71.9

Total

100%

Marital status

Percent

Single

97.3

Married

2.7

Total

100%

Education level

Percent

Secondary school certificate

12.0

Diploma/technical school certificate

11.5

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

76.0

Master’s degree

0.5 100%

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Table 3 Measurement model analysis Variable

Items

Loadings

CR

AVE

VIF

PE

PE1

0.813

0.918

0.691

3.192

0.926

0.715

2.341

0.909

0.669

2.679

0.923

0.669

2.667

0.904

0.653

2.451

0.926

0.715

2.451

0.886

0.609

-

EE

SI

HM

FC

BI

AeW

PE2

0.831

PE3

0.860

PE4

0.833

PE5

0.818

EE1

0.807

EE2

0.853

EE3

0.878

EE4

0.848

EE5

0.840

SI1

0.881

SI2

0.863

SI3

0.877

SI4

0.739

SI5

0.716

HM1

0.646

HM2

0.885

HM3

0.885

HM4

0.890

HM5

0.875

HM6

0.689

FC1

0.859

FC2

0.811

FC3

0.870

FC4

0.736

FC5

0.756

BI1

0.860

BI2

0.841

BI3

0.871

BI4

0.863

BI5

0.790

AeW1

0.828

AeW2

0.761

AeW3

0.744

AeW4

0.790 (continued)

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Table 3 (continued) Variable

Items

Loadings

AeW5

0.774

CR

AVE

VIF

Note PE Performance expectancy; EE Effort expectancy; SI Social influence; FC Facilitating conditions; HM Hedonic motivation; BI Intention to adopt eWallet; AeW Adoption of eWallet

Table 4 Fornell-Larcker criterion AeW

EE

FC

HM

BI

PE

AeW

0.780

EE

0.512

0.845

FC

0.675

0.736

0.808

HM

0.686

0.625

0.743

0.818

BI

0.732

0.689

0.769

0.773

0.846

PE

0.664

0.743

0.778

0.712

0.744

0.831

SI

0.763

0.609

0.767

0.742

0.729

0.719

SI

0.818

Note PE Performance expectancy; EE Effort expectancy; SI Social influence; FC Facilitating conditions; HM Hedonic motivation; BI Intention to adopt eWallet; AeW Adoption of eWallet

Table 4 presents Fornell-Larcker Criterion with the aim of testing discriminant validity, which shows there is no issue with discriminant validity due to all the values are below than the threshold of 0.90 [35, 36, 39].

3.7 Path Analysis Table 5 presents results of path analysis, which implies that hypotheses of H1 to H6 are supported by following the threshold of t-value > 1.645; p-value < 0.05 [35, 36]. Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and hedonic motivation have positive relationship with intention to adopt eWallet among Malaysians. Then, facilitating conditions and intention to adopt eWallet positively influence adoption of eWallet among Malaysians.

3.8 Mediation Next, bootstrapping method was executed to obtain estimation of mediation effects. Results in Table 6 have proved that intention to adopt eWallet mediates the effect of effort expectancy, performance expectancy, social influence, and hedonic motivation on adoption of eWallets among Malaysians.

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Table 5 Path analysis on direct effects Hypothesis

Std. beta

Std error

t-value

p-value

Confidence interval Min

Result

Max

H1:PE → BI

0.200

0.060

3.350

0.000

0.108

0.298

Supported

H2:EE → BI

0.193

0.059

3.271

0.001

0.098

0.300

Supported

H3:SI → BI

0.198

0.052

3.848

0.000

0.112

0.280

Supported

H4:HM → BI

0.363

0.052

7.000

0.000

0.281

0.453

Supported

H5:FC → AeW

0.274

0.067

4.120

0.000

0.168

0.385

Supported

H6:BI → AeW

0.521

0.065

8.071

0.000

0.407

0.626

Supported

Note PE Performance expectancy; EE Effort expectancy; SI Social influence; FC Facilitating conditions; HM Hedonic motivation; BI Intention to adopt eWallet; AeW Adoption of eWallet

Table 6 Mediation Hypothesis

Std. beta

Std. error

t-value

p-value

Confidence interval LL

UL

Result

H1:PE → BI → AeW

0.104

0.035

2.954

0.002

0.052

0.167

Supported

H2:EE → BI → AeW

0.101

0.030

3.368

0.000

0.055

0.148

Supported

H3:SI → BI → AeW

0.103

0.032

3.189

0.001

0.054

0.162

Supported

H4:HM → BI → AeW

0.189

0.035

5.444

0.000

0.131

0.249

Supported

Note PE Performance expectancy; EE Effort expectancy; SI Social influence; FC Facilitating conditions; HM Hedonic motivation; BI Intention to adopt eWallet; AeW Adoption of eWallet

3.9 Importance and Performance Matrix Analysis (IPMA) IPMA was conducted to find out the importance level and performance of independent variables in this research. Among four independent variables, Table 7 presents the highest importance is hedonic motivation (0.214), followed by effort expectancy (0.133), performance expectancy (0.125), and lastly is social influence (0.113). However, the highest performance is effort expectancy (83.87), followed by performance expectancy (78.44), hedonic motivation (73.2), and lastly is also social influence (72.14). Social influence has the lowest performance and importance level.

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Table 7 IPMA results Performance expectancy

Importance Total effect

Performance Index values

0.125

78.44

Effort expectancy

0.133

83.87

Social influence

0.113

72.14

Hedonic motivation

0.214

73.20

4 Discussion COVID-19 pandemic has made individuals are worried about COVID-19 virus to be transmitted through physical cash transaction [1]. This research emphasizes on intention and adoption of eWallet among Malaysians as COVID-19 outbreak changes consumer behavior relevant to payment method. Results of this research show that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, hedonic motivation and social influence have positive influence on intention to adopt eWallet, then intention to adopt eWallet and facilitating conditions have positive influence on adoption of eWallet. Firstly, performance expectancy means that individuals trust eWallet is a useful and powerful mode of payment to be used during the COVID-19 pandemic. This result is consistent with prior findings [6, 13]. Then, effort expectancy factor means ease of use of eWallet boosts individuals to adopt eWallet in replacing other payment transaction methods during the COVID-19. The finding is consistent with earlier findings [6, 15, 16] although some earlier findings show that there is no significant influence from effort expectancy [11, 14]. Next, social influence is another important reason of influencing intention of adopting eWallet because significance and consciousness of using eWallet during COVID-19 outbreak have been educated by friends, family members, and peers with the aim of reducing the risk brought by using physical cash transaction. The result is consistent with prior findings [6, 15, 18]. Following, although Widodo et al. [11] have shown that hedonic motivation does not significantly influence the adoption of eWallet in Indonesia, however in this research, hedonic motivation is another significant impact on the intention of eWallet use. Pleasant feeling and enjoyment can inspire the users to adopt eWallet which this finding is consistent with some of the previous findings [3, 15]. Based on the results of IPMA, effort expectancy, hedonic motivation and performance expectancy have higher performance and importance level on intention to adopt eWallet. It means that strong presence of these three factors will be an important role in growing possibility of successfully adopting the use of eWallet among Malaysians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, policy makers should focus on these three variables to support eWallet payment and promote cashless society. Thus, eWallet service providers should provide appropriate technical infrastructure to support the use of the eWallet, such as online help desk services [11].

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5 Conclusion Findings of this research present all factors (effort expectancy, performance expectancy, hedonic motivation, social influence, and facilitating conditions) have positive influence on adoption of eWallet in Malaysia. Policy makers and eWallet service providers should comprehend the individuals’ consumer behavior to enhance features of eWallet app, such as user-friendly platform and ease-of-use functions, and design strategies to promote the development of cashless society in Malaysia. The first limitation is about the sample of this research is not exactly proportional in number to represent the demographic factors of Malaysia. Hence, findings of this research are more subjective to the dominant group of respondent characteristics (age group: 21–25 years old, lower income level, single marital status and stay in urban). In future, researchers can investigate longitudinal study by comparing the analysis during the COVID-19 outbreak and after the pandemic. Besides, future studies are encouraged to include respondents from heterogeneous demographical cohorts of Malaysia.

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30. Tak, P., Panwar, S.: Using UTAUT 2 model to predict mobile app based shopping: evidences from India. J. Indian Bus. Res. 9(3), 248–264 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1108/jibr-11-20160132 31. Venkatesh, V., Thong, J.Y.L., Xu, X.: Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. MIS Q. 36(1), 157 (2012). https://doi.org/10.2307/41410412 32. Lin, H.F.: An empirical investigation of mobile banking adoption: the effect of innovation attributes and knowledge-based trust. Int. J. Inf. Manag. 31(3), 252–260 (2011). https://doi. org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2010.07.006 33. Yang, Q., Al Mamun, A., Hayat, N., Md. Salleh, M.F., Salameh, A.A., Makhbul, Z.K.: Predicting the mass adoption of eDoctor apps during COVID-19 in China using hybrid SEMneural network analysis. Front. Public Health 10 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022. 889410 34. Zhou, T., Lu, Y., Wang, B.: Integrating TTF and UTAUT to explain mobile banking user adoption. Comput. Hum. Behav. 26(4), 760–767 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010. 01.013 35. Hair Jr., J.F., Hult, G.T.M., Ringle, C., Sarstedt, M.: A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Sage Publications (2016) 36. Ramayah, T., Cheah, J., Chuah, F., Ting, H., Memon, M.A.: Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using smartPLS 3.0. In: An Updated Guide and Practical Guide to Statistical Analysis. Pearson (2018) 37. Tee, M., Chaw, L.Y.: Generation Z’s perspective on tourists’ knowledge sharing and service excellence in tourism. In: Service Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality, pp. 89–107. Springer, Cham (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57694-3_7 38. Chaw, L.Y., Chu, A., Thong, C.L., Tee, M.: Technology acceptance before and after covid pandemic. In: International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, pp. 119–132. Springer, Cham (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05014-5_10 39. Cheah, X.T., Chen, L.Y., Tee, M., Al Mamun, A., Salamah, A.A.: Investigating the intention to use social media as online business platform among female university students in Malaysia. In: International Conference on Business and Technology, pp. 969–981. Springer, Cham (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08087-6_67

Significance and Empowerment Through Self-hygiene According to Modern Medical and the Relationship with Health in Curbing the COVID-19 Epidemic Zanirah Mustafa Busu, Noraini Junoh , Zainab Hisham, Nik Muniyati Nik Din, Nik Zam Nik Wan, Nurhidayah Muhammad Hashim, and Zulkarnain Yusof Abstract Attention to cleanliness is an essential foundation of faith. Every Muslim must maintain the cleanliness of the body and requires a mandatory mode of hygiene. The Covid-19 pandemic will bring uncertainties that affect hygiene and the necessities of healthy living. Many illnesses can be caused by inadequate (poor) domestic or personal hygiene. Poor domestic and personal hygiene practices can help the transmission of disease-causing germs. The article on hygiene and beneficial living aims to assess the level of hygiene practices among the Muslim community to protect themselves from COVID-19 infection. This research aims to find out the organization of personal hygiene and healthy living that will help maintain interest in performing duties while maintaining cleanliness in daily routines, especially during the COVID pandemic among the Muslim community. The research method used to obtain data is through library studies through journal articles, reference books, thurath books, reports, and documentation from the Ministry of Health Malaysia and State Health Department as well as interviews with referents who are experts in the field of religion and health. Therefore, we would like to study the extent of personal hygiene practices performed by Muslims through protocol interviews and observations. The results of empirical tests will provide a basis for managing mandatory tasks in moderate or adverse conditions. The findings show that (a) significant demands of personal hygiene practices according to Islamic Fiqh and its comparison according to modern medicine relate to health to protect themselves from COVID-19 infection and (b) there is a positive influence on inconsistent hygiene practices. We

Z. Mustafa Busu · N. Junoh (B) · Z. Hisham · N. Muniyati Nik Din · Z. Yusof Academy of Contemporary Islamic Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kelantan, 18500 Machang, Kelantan, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] N. Zam Nik Wan Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kelantan, 18500 Machang, Kelantan, Malaysia N. Muhammad Hashim Academy of Contemporary Islamic Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Hamdan et al. (eds.), From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 470, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_87

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can take steps to develop mandatory duty activities under the new norms, mainly to prevent the transmission of any diseases, including the COVID-19 epidemic. Keywords COVID-19 · Health · Self-hygiene · Mandatory · Modern medical

1 Introduction Hygiene is the most crucial topic in Islam because the Quran teaches Muslims to maintain physical and spiritual cleanliness. Rasulullah SAW taught his ummah to maintain physical cleanliness no matter where they were. They are stressed to maintain essential cleanliness as Muslims, in example hygiene of limbs such as hair, beard, mouth, hands and feet, and other limbs. Especially when a global epidemic is hitting the world recently, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) leads to poverty, health harm, and a global economic downturn. Therefore, every individual, especially Muslims, should precede the importance of maintaining cleanliness in daily life to prevent transmission of this COVID-19 virus infection. The highly authoritative health authorities, namely the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH), urge the people as a whole to clean their hands regularly because hands are the primary medium that is very effective in the prevention of infectious diseases as well as indirectly stop the spread of epidemics. Leading health organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Prevention have supported such a role.

2 Research Problem Coronaviruses disease 2019 (COVID-19) was announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11. It has profoundly impacted sustainability and human health, economic life practices, culture, technology, and many more. Perhaps this COVID-19 pandemic is a lesson for the world community about the meaning of practicing basic hygiene in one’s own life and society. Based on the Berita Harian Online report on January 20, 2016, it was stated that the community neglected hygiene and the cause of the disease increased. The analysis of the Ministry of Health also proves that the breeding of this epidemic is related to the unsanitary environment, littering habits, and inefficient waste management. This research supports a statement issued by the World Health Organization on 12 June 2020, which explains the importance of Self-care during COVID-19. The ability to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider is known as self-care.

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Physical distancing, good respiratory hygiene, and handwashing are actual examples of self-care actions we can take every day to protect against COVID-19. There are many other areas where self-care can make a difference in our health and wellbeing in the coronavirus pandemic. It is a new experience for most people when they get used to hygiene practices that may have been less attention to before. Most infectious diseases do begin with simple hygiene practices. Many people do not care about personal hygiene, with dirty clothes, unwashed hands, coughing, and spitting everywhere. Some are even worse enough to urinate in the wrong place. Making exotic animals as routine food has also become the practice of some humans. They may not care or be ignorant of the effects of defilement practices on themselves, but sadly, they do not care about its effects on the people around them, even their family members [1]. Regular hand-cleaning is one of the essential practices recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The hand is the body’s main organ that can cause a viral infection. There are many germs (including bacteria, viruses, and fungi) on our hands through contact with various objects and surfaces, and germs can live on the surface of our hands for various periods depending on various factors. Some studies also show that we touch our face with our hands between 8 and 23 times an hour, usually unnoticed. So regularly washing your hands with soap or alcohol and clean hand sanitizer will be able to break the chain of viral infection to our face. It has become our culture and even the religious recommendation to always wash hands before eating as a hygiene practice. The Prophet SAW said, meaning: “Whoever wants Allah to increase the goodness in his house, he should perform ablution if his food has been served (before eating) and after being lifted (finished eating)”. The hadith is narrated by Sunan Ibn Majah No 3260). Based on research from the Australian government from the department of health in November 2010 related to poor hygiene and disease (environmental health practitioner manual: a resource manual for environmental health practitioners working with aboriginal and Torres strait islander communities). In contrast, our research exhibits an index of personal hygiene based on the concept of thaharah through Islamic Jurisprudence, guided by authentic or authentic sources from al-Quran and hadith, the views of scholars concerning the attentive books. This is reinforced by the hadith of the Prophet, who advised us to avoid entering the epidemic area so that we do not leave the place infected with the epidemic. Wearing a face mask when outdoors and quarantined at home. According to Daniele Gui and Gilda Pepe of the European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences in April 2020. This research states in the new coronavirus outbreak, in the recurrent recommendations given by experts on hygiene practices to decrease the risk of transmission, the oral and pharyngeal disinfection seems to be overlooked. Considering these modes of transmission, oral hygiene by gargling, together with hand washing and mask use [2]. The doctrine in the teachings of Islam is more detailed and organized with a systematic schedule such as ablution every time prayer five times. Before performing ablution, every Muslim must be clean from minor and major ablution. This showed that Islam places great emphasis on personal hygiene in the daily routine. Researchers will

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prove that this index of personal hygiene can discipline the Muslim community and at the same time be adopted as the best model to be practiced in the new norms to prevent infectious diseases.

3 Literature Review In general, hygiene should be given priority in this new norm to preserve and protect themselves from infectious diseases, especially in the country under the pandemic covid-19. Therefore, the researcher would like to analyze the concept of thaharah based on Islamic religious demands suitable as an index of compliance to measure personal hygiene in the daily routine. Hygiene is very closely related to health because it can create individuals and communities that are physically, spiritually, and socially healthy so that they can become God’s chosen people and caliphs to prosper the earth. Health is one of God’s great blessings, and gifts are given to humankind because health is the first and foremost capital. Without human health, it is impossible to perform activities that are the duty and obligation that concern the interests of oneself, family, and society and the duty and obligation to perform worship to Allah SWT. Living clean and healthy is one way to maintain good health. Therefore, Islamic law aligns with human nature, emphasizing health, a healthy body, a healthy mind, a healthy society, and a healthy environment [3]. The Islamic worldview provides a prominent structure of how to deal with its issues of human spiritual and physical well-being issues that play an essential role in realizing ‘ibadah (worship) to Allah [4]. Physical cleanliness and wearing clean garments are not only important factors for sound health and sound mind; they are also indispensable ingredients of ‘ibadah for seeking the pleasure of Allah [5]. As a holistic belief system, Islam emphasizes the mental, physical, emotional, mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual of the individual and society. Along with individual care, be careful society, including its weakest members, is the most vital interest in Islam. Over 1400 years ago, the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) taught his people various hygiene practices still applicable in the twenty-first century [6]. According to the Centers for Disease Control in the United States, the virus that causes Coronavirus and SARS is essentially easily transmitted through inhalation drops produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes [7]. Islam gives simple commands about coughing and sneezing openly. Prophet Muhammad SAW told the believers to cover their faces when sneezing [6]. The most noticeable effect of sneezing and coughing without covering the mouth is its spread of airborne bacteria and viruses. In addition, droplets invisible to naked people’s eyes may fall to the surface or otherwise [8]. Modern science does not have any tension with Islam. Recent scientific findings have, most times, helped us understand the essence and importance of some everyday things, Islamic orders, and practices. Islam maintains a profound balance between body and soul, where physical health and a healthy mind are more important than human property [9].

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Table 1 Description of al-Nazafah and al-thaharah Al-Nazafah

Al-Thaharah

Purification

Cleans, free, and pure

The first level of cleanliness

The second level of cleanliness

Cleanses outwardly only

Covers cleanliness eternally an internally

Cleanliness from dirt and stains externally, with the cleaning tool of clean objects, including water

Pure from najis hissi such as urine and najis ma’nawi such as shame and immorality

Cleaned with absolute water

Cleansed and purified by lifting large and small hadas such as ablution, janabah bath, tayammum, and istinja’

3.1 Understanding and the Significance of Personal Hygiene The description of the meaning of the words al-Nazafah and al-t.haharah. Al-Nazafah originally meant purification. Nazafah (nazif) in the language is the purity of the opponent from foul words. Derived from the word Nazufa-yanzufu-nazafatan. Nazafah is the first level of cleanliness, including cleanliness from dirt and stains externally, with clean object cleaning tools, including water. Another word that refers which means clean, accessible, and to cleanliness in Arabic is al-thaharah pure from najis (emotional najis like urine and ma’nawi like shame and immorality). can not only be defined as outwardly clean According to Ashmawi, al-Nazafah but also clean in ma’nawiyah (al-Bujairimi ‘ala al-Khatib, 1/205). Ahmad Syauqi al-Banjari defines environmental cleanliness and health as creating a healthy and disease-free environment by maintaining ecological cleanliness. Hygiene or cleanliness is conditions or practices conducive to maintaining health and preventing disease, primarily through cleanliness. According to International Labour Organization [10] in the code of practice issued states, employees are not allowed to handle work in case of illness to avoid microbiological transfer of others. For example, although it does not show symptoms, employees who have been infected with a disease such as typhoid can be asymptomatic carriers and can cause the infection to spread to others or customers [11]. Considering the situation, it is hazardous if the unhealthy work because they are symptomatic carriers and should not work [12] (Table 1).

3.2 Thaharah Knowledge and Endeavors to Prohibiting COVID-19 Thaharah is one commandment of Allah The Almighty that was first communicated to mankind at the beginning of the treatise of the Prophet Muhammad SAW as in surah al-muddathir (74): 4 which is translated as “And clean your clothes”. While

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this concept is important, thaharah is always discussed in the study of the books of fiqh. The word thaharah with its derivative is repeated 31 times in the Quran [13]. This shows that thaharah is the key to worship. Muslims must learn and understand Thaharah because it is a legitimate demand for everyday worship and is also a powerful way to maintain physical and non-physical hygiene. In Islam concepts, everything, whether body, clothing and the place, must be cleansed of all dirt and feces things because maintaining cleanliness and purity is part of faith, at-thaharu syathrul iman. Islam pays very attention to cleanliness because it is clean and sacred, is an effort to avoid contracting multiple germs or viruses. In al-Baqarah (2): 222, it is stated that Allah SWT loves people who repent and those who keep their sanctity according to His word: They ask you about menstruation. Speak up is unclean. So, stay away from women during menstruation; and have no intimacy with them until they are clean. But when they have been cleansed, then go to them from the place that Allah has commanded you. For sure, God loves those who repent the most and love those who keep themselves chaste. Seeing the importance of practicing thaharah in real life for Muslims, it must be practiced. Therefore, the purpose of thaharah culture is a common activity society in their daily lives on a regular basis. Thaharah activities are not just ritual activities, but habits that integrate with the Malaysians Muslim community, given the country is the Muslim majority [13]. According to fiqh, thaharah (cleanliness) is an activity of cleaning dirt and is visible. While in terms of Sufism, thaharah means cleanse the soul from sin and inappropriate behavior. In maintaining the cleanliness of various things that pollute the environment, thaharah is meant as hissiyah, which is to cleanse oneself of various kinds of impurities visible. The procedure for cleaning and removing dirt is by using water or an object that has the same function as water. Meanwhile, in maintaining non-physical hygiene, the concept in question is thaharah ma’anawiyah, the act of purifying oneself from immoral acts such as eating things forbidden by Islam as drinking alcohol and eating pork. Hundreds of hadiths are distributed in various narratives stating that Muslims must keep the environment clean. One hadith to note is as follows, “Surely God is holy and loves purity, God is holy clean and loves cleanliness, God is gracious again and loves generosity. So, clean your house of various impurities and do not be like the Jews, who always collect dirty things in their houses”. Cleansing and removing dirt in Islam is mandatory. Besides religious orders, keeping cleanliness is in the public interest. Islam pays great attention to cleanliness for all human beings, both physically and mentally clean. This means Islam places are very concerned about hygiene and human health throughout the ages to prevent various diseases as well as those emphasized by authoritative health experts to treat viruses or other diseases [14]. The above argument suggests that the instruction to clean dirt is very rational, as it should ensure health. Health experts often explain that the best way to treat viruses or other diseases is by maintaining cleanliness [14]. This means that if clean conditions are always maintained, humans will be spared from various diseases because basically staying away is better than curing. As a Muslim, there are many clues regarding the concept of thaharah or clean behavior, and how efforts should be made to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

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3.3 Comparison Between Modern Medical and the Sunnah SAW in Curbing the COVID-19 Epidemic Islamic teachings to protect human beings from death and disease from the plague go back to the beginnings of Islam. As discussed earlier, the Prophet Muhammad SAW instructed the companions to cherish their health and lives, urging the public not to go to places infected with the plague. Caring for religion and life is one of the major objectives of Syariah (Islamic Law). Lessons from the Quran, hadith, and views of Islamic doctrine and guidelines from authoritative health experts such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) also provide excellent guidance in holistic epidemic management. Current guidelines from World Health Organization (WHO) recommend maintaining good personal hygiene, social incarceration, avoiding contact with eyes, nose, and mouth, covering mouth and nose with elbows or bent tissues when coughing and sneezing, and seeking medical advice from a specialist in case of illness [15]. Maintaining good personal and community hygiene is one of the essential parts of the teachings of Islam. The Prophet SAW told us that cleanliness is half of faith. He SAW always covered his face with his hands or clothes when sneezing or coughing. Obligatory ablution before each prayer ablution comprises gargling, cleaning the nose, washing hands, face, and feet. It is also the sunnah of the Prophet SAW to wash his hands before and after eating or drinking. He SAW has taught us to pray to Allah and seek medical treatment with experts [16]. Some ask, “O Prophet SAW, do we not take medicine?”, The Prophet SAW says, “Yes, be healed, and God has created a cure for every disease, except old age.” Once, a companion of The Prophet SAW complained to him. Regarding chest pain, the Prophet SAW said, you have had a heart attack, and you should see Harith Bin Kalda, a physician. Quarantine, social incarceration, and sanctions are essential steps to control the spread of the epidemic, such as COVID-19. Aggressive testing and quarantine against cases are recommended as a first-line step by the World Health Organization (WHO) to control the spread. The Prophet SAW also taught us social imprisonment. It is reported that one day a leper wanted to pledge allegiance to him, who needed him to touch the Prophet’s hand SAW. The Prophet SAW told him that his promise had already been accepted from afar. His Majesty SAW also said that those with infectious diseases should not be kept with those who are healthy. Prophet SAW also said, avoid contagious diseases in a way one escapes from a lion. Therefore, taking precautions to prevent infectious diseases is prescribed in Islam [15]. Muslims must perform ablution, which is to wash their hands, mouth, nostrils, face, head, hands, and feet three times before performing prayers. With at least five ablutions per day, Islamic hygiene standards are higher than the need for handwashing than the WHO emphasizes in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 [16]. From the point of view of modern health proves that, at every movement, ablution has excellent benefits for the health of a Muslim. So far, we consider that ablution found that Chinese medicine selects over 700 biologically active spots on the human body, to be common worship, although there are various benefits, especially in preventing

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infectious diseases. In Islam, ablution (wudu .) is one of the best purification methods for cleansing and purifying some essential parts of the human body. Facial washing includes cleaning the mouth up to the throat and nose; two hands up to the elbows; wiping the head, ears, and neck; and washing the feet so that the ankles perform ablution perfectly [3]. It reduces stress, suppresses anger, and controls high blood pressure. It can also be a significant bastion in preventing infectious diseases, especially COVID-19 [17]. Among them are inhaling water into the nose (istinsyaq) and blowing it (istinthar) as well as rinsing (madhmadhah) and washing the ears. The evidence that strengthens this is the hadith narrated by Imam Bukhari and Muslim, that The Prophet SAW said: “Then rinse and inhale water with your nose and exhale. Then Uthman said: ‘I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performing ablution like my ablution.” In a scientific study on the health effects of ablution, Magomed Magomedov, Ph.D. in Medical Science, Daghestan State Medical Academy, for immediate effect, “reflex therapy” names sixty-six drastic areas known as aggression spots, antique spots, or primary element spots. Sixty of them are in the zone where ablution is obligatory before performing prayers. Ablution becomes a complex type of treatment, which involves the hydro-massage of biologically active spots for thermal and physical stimulation. Similarly, when washing the face, apart from the purely refreshing effect on the skin’s heat receptors, it “replenishes” organs such as the intestines, stomach, and bladder and positively affects the nerves and reproductive system. It handles the skeletal system, intestines, nervous system, lumbar region, stomach, pancreas, gallbladder, thyroid gland, solar plexus, etc., in the right leg. In contrast, it serves as activating the pituitary brain in the left leg. Thus, ablution activates all systems and organs and enhances their function [3]. Indeed, the practice of ablution is very relevant to the situation we are experiencing today. Therefore, the fact is that ablution is one of the significant elements in the prevention of this contagious epidemic. However, it can only be prevented from spreading if a person performs the sunnah of ablution according to the correct method in Islamic law [17] (Table 2). Rasulullah SAW recommended rinsing three times during ablution, coupled with using siwak, the best medium to remove food waste hidden between the teeth. Dental and oral health expert Ratu Mirah Afifah from Jakarta said Rasulullah SAW taught his followers to siwak every time before the five daily prayers to get the reward of circumcision, and health was also guaranteed. Siwak also has many benefits. Scientific studies have found that the branches or roots of Salvadora Persica are beneficial in dental and gum health care. Siwak wood itself is antimicrobial; It can prevent the reproduction of bacteria from preventing two common diseases that commonly occur, namely cavities and gum disease [18, 19]. Several hadiths of the Prophet state the priority of miswak, which is using chewing sticks to clean teeth. Good teeth cleaning is associated with good health and the pleasure of Allah [3]. In an authentic narration, The Prophet SAW said: “Am I not afraid of bothering my people, and I will instruct them to use miswak (as obligatory, to brush their teeth) (Bukhari Volume 9, Book 90, No. 346). “Miswak purifies the mouth and pleases the heart of God (i.e., Allah is pleased with Muslims who use miswak)” (Musnad Ahmad Volume 1, Book 1, No. 62). Islam teaches that four

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Table 2 Description of the effects of personal hygiene from a sunnah and modern medical perspective Effects Practices

Sunnah of Rasulullah SAW

Modern medical

(1) Ablution

• Purifying the heart of the believer • Helps to control angry emotions • Aborts the sins found on the limbs of ablution • Making the worshiper clean and fresh • Ables to educate frugality and avoid wasteful behavior • An act of worship that can elevate rank in the sight of God

• Reduces stress • Helps to control high blood pressure • Becomes a complex type of treatment for thermal and physical stimulation • Helps to refresh the skin’s heat receptors • It replenishes organs • Positively affects the nerves and reproductive system • It handles the skeletal system intestines, nervous systems

(2) Brushing teeth using miswak

• • • •

Purifies the mouth It pleases the heart of God It pleases the Angels One of the practices of al-Anbiya’ (Messengers of God) • Increases the reward for the person who prays

• It is beneficial in dental and gum health care • Can prevent the reproduction of bacteria that may cause cavities and gum disease

(3) Hand hygiene

• After waking up, recommended washing our hands to prevent any diseases that come from the devil while we sleep • Prevents bacterial infections on the hands • Avoid the transmission of the virus • Remove dirt that climbs on hands • Prevent skin diseases and clean chemicals attached to the skin

• Avoid being infected by fungus and fungi that cause onychomycosis • Removes all sweat, oil, salt, and dirt that is not needed by the body • Assists in the process of skin regeneration i.e., the replacement of old and new cells • Stabilize the pH value and maintain skin moisture

(4) Manners and ethics when • To prevent infection from sneezing and coughing spreading to people around

• Avoid dangerous diseases such as influenza virus, Epstein-Barr virus, Herpes type 1, inflammatory bacteria, Hepatitis B and C, and Cytomegalovirus

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things, including miswak, are among the essential practices for healthy living [3]. Rasulullah SAW said: “Four things include the practice of al-Anbiya’ (Messengers sent by Allah) -using perfume, circumcision, miswak, and marriage” (Tirmidhi, Book 11, No. 1080). Imam al-Nawawi mentioned this practice in his book Nashoihul Ibad, which explains the advantages of siwak. “Prayer with siwak is more important than 70 prayers without siwak (first).” There are ten practices and attributes that bring a person pure and cultured, namely as a hadith narrated by Sayyidah ‘A.ishah RA, The Prophet SAW said: The ten deeds are fitrah (natural qualities): (1) Trimming the mustache, (2) Lengthening the beard, (3) Miswak, (4) Putting water into the nostrils (cleaning the nostrils), (5) Trimming the nails, (6) For washing between the toes, (7) Removing the hair under the arms, (8) Removing the pubic hair, (9) Istinja . (purifying oneself after answering the call of nature), and (10) Rinsing the mouth. (Muslim, Book 2, No. 261). The Prophet SAW used to perform miswak before prayers, after returning home, and when waking up at night to perform prayers. The Prophet SAW said: “When one of you stands at night to perform prayers, you should brush your teeth with miswak because when you recite the Qur’an, the angel puts his mouth on your mouth and what comes out of your mouth. Enters the mouth of the angel” (Bukhari, Vol. 2, No. 2117). “Every time the Prophet SAW woke up from his sleep, he would use miswak” (Abu Dawud, Book 1, No. 56). Rasulullah SAW also emphasized daily practice of being protected and kept away from disease. As we know, one of the leading causes of infectious diseases is contact. Therefore, Rasulullah SAW outlined the guidelines for his ummah in matters of hygiene, especially in the care of hand hygiene, especially when eating because the food taken will enter the stomach and become our flesh and blood. The WHO also emphasizes the importance of five seconds of hand hygiene, face masks, and the sequence of wearing and wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 [8]. In addition, it is advisable to practice handwashing as soon as one wakes up because no one knows what the hands have touched during sleep. In general, cleanliness and purity are considered two noble attributes of Muslims by both the Quran and Hadith. For example, the Hadith states that cleanliness is half of the faith, while in the Qur’an it says that, “Surely Allah loves those who keep themselves pure.” (Al-Baqarah 2: 223).

4 Research Methodology This research uses qualitative methods, library studies, documentation from the Ministry of Health Malaysia and State Health Department as well as interviews with referents who are experts in the field of religion and health. Therefore, we would like to study the extent of personal hygiene practices performed by Muslims through protocol interviews and observations. Researchers will analyze data using deductive, inductive, and comparative methods. The researcher hopes that the result will have a hygiene index model based on the concept of thaharah in the new norm according to the views of authoritative health experts and the evaluation of Islamic doctrine.

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The researchers found that the lack of existing previous studies has elaborated the practice of hygiene from the point of view of modern health medicine only and only focused on Islamic jurisprudence alone. On the other hand, this research will exhibit more clearly personal hygiene from the point of view of medicine and Islamic legal doctrine. The advantage of this research compared to previous studies is that it integrates a comparison of Islamic law based on authoritative sources, namely the Quran and Hadith, and the views of inventive scholars by referring to authoritative books for the reference of Muslims throughout life.

5 Findings, Discussions, and Recommendations An index model has been developed to be used as a mechanism to assess and measure the hygiene performance of the Muslim community based on the results obtained by the planning and strategy of the National Hygiene Policy committee. The findings of this index will be used as an indicator in policy formulation, planning, and implementing programs to achieve targets in line with the country’s commitment to implement the initiatives below the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030. The framework is based on the medical doctrine of Islamic jurisprudence. This Concept Theory will be taken from sources of the Quran and hadith and the study and views of Islamic scholars concerning these books and scholarly scientific studies. The aspect of cleanliness is very much emphasized in Islam, so Muslims and scholars are discussed and debated in the book of hadith and fiqh called Kitab alThaharah or Bab al-Thaharah. Just look at books like Kitab Al-Fiqh Manhaji ‘ala Mazhab al-Imam as-Syafi’ie by Dr. Mustafa al-Khin and Kitab Bulughul Maram by al-Sheikh Muhammad Idris al-Marbawi al-Azhari. This is the main thing or path at the beginning of the life of Muslims because it is a prerequisite for the acceptance of deeds of worship. Cleanliness practice includes physical (external) personal hygiene and spiritual (internal) personal hygiene to balance it and by the demands of religion. Researchers will use content-based analysis data information got to establish a hygiene index to increase the frequency of Muslim community practices in protecting themselves from COVID-19 infection is discussed further. The empirical tests will provide a basis for managing mandatory tasks in moderate or adverse conditions. The study results show that it will produce or produce a hygiene index model that is in line with Islamic legal doctrine to promote hygiene practices among the Muslim community to protect themselves from COVID-19. Thus, appropriate measures can be taken to start the development of compulsory task activities in line with the new norms to prevent the spread of diseases, including the COVID-19 epidemic.

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6 Conclusions The life of the Prophet Muhammad SAW is the embodiment of the Al-Quran. The prophetic tradition or sunnah is the way of life of all human beings to live better. As mentioned, he was sent as “Mercy for all beings” as stated in the Qur’an, speech, deeds. Therefore, the proposal is wise and consistent with changing the contours of human society over time. He was also sent to teach and purify humankind as described in the Qur’an: “He (Allah) has sent to the unlettered a Messenger from among them who recites to them His verses and purifies them and teaches them. Even if they were before in manifest error, namely the Book and Wisdom.” (Al-Jumu’ah, 62: 2). This study shows that the tradition of Rasulullah SAW always practices cleanliness and good health and encourages his followers to emulate Rasulullah SAW in every aspect of life that combines both body and soul elements. Although there are implications of the broader Islamic tradition, a healthy body, soul, and society are still not fully known scientifically. Several recent scientific discoveries have revealed significant effects. The Islamic prescription of healthy living needs to be enjoyed individually and collectively. Therefore, Islam is very strict about the institution of the family and considers it as the core foundation of a society. A healthy life is a fundamental instrument for generating happiness and a wealthy family. Without physical well-being and a healthy spiritual character, an organization cannot survive to be a healthy nation. Yusuf al-Qaradawi [9], a leading Islamic scholar, advised to take care of the family in which the mother and her newborn baby are the main pillars to be formed. Mothers and newborns are the main pillars of developing a good and healthy society. The Islamic tradition in hygiene and health discussed in this study is essential, especially during difficult times such as infectious epidemics. Still, due to the Muslims’ negligence, they ignore what is taught by the Shari’ah, causing outbreaks of contagious diseases. We have seen that some of the Prophet’s rules and guidelines on hygiene and various prescriptions during a pandemic are practical to practice today. Furthermore, it is not only based on pharmacology and “social distance” strategies alone as suggested and recommended by modern medical science and practitioners after COVID-19, but it is an Islamic tradition of preventive measures for healthy living, valued by the scientific community. Today, we understand that the teachings of the Prophet SAW, which are more than 1400 years old, are very relevant to be used and practiced throughout the ages, especially in this 21st era tainted with this deadly black plague. Acknowledgements The author is a research group member under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS). We want to thank and appreciate the MOE & Research Management Center (RMC), UiTM, for the encouragement to publish this paper and support the funding of our research project entitled “The Determinants of Self-Hygiene Index For New Norm Based On The Nazafah Concept Of Islamic Jurisprudence Doctrine To Fight COVID-19 Pandemic” (600-RMC/FRGS 5/3 (129/2021)) under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) Year 2021.

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