Business

Oman has made tremendous progress in the last four decades on the back of rising oil prices and this has led to substantial economic activity in oil, construction, industries and services sectors creating an unprecedented demand for labor ranging from professionals, technical experts, educators, highly skilled people in all vocations to low and semi-skilled people including cleaners, gardeners, packers, domestic workers etc. The objective of the current paper is to examine the causal factors which determine the underlying reason for the migration of such contract workers into Oman, and analyze why some factors seem to play a key role in the workers’ decision to migrate while some do not. Primary data was sourced through interview schedule by using a structured questionnaire and the information regarding the respondents migration were collected from 105 respondents (N=105). A Structured Equation model (SEM) was used for both identification and examination of factors that are primaril...

Oman has made tremendous progress in the last four decades on the back of rising oil prices and this has led to substantial economic activity in oil, construction, industries and services sectors creating an unprecedented demand for labor ranging from professionals, technical experts, educators, highly skilled people in all vocations to low and semi-skilled people including cleaners, gardeners, packers, domestic workers etc. The objective of the current paper is to examine the causal factors which determine the underlying reason for the migration of such contract workers into Oman, and analyze why some factors seem to play a key role in the workers’ decision to migrate while some do not. Primary data was sourced through interview schedule by using a structured questionnaire and the information regarding the respondents migration were collected from 105 respondents (N=105). A Structured Equation model (SEM) was used for both identification and examination of factors that are primaril...

Passion leads to compelling action. Passion has been identified as an important conceptual variable in the entrepreneurship process. Today, Millennials view entrepreneurship as a way to get the freedom to work when and where they choose. Winners have a deep passion for what they are doing and keep at it until they achieve their goals. Passion can therefore be a differentiating factor between success and failure for an entrepreneur. Hence, through this research, researchers’ would like to measure the entrepreneurial passion among millennial’s in SME’s of Oman. The study was conducted among 110 millennial Entrepreneurs in SME’s of Oman. Based on the previous research studies 15 constructs were selected for this study and hypotheses are framed. The research through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using AMOS software infers that variables such as, making business as a positive impact on my community(POS), Searching for new ideas for products/services to offer is enjoyable (IDA), Moti...

Teacher is the central element in educational system holding various important responsibilities. The role played by teachers becomes a very important component and in fact it can be said that they are in way our nation builders. The overall performance of any college depends upon their teachers and ultimately their level of commitment. Oman stands as a model in terms of development of its education system considering the phenomenal growth it has experienced in the last two decades commonly described as massive, unprecedented and unsurpassed by any other country. Despite efforts to encourage nationals to work in the public and private sectors, education sector remains dominated by expatriates. The present study investigates the factors influencing organizational commitment of Expat teacher’s and the relationship between Organisational commitment and its antecedents of expatriate teachers working in Omani-owned Ministry of Manpower colleges in Oman. The study was conducted among teach...

The oil boom in the Arabian Peninsula has removed Oman's dependence from the agriculture sector and shifted to the oil and gas sector. Oman's economy is dependent on the public sector but the expanding population has made it inevitable to penetrate deeper into the private sector too. This present research study attempts to compare employee engagement in public and private companies in Oman oil and gas sector. It aims to identify the difference that exist in the comprehension of employee engagement. Add to that, this study also aims to compare cognitive, emotional and behavioral levels of employee engagement in the said sectors. Primary data was sourced through structured questionnaire and the information regarding the respondents were collected from 140 respondents. Out of that 70 respondents in public and 70 respondents in private Oil and Gas sector. Snowball sampling method was used to collect the data. The target respondent for this study are middle level employees. The o...

Training process moulds the thinking of employees and leads to quality performance of employees. No organization can get a candidate who exactly matches with the Job and the organizational requirements. The organization has to provide them necessary training and opportunities for growth and development. The Training department’s ambitions are to develop highly-skilled employees to achieve impact across the whole economy to maintain national capability. Training programs provide multiple benefits for employees and the company, but only if they are carefully planned and properly implemented. The employees normally come to the training with lot of expectations to impart knowledge on technical operations systems on various specialized financial services/areas but sometimes the trainers offering only limited training modules. Hence, through this research, researchers’ would like to analyse the bank employees’ expectations of training programmes in Oman. Bank Muscat is the leading financi...

The increasing need for medical care has led to demand for private medical institutions which offer more personalized care. Most of the patients have grown to prefer private medical attention as compared to public medical care due to the better services offered. Nurses interact with patients on a daily basis who are from different cultural backgrounds which makes it essential for them to understand various cultures to be able to interact and effectively serve all the patients visiting the hospital. Private hospitals in Oman receive patients from diverse cultural backgrounds. In this research, an attempt was made to find out the level of Cultural intelligence in various dimensions and to examine the effect of nurses’ cultural intelligence (CI) on patient care services in private hospitals at Muscat governorate. Hence, nurses from Muscat governorate private hospitals were the study's respondents. The data was analysed using the Quartile method, Chi-square, and multiple regression ...

The overall performance of any college depends upon their teachers and ultimately their level of commitment. Oman stands as a model in terms of development of its education system considering the phenomenal growth it has experienced in the last two decades commonly described as massive, unprecedented and unsurpassed by any other country. Despite efforts to encourage nationals to work in the public and private sectors, education sector remains dominated by expatriates. In addition to individual characteristics, characteristics of national culture may also afect employment and organisational commitment. The present research sets out o examine the cros- national invariance of organizational commitment of Omani (nationals) and Expat Teachers in Omani coleges. The primary data had ben colected from 130 respondents using the stratifed probabilty sampling technique. Discriminant analysis was performed to analyse the data. The result of the study indicates that the diferences found betwen t...

Due to the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic, performing day-to-day activities as well as work have become a most imperative challenge. It results in reduced workers’ competencies at all levels and posed unpredicted issues for managers in all organizations. Correspondingly, there is a dearth of research on the overview of how to resolve this issue. This article is intended to explore leadership approaches that help to adapt them in fluctuating scenarios that exist due to the Covid-19. Accordingly, a systematic literature review of articles and research works published in various standard databases including Scopus, Web of Science, and other reports have been analyzed. A lot of studies have been focused on frontline work by converging on specific factors such as work engagement, and employee performance which are employee-oriented. Consequently, there is a lack of research on organization-oriented leadership approaches to be adapted for post-pandemic recovery. Thus, this paper helps the m...

Purpose – The study aims at assessing the effect of digital employee experience on organisational performance, particularly in the telecommunications sector in the Sultanate of Oman, using quantitative and qualitative analysis. Research methodology – The techniques used in this empirical research include scientific literature analysis, correlation analysis, multiple regression, and sentiment analysis. Findings – The results indicate that organisational performance has a higher association with elements of the digital employee experience like work environment, organisational culture, training availability, technology accessibility, digital tool usability, and leadership support and is statistically significant at the 5% level. Also, 80% of respondents were favourable or indifferent about their digital experience. Research limitations – The study exclusively covers Oman’s telecoms industry and six important digital employee experience elements, so additional factors and industries may...

Numerous facets of life are impacted by the efficient application of technologies. Education, like all other fields, is a major area where technology is used to teach and learn effectively. One of these technologies that instructors and educators have recently become interested in is blended learning. This article aims at identifying the main constructs that highly influence the adoption of blended learning in higher education through meta-analytic literature review and proposing new technology acceptance model that is suitable for digital education tools. About 32 quantitative studies published since 2007 in journals and conferences are selected for performing weight computation and meta-analysis of constructs with a total sample size of 8,168. Moreover, the study also conceptualises the new technology acceptance model for digital education tools, considering both students and instructors as end users. The descriptive statistics indicate that there has been an increase in the number of publications since the year 2020. The results show that perceived ease of use, attitude toward usage, and perceived usefulness on intention to use are good predictors concerning student respondents, while performance expectancy on behavioural intention is found to be a good predictor concerning instructors. The results of the meta-analysis highlight the significance of blended learning in government and educational institutions that prioritises student ease of use and instructor performance expectancy and facilitating conditions. The results prove the effectiveness of blended learning in enhancing student learning experiences while improving educational practises and outcomes. In addition to identifying key factors influencing blended learning adoption in higher education, the study also suggests a novel model for implementing digital education tools, considering both student and instructor perspectives, thereby addressing a critical need in educational technology research. It offers actionable recommendations for policymakers and educational institutions to enhance the quality of higher learning.

The use of Blogs by English as Second Language (ESL) teachers is well-documented and increasingly well-studied. Blogs in the ESL classroom provide a useful medium for writing and teacher commentary. However, the use of Blogs as a tool for the learner to construct and reflect on understanding of content in an ESL environment is much more problematic. Content teachers need to develop the skills to foster the development of, and recognize evidence of, content understanding in student Blog posts within the framework of limited English language proficiency. This paper reflects the personal experience of the authors with using Blogs in content courses for second language learners in the Middle East.

This book review of The World is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education by Curtis J. Bonk (2009) includes a brief overview of the book, along with a discussion of prevalent themes in the book. In addition to the stated theme of online learning, many of Bonk's examples and analyses focus on empowerment of the learner as a core concept in education of the future.

Religion and spirituality are historically related to tourism as pilgrimage travel is being considered as one of the oldest forms of tourism. Many of the religious sites are among the most visited tourism destinations in the world and in some areas a large number of pilgrimage shrines are simultaneously significant cultural sites. Furthermore, the presence of tourists in a particular area has resulted in a rapid development in terms of accommodation, infrastructure and service.
This paper discusses the potential of religious tourism development in the town of Sozopol in Bulgaria, where the relics of St John the Baptist were recently found. The study reveals the positive and negative effects of pilgrimage visitors and religious tourists on local community. The intend of the discussion is to highlight the importance of religion as an alternative to mass tourism and a tool for attracting visitors all year round.
The study is based upon the previous analysis related to religious tourism development in many different areas, where religious shrines and objects are the main economic generator for the local community. Examples of positive influence over the local community are given and they tend to encourage the development of other forms of tourism as well. The study’s selected strategy will challenge the present-day criticism within tourism society in Bulgaria that tourism industry is relied only upon typical sun, sand and sea tourism.

Key words: religion, tourism, pilgrimage, development, attitudes, impacts"

Urban areas have long been regarded as an integral part of contemporary tourism activities. From large metropolitan areas to small historic cities, urban environments now represent an important aspect for business and trade, but also for tourism and leisure. Although the significance of urban areas in tourism is well documented, the increased number of visitors has dramatically changed the overall landscape of many destinations and has resulted in numerous impacts for both public and private sector. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of some contemporary issues and tensions associated with heritage resources in urban areas. The study reveals the positive and negative consequences of using heritage attributes as a tool for destination development and further addresses some emerging topics such as sustainability, authenticity and interpretation of heritage attributes for tourism purposes. __________________________________________________________________________________________________