Dr Arif Sikander

Faced with intensified global education competition, universities and other Higher Education institutions are implementing Total Quality Management (TQM) to keep rivals at bay. Meanwhile, research interest in TQM in Higher Education is growing. This paper reviews the achievements and limitations of extant research on TQM in Higher Education, and discusses directions for future research. The paper finds that extant research focuses on (1) teaching and learning but neglects research and industry engagement; (2) an isolated factor (e.g., teacher) but neglects other factors (e.g., facilities); (3) the Higher Education sector in advanced countries but neglects the Higher Education sector in developing countries; and (4) TQM as a phenomenon but neglects theory development and integration. Future research needs to address these limitations, adopt a more holistic perspective, and take a more inclusive and comprehensive approach to TQM in the Higher Education sector.

New developments in technologies and global changes in business environment have placed demands on the HR professionals to acquire new competencies and skills. The role of Human Resources Management (HRM) and the Human Resources practitioner has long been discussed within the walls of academia and in the practical work environment. “Over time, the HR practitioner has taken on new roles and responsibilities in order to meet increasing expectations around the value-add of the Human Resource (HR) function and its legitimacy within the workplace. In order to take on new and adaptable roles, those looking at working in HR need specific skills and competencies” (Girardi, 2014A). This study set to identify the technical and generic skills and competencies needed to be a contemporary HR practitioner from three different perspectives – the academic literature, the practitioner (industry-based) literature and the potential employer. A comprehensive literature review was undertaken to analyse the perspectives of the academics. To peep into the professional perspective, a critical review of the HR generalist, HR specific associations and HR consulting firms was carried out. Finally a desktop research of various HR related advertisements, helped to identify the employers’ perspectives. The key skills identified include: ability to build effective relationships, influence, negotiate and lead effectively. The findings revealed that scholarly journals do not identify the “project management” skills required by HR practitioner. The professional literature synthesis also did not capture the theme of “change steward”. The employers’ perspective also excluded the “change steward” and “global acumen” themes. The breadth and depth of the identified themed skills will result in the HR practitioner requiring further education in other business fields or training and experience in fields such as financial, marketing and information technology. Employers will place significant value on its HR practitioner as a strategic business partner (the identified theme) for its business. The perspective identified from three different viewpoints should help HR professional to take initiative in excelling in many areas especially knowledge beyond the traditional HR practices.

A large body of the literature confirms that scenario-planning and foresight activities have become a widely used strategic management approach for understanding future uncertainty in an ever-changing environment. There is little analysis on why some scenario methods succeed and others fail (Bowman, Mac Kay, Masrani, and Mc Kiernan 2013). Although research, as determined though this study, confirms the benefits of applying foresight activities and scenario-planning, it is the opinion of the author that the case studies presented, even the ones involving large firms, are only limited to a particular organizational framework. It would be worthwhile to explore the degree of success or failure of such methods depending on context. This paper in particular critically analyzes the role of scenarios in strategic foresight. The results of this article indicate that scenario-planning is not perfect, its strengths and weaknesses are all quite evident, and therefore, to be successful in the turbulent future, organizations may take advantages from scenarios, while some other tools also can be necessary complements. The results have implications for academics as well as executives. To carry out scenarios in supporting strategy planning is always not easy, it requires leadership teams to be fully aware of the theory, as well as the practice techniques so that to overlook the entire situation as a whole.

Many previous studies have analysed the level of task and relationship orientation of different cultures and their affect on stress (Sikander, Mujtaba and Akhtar 2012). Although Stress is quite normal at workplace and influences the level of performance of individuals, however, it becomes much more important when sensitive professions like Flying have to be analysed. Cultural differences of students perhaps could influence the stress perception. There is dearth of studies in this area. The sample for the study included students undergoing aviation courses as sponsored and self-paid and to analyse the various relationships. It was expected that the difference in results will be a contribution to the literature and will also provide useful input to design the courses for aviation students belonging to different cultures. This study focused on the differences of 40 Emiratis and 20 non-Emiratis (expat) aviation students. It appears that the expat students focused more on task orientation then relationships. They also had higher level of stress scores from work overload. In this paper, literature on the country of survey, stress influence on flying and workload of pilots and recommendations for subsequent research is included.

The impact of changing technology in gaining sustainable competitive advantage is of interest and concern to organisations. Lately interest has grown in analysing the influence of strategic management of technology (STM) in the performance of firms. Studies so far have focused on the manufacturing sector and those too in the West. Studies on STM in the East are almost non-existent. A study was carried out in an Eastern country to exploit this gap and develop new variable which could be further developed. This paper is part of the big study and analyses the influence of the size of firm on the development and implementation of technology strategies at the firm level. It contributes to the literature in terms of overall effect of STM on firm performance.

Technology strategies are increasingly being viewed by organizations as competitive weapons and instruments of business strategy. This study focused on the 'services' sector and within this sector it was decided to restrict the study to technical institutions. The reason for selecting technical institutions was that the performance of institutions in the technology area is more affected by technology strategies/policies than the non-technical schools and colleges. The study sought to identify and analyse the level of awareness of participants on technology strategy issues and the perception of departments (including those in the Ministries) about technology management. The participants included the staff and heads of departments at a technical college from the ASEAN countries, the senior management at the college and the policy makers at the Department of Technical Education (DTE). The technology strategy and management data was desired from all the three groups. Data was collected through a questionnaire and analyzed using statistical techniques. A pilot-study helped to refine the questionnaire before it was administered. The study sets the tone to open up discussions and research interest towards applying strategic technology management tools in the education sector. The management issues revealed as part of this study has implications to the management in the education sector in providing valuable inputs to develop technology strategies/policies.

Purpose
This study aims to examine country of origin (COO), price and brand effects on Lebanese consumers’ attitudes towards US products and brands while evaluating a low‐involvement product like chocolate.

Design/methodology/approach
The research comprised formulation of a detailed questionnaire that was served to 488 administered at various shopping malls across Lebanon. Statistical analyses of data employed included Pearson correlation and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests.

Findings
The data supported both the hypotheses that respectively predicted that brand price was more important than COO in the evaluation of low‐involvement products. The data did not support the hypothesis that predicted a preference by Lebanese consumers for “Made in Lebanon” products, based on a similar observed preference for domestic products in developed nations.

Research limitations/implications
The external validity of the findings are limited since an over‐exaggerated weight is provided for the “made in” label while in a real purchase situation; price as well as brand have a weight that is far superior to that of the COO. In today's business world several cues are already embedded in the brand name which limits the internal validity of the study; this includes the “made in” labels as external cues used by respondents while evaluating a particular chocolate brand regardless of the origin cue already dispatched by the brand itself.

Originality/value
The results have evidenced, if needed, the importance of taste when purchasing a particular brand. Hence, a Lebanese consumer would not mind choosing a Ghour chocolate bar instead of a Nestlé or even a Cadbury chocolate bar only if these three brands had equivalent attributes. Brand is the second attribute considered by consumers when choosing a particular chocolate. Thus, a successful approach for international marketers would be to build strong brand equity. The results provide extremely useful outputs to the marketing professionals.

Stress is a normal part of the workplace and it is perhaps heavily influenced by one’s level of task and relationship orientation. To explore the stress and leadership orientation of people in two different cultures, this study focused on the differences of 64 Australian and 155 Pakistani respondents. It appears that they have similar scores on the task orientation and stress perception, but Australians are more relationship-oriented. Overall, both groups reported a moderate level of stress with no statistically significant differences. In this paper, literature on the two cultures is presented along with practical suggestions and implications for future studies regarding leadership and stress management.

Pakistan is an emerging economy and a modernizing workplace. This research surveyed 318 citizens, managers, and employees in Lahore and Islamabad to measure their Personal Business Ethics Scores (PBES) based on age and gender, as well as to see if face-to-face and online data collection processes make a difference in their level of ethical maturity. Furthermore, this study contributes to the theory of moral development. The results suggest that age is a significant factor in moral development as it leads to higher scores in moral maturity. Gender is not a factor in the ethical maturity scores of these respondents. Kohlberg’s moral development theory regarding ethical maturity is supported since those who were older do have higher business ethics scores. Furthermore, significant differences were found based on the data collection process. These results can be helpful for human resources managers and expatriates who work in these cities with local professionals. Suggestions and implications are discussed.  

Purpose - This study seeks to examine country of origin (COO) and national loyalty effects on Lebanese consumers' quality perceptions, attitudes, and purchase intentions with respect to airlines serving Lebanon.

Design/methodology/approach - The research comprised formulation of a detailed questionnaire that was served to 360 persons via personal delivery and e-mails. Statistical analysis of data employed chi-square and ANOVA tests.

Findings - It was found that factors other than personal experience could impact customer perceptions when selecting the airlines of preference in which national loyalty was a key factor. An important finding was that, from the point of view of personal experience, demographic variables influenced customer perceptions, whereas otherwise the country of origin (COO) effect was predominant.

Research limitations/implications - There was a direct implication that factors other than personal experience do impact customer perception when selecting the airlines of preference. The findings show disagreement with many scholars who give high importance to personal experience as a basis for selection. In this scenario, the majority of the respondents traveled on MEA and gave a good evaluation for the quality services provided by MEA. A different experimental setting would be required to determine the response of dissatisfied customers with travel on MEA.

Originality/value - The analysis of COO effect in selecting an airline by Lebanese consumers is the first of its kind of study in Lebanon and would contribute to the overall literature. It could also provide useful information to the airline industry and national aviation planners in Lebanon.