Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences最新文献

{"title":"Evaluation of the implementation of merit criteria in the selection of senior bureaucratic officials in Egypt","authors":"Refai Al-Qarni Mohamed Al-Saba","doi":"10.1108/jhass-07-2021-0123","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jhass-07-2021-0123","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe paper aimed to identify the extent of the implementation of merit criteria in the selection of senior bureaucratic officials in Egypt.Design/methodology/approachThe design of the study is both descriptive in the theoretical part and quantitative in the applied one. The study is based on a literature review and adopts an analytical approach to clarify the related concepts. Besides, an empirical study to investigate the correlations in practice, based on a sample of 380 senior officials to obtain the primary data.FindingsThe results of the study reveal that there are no statistically significant differences between the respondents' perspectives towards the implementation of merit criteria in selecting senior officials. This means that merit criteria are not always applied, but sometimes. Moreover, the results showed no statistically significant differences between the respondents' perspectives towards the implementation of merit criteria attributed to gender and age, while there were differences attributed to educational qualification and experience. The study recommended the necessity of adhering to the provisions of the civil service system and reconsidering the procedures of competitive examinations and interviews.Originality/valueWith respect to the Middle East, very limited studies have focused on the implementation of the merit system in recruitment. There is a lack of research and academic articles on this topic (Budhwar and Mellahi, 2016; Afiouni et al., 2014). The study addresses this gap in research and provides several recommendations that may improve the implementation of the merit system in Egypt. Moreover, this study adds to the limited literature on this topic in the Middle East.","PeriodicalId":174914,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences","volume":"62 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127382577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Covid-19 global pandemic, workplace spirituality and the rise of spirituality-driven organisations in the post-digital era","authors":"Eden Yin, A. Mahrous","doi":"10.1108/jhass-11-2021-0177","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jhass-11-2021-0177","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeDespite the growing importance of workplace spirituality, organisations have been reluctant to integrate spirituality into their workplaces; this paper discusses how to integrate spirituality into the workplace.Design/methodology/approachThis is a theoretical paper that builds its arguments on the synthesis of workplace spirituality and contemporary management paradigms.FindingsThe study argues that workplace spirituality is an extremely important driving force for the sustainable and healthy growth of any organisation; however, infusing workplace spirituality into companies in the industrial and digital eras would be a futile effort, as industrial organisations are built on an ethos highly incongruent with spiritual principles. Therefore, in the post-digital era, spirituality-driven organisations (SDOs) will emerge, marking the beginning of a true “spiritual paradigm” for business and human society at large. The study also elaborates on the characteristics of the post-digital era and the nature of SDOs.Originality/valueWorkplace spirituality has been a research topic for years but has never gained sufficient momentum. The Covid-19 global pandemic has made workplace spirituality a more pertinent issue on corporate agendas. Therefore, this paper provides the theoretical foundation to embed workplace spirituality in contemporary management thoughts and practices.","PeriodicalId":174914,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences","volume":"68 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125610726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effect of COVID-19 on the Egyptian exchange using principal component analysis","authors":"Heba M. Ezzat","doi":"10.1108/jhass-08-2021-0135","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jhass-08-2021-0135","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeSince the beginning of 2020, economies faced many changes as a result of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The effect of COVID-19 on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) is investigated in this research.Design/methodology/approachTo explore the impact of COVID-19, three periods were considered: (1) 17 months before the spread of COVID-19 and the start of the lockdown, (2) 17 months after the spread of COVID-19 and the during the lockdown and (3) 34 months comprehending the whole period (before and during COVID-19). Due to the large number of variables that could be considered, dimensionality reduction method, such as the principal component analysis (PCA) is followed. This method helps in determining the most individual stocks contributing to the main EGX index (EGX 30). The PCA, also, addresses the multicollinearity between the variables under investigation. Additionally, a principal component regression (PCR) model is developed to predict the future behavior of the EGX 30.FindingsThe results demonstrate that the first three principal components (PCs) could be considered to explain 89%, 85%, and 88% of data variability at (1) before COVID-19, (2) during COVID-19 and (3) the whole period, respectively. Furthermore, sectors of food and beverage, basic resources and real estate have not been affected by the COVID-19. The resulted Principal Component Regression (PCR) model performs very well. This could be concluded by comparing the observed values of EGX 30 with the predicted ones (R-squared estimated as 0.99).Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, no research has been conducted to investigate the effect of the COVID-19 on the EGX following an unsupervised machine learning method.","PeriodicalId":174914,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125356855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Public attitude as a determinant of petty corruption in Egypt: a survey study","authors":"Iman Ragaei Kamel, Samir Abd El Wahab, I. K. Ashmawy","doi":"10.1108/jhass-07-2021-0124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jhass-07-2021-0124","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe aim of the study is to examine the effect of public attitude on petty corruption.Design/methodology/approachThis is a survey study on customers of a licenses providing authority (N = 390) in Cairo, Egypt. The authors use Akers social learning theory of crime and deviance and take into consideration criticisms of it. The authors control for individual and organizational level determinants that are identified by scholars as influencing people's attitudes toward corruption and which could be known through the authority customers' experiences. Because the dependent variable is binary, whether a person paid a bribe during last transaction with this authority or not, the authors use binary logistic regression.FindingsThe findings indicate that people are more likely to engage in petty corruption when they see it as acceptable, have previous petty corruption experience and when they use a mediator. Also, of those who dealt with that civil service authority during and directly after the 25th of January Revolution (N = 161) 31% reported that they did not engage in petty corruption in comparison to previous years. They referred this to a change in attitude at the time.Originality/valueThe policy implications of the research are important. Social science theories could generate cultural and policy relevant solutions for petty corruption; however, they have not been taken full advantage of. Also, experience-based country-specific corruption survey studies are important input for an effective anti-corruption policy.","PeriodicalId":174914,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences","volume":"56 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122908602","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Predictors of financial satisfaction and its impact on psychological wellbeing of individuals","authors":"G. Owusu","doi":"10.1108/jhass-05-2021-0101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jhass-05-2021-0101","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeIn this study, the author examines the effect of financial knowledge, financial attitude and responsible financial management behaviour on financial satisfaction and investigates the association between financial satisfaction and psychological wellbeing of individuals. The author examines these relationships having controlled for the influence of key demographic variables including age, gender, marital status, income level and employment status of respondents on the predicted relationships.Design/methodology/approachData was gathered by means of a self-administered questionnaire to postgraduate business students from a large public university in Ghana. The hypothesized relationships of the study were tested using the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) technique.FindingsThe author shows from the structural model analysis using the bootstrapping procedure that financial knowledge, financial attitude and sound financial management behaviour have important implications on financial satisfaction levels of individuals. Further, the author finds financial satisfaction to be an important predictor of the psychological wellbeing of individuals.Practical implicationsThe paper highlights the relevance of financial satisfaction on the psychological wellbeing of an individual and identifies some of the dominant factors that are associated with financial satisfaction.Originality/valueThis study examines the concept of financial satisfaction at the individual level and uniquely highlights the psychological implications of financial satisfaction.","PeriodicalId":174914,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125788238","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sociocultural behavioral traits in modelling the prediction of COVID-19 infection rates","authors":"Charles Alba, Manasvi M. Mittal","doi":"10.37473/dac/10.1108/jhass-07-2021-0128","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37473/dac/10.1108/jhass-07-2021-0128","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeOver the past decades, many health authorities and public policy experts have traditionally relied on indicators that are dependent on a nation's economy, its health-care infrastructure advancements, and superiority in biomedical sciences and technology to predict potential infection rates should a health pandemic occur. One such commonly relied-upon indicator was that of the Global Health Security (GHS) Index. However, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has shown how such variables prove to be inaccurate in predicting the infection rates during a global health pandemic. Hence, this paper proposes the utilization of socio-cultural behavioral traits to predict a country's COVID-19 infection rates.Design/methodology/approachThis is achieved by proposing a model involving the classification and regression tree (CART) algorithm and a Poisson regression against the six selected cultural behavioral predictors consisting of individualism, power distance, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, and indulgence.FindingsThe results show that all the selected cultural behavioral predictors are significant in impacting COVID-19 infection rates. Furthermore, the model outperforms the conventional GHS Index model based on a means squared error comparison.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors hope that this study would continue promoting the use of cultures and behaviors in modeling the spread of health diseases.Practical implicationsThe authors hope that their works could prove beneficial to public office holders, as well as health experts working in health facilities, in better predicting potential outcomes during a health pandemic, thus allowing them to plan and allocate resources efficiently.Originality/valueThe results are a testament to the fact that sociocultural behavioral traits are more reliant predictors in modeling cross-national infection rates of global health pandemics, like that of COVID-19, as compared to economic-centric indicators.","PeriodicalId":174914,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125548316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Management of pre-university Egyptian education: politics, issues and trend","authors":"M. Z. Zaki Ewiss","doi":"10.1108/jhass-04-2021-0079","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jhass-04-2021-0079","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeEducational management's main task is to achieve learning quality outcomes in acquiring knowledge, scientific skills and social values. This study aims to provide a background on Egyptian thought development in educational management from 1990 to 2020.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, we used the descriptive method to collect and interpret data. This method aims to describe an object of phenomena after data collection, analyze it, identify the conditions and relationships between variables and monitor the challenges arising from Egypt's educational system's problems.FindingsThe results showed the following: (1) the trend toward decentralization of educational management is not fulfill during that period and (2) the district and directorate administration continued to receive administrative instructions from the managerial ladder's highest authorities. The Ministry of Education was in control of policy decision-making processes and administrative and financial responsibilities. Many decisions and laws hinder decentralization, such as centralizing examinations, curricula and teachers' recruitment and transfer.Originality/valueThe challenges of developing educational management are related to the shortage of modern management methods in administrative leadership, organizational behavior and decision-making, such as human relations and decentralized administration. Also, the insufficient material resources, managerial competencies and educational, intellectual stagnation among many leaders and administrators.","PeriodicalId":174914,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences","volume":"118 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134139737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Health risk behaviors among university students: the role of outdoor sports and electronic sports","authors":"Saima Anwar, S. Noor, Muhammad Asrar‐ul‐Haq","doi":"10.1108/jhass-06-2021-0104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jhass-06-2021-0104","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeInvolvement of youth in electronic sports is increasing and outdoor sports are decreasing day by day. It not only affects their health but also leads them towards noncommunicable diseases. Risk of noncommunicable diseases is associated with physical inactivity and affects physical and mental health. It results in different personal and social implications. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of outdoor sports and risks of electronic sports for health.Design/methodology/approachThe data for study is collected from 450 university students using purposive sampling technique. In order to measure outdoor sports, a four items instrument developed by Simon and Smoll (1974) is used. For electronic sports, instrument is adopted from Lemmens et al. (2009) and for health of youth, instrument by Bailis et al. (2003) is used. After reliability and validity check, structural equation modeling is used to analyze data.FindingsThe results reveal that perceived outdoor sports have significant positive impact on health, whereas electronic sports have negative impact on youth health that lead them to certain noncommunicable diseases. There is need to emphasize and encourage youth for outdoor sports and avoid indulging in esports that may lead to addiction.Practical implicationsElectronic games have various risks for the development of syndromes among younger generation. Awareness should be provided that physical activities are essential for healthy life and how risky be the esports for their health. This study may be helpful for government as well to reduce dependency of youth on technological devices and provide necessary recreation facilities to engage in. This research study validates that outdoor sports have significantly positive impact on health of youth and it reduces health related problems and destructive behaviors among youth.Originality/valueInvolvement of youth in electronic sports is increasing and outdoor sports are decreasing day by day. It not only affects their health, but also leads them toward non-communicable diseases. The present study examines the impact of esports and physical sports on youth health.","PeriodicalId":174914,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116771023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trump's January 6 Address: Hate Speech or Freedom of Speech? A Transdisciplinary Study","authors":"D. Hamed","doi":"10.1108/jhass-03-2021-0055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jhass-03-2021-0055","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis research is a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of Trump's speech on January 6, 2021, which results in his supporters' storming the US Capitol in order to challenge certifying Biden's victory. The Democrats accused Trump of incitement of insurrection. Consequently, Trump was impeached. This article investigates Trump's speech to label it as hate speech or free speech.Design/methodology/approachAnalytical framework is tri-dimensional. The textual analysis is based on Halliday's notion of process types and Huckin's discourse tools of foregrounding and topicalization. The socio-cognitive analysis is based on Van Dijk's ideological square and his theory of mental models. The philosophical dimension is founded on Habermas's theory of discourse. These parameters are the cornerstones of the barometer that will be utilized to reach an objective evaluation of Trump's speech.FindingsFindings suggest that Trump usually endows “I, We, You” with topic positions to lay importance on himself and his supporters. He frequently uses material process to urge the crowds' action. He categorizes Americans into two conflicting poles: He and his supporters versus the media and the Democrats. Mental models are created and activated so that the other is always negatively depicted. Reports about corruption are denied in court. Despite that, Trump repeats such reports. This is immoral in Habermas's terms. The study concludes that Trump delivered hate speech in order to incite the mob to act in a manner that may change the election results.Originality/valueThe study is original in its tri-dimensional framework and its data of analysis.","PeriodicalId":174914,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences","volume":"98 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132760169","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Job evaluation as a mechanism for achieving the fairness of a wage structure in the administrative system: theoretical perspectives","authors":"Suzan Abd El Moneim El Balshy, M. Ismael","doi":"10.1108/jhass-02-2021-0038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jhass-02-2021-0038","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis paper aims to present a theoretical framework which reveals the relationship between job evaluation (JE) and the development of fair wage structure from the organizational justice (OJ) perspective. It focuses on analyzing the dimensions of job-based pay structure and the use of multifaceted construct of OJ (procedures, distribution and interaction) to determine how the perceived justice of JE's multi-levels construct contributes to achieve the fairness of wage structure.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts an analytical descriptive approach in terms of explaining the perspectives and viewpoints related to the analysis. This paper is based on examining a theoretical framework provided by the authors based on a theoretical review of literature and a set of empirical evidences.FindingsThe design of a hierarchical wage structure counts on the multidimensional approach of JE which consists of three dimensions (processes, outcomes and social system). In addition, the determination of wage structure fairness is dependent on the assessment of the perceived justice of: JE's procedures, wages distribution and management's treatment with its employees.Originality/valueThis study provides a new theoretical contribution in studying the relationship between JE and the design of fair wage structure. This contribution can be regarded as a theoretical foundation for conducting some empirical and comparative studies in the future. The study affords directive mechanisms to policymakers in order to enhance the fairness of the wage structure across the state.","PeriodicalId":174914,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126455212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}