• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제7권7호
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• pp.105-112
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• 2020

The study investigates and measures the impact of capital structure, profitability and financial performance on the success of the business organization. Capital structure of the business organization refers to the proportion of external funds and internal funds, i.e., debt and equity. In Saudi Arabia, petrochemicals companies are working on equity, but financial performance reflects negative trend for the period 2004 to 2016. The research is based upon secondary data available on the websites of petrochemicals companies of Saudi Arabia. Financial Ratio variability analysis and Trend Indices of financial ratios (TI_CBI) measure and compare the financial variability and sensitivity of financial ratios of the business organization. Correlation between Trend Indices (TI_CBI) of independent variable and dependent variables are to be calculated to know the impact of changes in debt equity on other dependent variables. The results reveal the unexpected performance of petrochemicals companies due to under-utilization of the resources caused by low demand and lower prices of the products governed by some internal and external factors. The study finds that size, demand, cost of production, profitable streams of products, and low cost capital in external funds are the factors responsible for overall growth development of the petrochemicals industry of Saudi Arabia.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제7권11호
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• pp.259-268
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• 2020

Several studies demonstrate that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is becoming a dominant issue in both research and companies' management due to stakeholders' pressure. The identification of internal and external drivers and barriers is an initial stage of the corporate social responsibility implementation. The study aims to identify and analyze the drivers and barriers of CSR in Saudi Arabia's private organizations. For this purpose, primary data were collected using a survey questionnaire that was administered to a representative sample of companies from different sectors in Saudi Arabia. The results show that the main drivers behind the adoption of CSR among Saudi companies are improvement of corporate image, ethical/moral commitment, and to some extend customers' requirements and risk management. The findings of this study also suggest that there are important barriers hindering the adoption of corporate social responsibility. Among these, the lack of management commitment and the lack of investors' interests together with the lack of economic resources and lack of employees' competencies are the most prominent. The findings of this study not only contribute to a deeper understanding of CSR drivers and barriers, but could also encourage firms' managers and stakeholders to improve CSR activities for more effective implementation.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제7권10호
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• pp.675-685
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• 2020

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the potential effect of ownership concentration on the relationship between board composition and bank performance. The study employs a sample of Saudi banks listed on Saudi stock exchange (TADAUWL) over the period from 2011 to 2018. To test the study hypotheses and control for endogeneity issues, the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and the Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) techniques are used. The empirical results reveal a significant negative moderating effect of ownership concentration on the association between board composition and bank performance, which confirms the study argument and supports hypotheses. The results indicate that board composition in terms of independent board members, executive board members, and non-executive board members in banks with higher ownership concentration have a weaker positive influence on bank performance. For control variables, the results are almost consistent with theoretical perspectives and previous empirical evidence. The results of this study have important implications for regulatory authorities, companies, and market participants in Saudi Arabia and countries with high concentrated ownership to understand how ownership concentration could affect corporate governance and firm performance and to identify appropriate actions to protect board composition from the influence of ownership concentration.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제8권5호
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• pp.913-921
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• 2021

The objective of the study is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Saudi Arabia stock market. The study relied on the data of the daily closing stock market price index Tadawul All Share Index (TASI), and the number of daily cases infected with COVID-19 during the period from March 15, 2020, to August 10, 2020. The study employs the Vector Auto-Regressive (VAR) model, the Impulse Response Function (IRF) and Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (ARCH) models. The results of the correlation matrix and the Impulse Response Function (IRF) show that stock market returns responded negatively to the growth in COVID-19 infected cases during the pandemic. The results of ARCH model confirmed the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic on KSA stock market returns. The results also showed that the negative market reaction was strong during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study concluded that stock market in KSA responded quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic; the response varies over time according to the stage of the pandemic. However, the Saudi government's response time and size of the stimulus package have played an important role in alleviating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Saudi Arabia Stock Market.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• 제21권7호
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• pp.267-272
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• 2021

The current study aimed at measuring the rate of loss in search results of the actual number of publications in journals indexed by Web of Science when not using the accurate official authority name as indicated by the Ministry of Education. Conducting a search using the authority name does not always yield complete results of all existing publications. Researchers in Saudi universities tend to use up to 10 different random names of universities when searching. This interesting fact has prompted the authors of this paper to conduct a study on the search results of 30 Saudi universities using the authority name as indicated by the Ministry of Education. The statistical analyses revealed that there is a high tendency for the wrong use of authority names. Results show that 8 universities were not found in the search results. Furthermore, other universities are losing between 10 and 30% of search results that reflect the actual number of publications. Consequently, the rank of each university, as well as the general rank of Saudi universities in the Web of Science, will be affected.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제9권10호
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• pp.251-264
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• 2022

This study explores e-banking variables that affect client satisfaction in the Saudi Arabian banking industry spanning three dimensions: reliability, security concerns, and efficiency, which were chosen as predictors of customer satisfaction in the e-banking industry. A field survey using a self-administered questionnaire as a data collection instrument was adopted to collect the required data from a convenience sample of 250 participants of Saudi banking customers. The overall fit of the hypothesized model was tested using linear regression to find the rate of the independent factors' impact on the dependent variable. The study's findings revealed that there is a statistically significant relationship between the three dimensions and customer satisfaction in Saudi e-banking, with the largest impact being that of reliability, followed by efficiency, and finally security concerns. Also, the study found there was a significant difference in reliability which was considered more important for Saudis and there was a significant difference in efficiency, which was considered more important by males. The findings of this study suggest that these three dimensions are instrumental in e-banking customer satisfaction and that banks can gain a competitive edge by providing better services in these dimensions to sustain and develop their performance in the increasingly globalized banking industry.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제8권7호
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• pp.365-373
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• 2021

This paper investigates the presence of momentum profits in the Saudi stock market. The study applied a quantitative method by utilizing monthly closing prices of 194 listed firms on Tadawal (Saudi Stock Market). The data from January 2010 to February 2019 is taken from the Tadawal market database for analysis. The sample is further divided into two equal sub-samples based on the structural changes that occurred in the Saudi stock market. Moreover, the high- and low-value traded portfolios are also constructed to examine the presence of momentum profits. Sixteen investment strategies are formed for each sample. The results show a very strong presence of momentum profits in the Saudi stock market for the full sample as well as for the sub-samples. The momentum profits are observed for a longer investment horizon. The results confirm that the short or medium-term formation of portfolios produces negative momentum returns for high-value traded stocks. The low-value traded stocks portfolios give similar results to the full sample results in terms of momentum profits. The results suggest that an investor should keep an eye on the past performance of desired stocks for at least three-nine months in which they are willing to invest.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.21-39
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• 2021

The acceptance of smartphone applications in the learning field is one of the most significant challenges for higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia. These institutions serve large and varied sectors of society and have a tremendous impact on the knowledge gained by student segments at various ages. M-learning is of great importance because it provides access to learning through a wide range of mobile networks and allows students to learn at any time and in any place. There is a lack of quality requirements for M-learning applications in Saudi societies partly because of mandates for high levels of privacy and gender segregation in education (Garg, 2013; Sarrab et al., 2014). According to the Saudi Arabian education ministry policy, gender segregation in education reflects the country's religious and traditional values (Ministry of Education, 2013, No. 155). The opportunity of many applications would help the Saudi target audience more easily accept M-learning applications and expand their knowledge while maintaining government policy related to religious values and gender segregation in the educational environment. In addition, students can share information through the online framework without breaking religious restrictions. This study uses a quantitative perspective to focus on defining the technical aspects and learning requirements for distributing knowledge among students within the digital environment. Additionally, the framework of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) is used to modify new constructs, called application quality requirements, that consist of quality requirements for systems, information, and interfaces.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제8권3호
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• pp.1101-1111
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• 2021

The current study aims to investigate the influence of different categories of ownership held by different types of board members on bank performance. The study uses a sample of Saudi listed banks for the period from 2011 to 2018. The results of the panel data analysis using firm fixed-effects regression model indicate that bank performance is significantly and positively affected by the chairman ownership and the CEO ownership. However, board independent members' ownership has a negative influence on bank performance. While non-executive board members' ownership and family board members have an insignificant impact on bank performance. Control variables, including board size, non-executive board members, government ownership, leverage, and bank size are significantly associated with bank performance. Overall, the results indicate that Saudi bank performance is higher in smaller banks that have smaller boards with lower non-executive members, lower portion of shares held by independent board members, higher portion of shares held by the chairman, CEO, and government, and higher leverage. The results of this study provide important implications for regulatory authorities and market participants in Saudi Arabia and countries with ownership concentration to understand the actual role of different categories of board ownership on firm performance in addition to optimize board ownership.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제9권6호
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• pp.297-302
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• 2022

The current study examines the relationship between inventory management efficiency and financial performance in Saudi Arabian companies. The study collected data from the companies listed on Tadawul (a Saudi Arabian stock exchange) during the period starting from 2016 and ending in 2020. The study uses pooled regression model by incorporating Return on Assets (ROA) and Inventory Turnover Ratio (ITR) as a performance measurement variable and inventory conversion period as an inventory management variable to report the results. The results show a positive and significant association between inventory management and firms' financial growth measured in terms of Return on Assets (ROA). Further, the study reports a positive and significant association between the inventory conversion period and inventory turnover (ITR). This shows that managing inventory efficiently shall positively impact the firm's performance. The other variables, such as debt ratio and gross profit, are positively related to ROA and negatively correlated with ITR. The firm growth is positively associated with both the dependent variables. The results suggest that the management of inventory in Saudi Arabian firms is efficient. Further, the firm size is positively associated with ROA and ITR. This shows a nexus between inventory management efficiency and firms' financial growth in Saudi Arabian companies.