SACM - Australia
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://drepo.sdl.edu.sa/handle/20.500.14154/9648
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Item Restricted Examining Academics and Students Attitudes to Mobile-learning in a Transformative University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: a study of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University(Saudi Digital Library, 0023-10-27) Alshehri, Eman; Preston, Greg; Buchanan, RachelAlthough there is a growing interest in mobile-learning and its potential benefits in higher education, limited research has investigated cross-contextual mobile-learning issues such as university technology policies, usage levels, and practices in relation to students' gender, contextual, educational, and gender-based mobile-learning attitudes. This study was undertaken as a case study at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), to investigate the attitudes of both academic staff and students towards the adoption of mobile-learning with Smartphones. The first purpose of this study was to explore the current Smartphone policies, level of usage, preferred learning activities by students and academics at IAU. The second purpose of the study was to investigate the student’s and academics’ attitudes and perceptions toward using their Smartphones as learning and teaching tools, with particular regard to the challenges and/or enablers that they may encounter. This study used an adapted version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and a sequential mixed methods design to collect the data using online surveys with students (N=325), and semi-structured interviews with academics (N=21). Regression analysis was used to analyse the online surveys (quantitative data), and a thematic analysis was used to analyse the semi-structured interviews (qualitative data). The study findings revealed that both students and academics generally have a positive attitude toward the use of Smartphones in the learning environment at IAU. Around 98% of students at IAU use Smartphones every day for learning, while the use by the academics was substantially less. From the nine measured variables, only four predictors had a significant influence on students’ attitudes to mobile-learning: self-efficacy, enjoyment, perceived ease of use, and mobile-learning preferences. For academics, the most frequently reported challenge they faced when adopting mobile-learning was the lack of policies and regulations governing their use. This study contributes to the body of knowledge on mobile-learning in higher education and offers useful insights into how Smartphones are currently used by students and academics at IAU and the best practices for implementing Smartphones as learning and teaching tools.61 0Item Restricted Impact of Sustainability Reporting on Saudi-Listed Firms Performance under the Moderating Effect of Corporate Governance(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-07-14) Alhamami, Mahdi; Natoli, RiccardoWith the increasing preference for transparency in economic, environmental and social issues, sustainability reporting (SR) has become a broadly accepted practice for enterprises worldwide. Although SR is not a new concept, research focusing on the potential financial and non-financial benefits of SR is still limited, especially in the context of developing countries such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This research adopts a multi-theoretical perspective to examine how SR impacts corporate financial and non-financial performance. Since corporate governance (CG) is considered a potential method for improving SR transparency and efficacy, this research also investigates how specific CG mechanisms moderate this relationship. Although previous studies have examined SR and firm performance, they did not include a focus on Islamic items in SR. Additionally, the role of CG as a moderator in the relationship between SR and firm performance in the context of KSA remains unexplored. Therefore, the present research extends the literature by introducing a new framework through which to investigate CG mechanisms as moderating effects between SR and firm performance of KSA listed firms. This research adopted a quantitative approach and developed a modified global reporting initiative (GRI) disclosure index to collect secondary data through the manual content analysis technique from 121 listed firms. The present research also sourced the annual and sustainability reports for the data collection. The research’s variables included 1) the independent variables of total SR (TSR), economic SR (ECO), environmental SR (ENV) and social SR (SOC); 2) the dependent variable of financial performance, which is proxied by return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and Tobin’s Q (TQ), with non-financial performance being proxied by market share (MS) and internal business perspective (IBP); and 3) the moderating variable, which comprised the CG mechanisms of board size (BS), independent directors (ID), audit committee size (ACS), independence member of audit committee (IMAC), audit committee quality (ACQ), board gender diversity (BDG), government ownership (GOV) and foreign ownership (FOR). To test the research hypotheses, both univariate statistics (t-test) and fixed effect panel regression analysis were performed for two-panel datasets: 1) pre-COVID-19 (2015–2019, 596 firm–year observations and 2) including COVID-19 (2015–2020, 690 firm–year ii observations). Robustness testing was performed by employing the generalised method of moments (GMM) on the balanced panel data. The findings indicated that in KSA, the modified GRI index is more effective than the traditional GRI index. The research also found that SR and its three components (ECO, ENV, SOC) significantly and positively impact the financial performance indicators in the periods before COVID-19 and including COVID-19. Similarly, SR and its components demonstrated a positive significant relationship with non-financial performance in both data periods (pre and including COVID-19). Further, the findings associated with the moderating variables demonstrated that the CG mechanisms mostly did not moderate the nexus between SR and financial performance. Notably, GOV and ACQ demonstrated a significant moderating impact between SR and financial performance (ROA, ROE, TQ). The results further revealed that BS, ACS and GOV significantly affected SR and MS before COVID-19, while ID and BGD performed a similar role in the period including COVID-19. Similarly, the moderating variables BS and BGD were identified as significant moderators of SR on IBP both pre and including COVID-19. The results from this research offer insights for policymakers, practitioners and key stakeholders in KSA to achieve higher sustainability ratings and subsequently improve the financial and non-financial performance of listed firms. It also illuminates the moderating role of CG on the nexus of SR and firm performance. Practical and policy implications arising from this study include 1) strengthening the role of the board of directors; 2) highlighting the benefits of SR for profitability in KSA companies; 3) implementing comprehensive SR guidance and compliance for KSA listed firms; and 4) increasing the number of IDs, improving ACQ and encouraging the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards for effective SR.79 0