Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted A Comparative Analysis of Circular Economy Practices in Saudi Arabia with Leading Countries(Cranfield University, 2024-09) Alsaud, Khalid; Assad, FadiAs a result of the increase in urbanisation and resource consumption, the need for sustainable economic models has become noticeable. The linear economy model, established globally, consumes non-renewable resources, exceeding the earth's capacity which exhibits significant shortcomings that limit sustainability, requiring a shift towards CE as a sustainable conception. Saudi Arabia, one of the largest global economies, is striving to adopt this transformation due to significant environmental and economic challenges. Saudi Arabia has no specific strategy for the circular economy. This hinders the ability to find solutions of the challenges waste management and excessive consumption issues. The country is lacking a comprehensive framework that compares its policies with leading countries. A framework was developed to analyse and compare circular economy initiatives, strategies and policies between Saudi Arabia and China, Japan, and Europe. Collected data were examined and policies and strategies were analysed using thematic analysis. This approach allows for the identification of commonalities and differences between the countries. The study highlighted differences in policies and practices, identifying best practices that Saudi Arabia could adopt to enhance the sustainability. The findings emphasise the need of adopting global best practices and developing local strategies to KSA. Policymakers and researchers in Saudi Arabia can leverage these results to contribute to more effective shift to the CE. This work can by developed by implementing this study on quantitative study approach where indicators and metrics are compared, which leads to greater impact.19 0Item Restricted To what extent has Zambia pursued hedging in its relations with the Western democracies and the People's Republic of China?(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-11-14) Alshehri, Mohammed; AlanThe rise of the People’s Republic of China, the challenge this presents to the hegemonic Western democracies of Europe and North America, and the implications for small and medium powers in Asia, Africa, and elsewhere, is a topic of major international significance. In turn, hedging has been identified as a valuable concept, particularly in the context of Southeast and East Asia, that can help explain the strategies adopted by small and medium powers in the face of an increasingly uncertain and multipolar world. Logic suggests that, as China goes global, so will the strategies small/medium powers adopt in response. Africa—a continent of resource-rich, non-aligned developing states—seems well suited to hedging strategies. However, little research has thus far focused on hedging in Africa, with no studies focusing on hedging in Zambia in particular. This, therefore, is the rationale for the current research. Following a literature review which locates this study in its wider research context, in the process of developing an understanding of both hedging and Zambian foreign relations, an analysis is conducted of the extent to which Zambia has pursued hedging in its relations with the Western democracies and PRC. The evidence shows that, across the identified domains and despite changes in regime, from independence in 1964 to the present day, Zambia has pursued a risk-management/opportunity-maximisation non-alignment strategy, which consistently meets multiple indicators of hedging (including not taking sides and cultivating fallback options with diverse partners). This leads to the conclusion that Zambia has—and continues—to hedge in its relations with the West and China.52 0Item Restricted A comparative analysis of urban flood management strategy in the united kingdom and china(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-08-15) Alsahafi, Ruwaydah; Kassab, Rim YassineRapid urbanization has brought about significant changes to the structure of urban areas, impacting the natural flow of water, and worsening the issue of waterlogging. In 2015, China introduced the concept of "Sponge Cities" as a critical step towards transitioning from conventional drainage systems to a sustainable approach for urban flood management. Countries such as the UK, which are confronted with similar flooding challenges, have an opportunity to draw insights and inspiration from China's experience in addressing these issues. This research seeks to enhance the effectiveness of the flood management strategy in the UK by applying lessons from China's experience to the UK context. The research included a comparative analysis of the policies and strategies behind the Chinese Sponge City initiative and the current UK flood management approach to understand the differences and aspects in need of development. Wuhan was examined as a case study to demonstrate the local application of the sponge city guidelines and to demonstrate how these guidelines need for flexibility of interpretation arises from the variability of environmental conditions within the city. The study underscores the importance of collaboration among government, urban planners, and stakeholders in effectively promoting Sustainable Drainage Systems in the UK. Furthermore, it emphasizes the need for customized flood management strategy aligned with local characteristics of the urban environment39 0Item Restricted The Role of Aesthetics in Successful Logo Design.(Saudi Digital Library, 2022-12-24) Nasseraldin, Ahmed; Westland, Stephen; Lee, Soojin; Marsden, JamieLogos are important; they grab consumers’ attention, make a strong first impression, and are a valuable visual representation of a brand. The visual appearance of logos is therefore important in terms of how they are viewed by consumers and how they influence consumer perceptions of the brand that the logos represent. The central question that is explored in this thesis is what visual attributes of a logo contribute to the logo’s aesthetic appeal and the approach taken is one that analyses data derived from consumer responses. The work described is therefore a collection of consumer-driven studies that use interviews, focus groups and surveys; the latter may be described as psychophysical experiments. The experimental part of the thesis is structured into three experimental chapters that describe 7 studies. In Chapter III, a set of focus groups and interviews collected information from consumers about logo aesthetics and some related concepts such as familiarity. Chapter IV includes two experiments where participants were asked to scale various logos in terms of visual attributes. The data from these experiments allowed a factor analysis that derived four main visual factors: vibrancy, simplicity, sophistication and balance, in order of deceasing share of the variance. These four factors can be considered to form a 4-D aesthetic space for logos. Chapter V describes cross-cultural studies of logo preference using a Likert scale and particularly explored the role of colour and whether a logo was a simple icon or had text. It was found that logos without an icon, consisting only of text, were perceived as being less preferred than logos with an icon. It was also found logos that were coloured were more preferred than logos that were achromatic or multicoloured.14 0Item Restricted MASSIFICATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN SAUDI ARABIA IN THE CONTEXT OF SAUDI VISION 2030: CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES(OhioLINK, 2023-08-16) Owidah, Sohair; Seeberg, VilmaThis study explored the massification of Saudi higher education by utilizing contemporary Chinese higher education expansion as a framework to identify the drivers of expansion, challenges encountered, and diversification within the massification process. This study employed a qualitative approach of policy analysis of background literature, documents, and semi-structured interviews. Scholarly consensus regarding the aims of massification focus on the expansion of access, diversification of educational opportunities, meeting individuals’ aspirations, and demands for national development. Massification of Saudi higher education has been rapid yet has suffered from lagging policy development. The Saudi Ministry of Education and public universities were found to devise measures and regulations that challenge the principles of meritocracy and equitable access in terms of family background, regional disparities, and gender. Other issues associated with the expansion of higher education were found to be a decline and lower levels of quality, insufficient financial resources, and limitations in the diversification of types of institutions. These trends increased access for some populations, while also contributing to inequality of educational opportunity. To address the multifaceted issues associated with massification and to invest in the higher education sector the means to realize its role in attaining the ambitious goals of Vision 2030, reforms in higher education suggested by this study are imperative.30 0Item Restricted Open innovation in design-centric business environment: The Greater Bay Area perspective(Saudi Digital Library, 2019-07-10) Almattar, Tayseer Sadiq; Bühring, JörnOn February 2019, the Chinese government announced its plan to establish what it called the Greater Bay Area (GBA). The area is identified by its geographical location to include Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and seven other municipalities in Guangdong province. The goal is for the GBA to be developed into a world-class city cluster. Toward this goal, the GBA is to become a world center for innovation. This paper explores the potential of applying principles of open innovation in the GBA to support design-driven startups functioning in the Internet of Things (IoT) era. The GBA has all the requisite elements to support an ecosystem of thriving innovation and an (IoT) application era. Both the open innovation approach and IoT application require a new way to look at business models—a look that focuses more on openness and collaboration between players in different industries. This includes both well-established players, like big corporations, and smaller players, like startups and individuals. This open model is based on an open value exchange of both knowledge and resources to serve everyone’s goals. Within the GBA, this model can be fitted with stronger collaboration between the cities of Hong Kong and Shenzhen.10 0Item Restricted THE UNITED STATES-CHINA RELATIONSHIP AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SECURITY POLICIES IN ASIA-PACIFIC: CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE(2023-05-26) Alrashidi, Zarea; Cohen, Michael DavidCultural values and norms are likely to play an important role in shaping national security policies, especially globally. This research aims to understand how fighting for cultural superiority between the United States and China impacts the development of arms and military-oriented policies in the Asia-Pacific region. The study employed an explanatory research methodology where four Asian-Pacific region case studies were selected for analysis. The four sub-objectives of the study included: To understand the impact of culture on the development of security policies in the Asia Pacific region, To explore and explain how the U.S and China's fight for cultural superiority affect the development of arms and military-oriented policies in Asia Pacific region; To explore and explain the reliability of the constructivist school of thought compared to the traditional security concepts in understanding the cultural conflict between the United States and China; To explain how China's growing military capacity in the Asia-pacific region affects the existing national security policies. The study was anchored on Katzenstein understanding constructivist school of thought understanding on international relations. The data from the four case studies were examined, and content analysis was employed. The findings and conclusion showed that, indeed, fighting for cultural superiority between the United States and China in pursuit of settling international conflicts has affected the development of policies in Asia-Pacific. China has been using different strategies, such as forming Female Associations in Taiwan and Using China Communist Party (CCP) to bring its culture into the limelight regarding military policies. The study recommends that there is still more to explore using a constructivist school of thought in understanding the nature of international relations, especially between the United States and China.85 0Item Restricted Impact of Water Prices and Income Level on Demand for Water in China(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-03-15) Alhazmi, Raghad; McGrane, ScottDemand for water has escalated at an exceptional rate lately while water resources are continuously depleting due to various social and environmental factors. In this regards, the present research paper assesses the long run effect and causal relationship of 2 economic indicators on demand for water in China. The macro variables understudy are water prices and households’ level of income. A monthly based vast data set was employed commencing from January 2001 until April 2021 on which Augmented Dickey Fuller unit root test, Engel Granger co-integration test, & Granger causality test were applied. Results revealed a strong causal relationship and a significant long run influence water prices on demand for water while household income level formed a minimal negative co-integration in the long run. On the contrary, granger causality test revealed no causal link between income levels and consumption of residential water. The findings of this study are fundamental to government and policy makers as it will help them to comprehend the relationship of income levels & price of water with water consumption. It will increase awareness amongst relevant authorities on how they can exploit these 2 economic factors to enhance water services in their countries and manage water stress.21 0