Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Management strategies in the supply chain sector during COVID-19: The case of two leading supermarkets in the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.(Leeds Beckett University, 2024-09-23) Ghonaim, Nojud Asaad; Orekoya, IbrahimThe COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly disrupted global supply chains, prompting companies across the globe to rapidly adapt their strategies to mitigate the unprecedented and sudden challenges. This thesis explores the supply chain management strategies employed by two leading supermarket chains – Morrisons in the UK and Bin Dawood in Saudi Arabia – during the pandemic and COVID-19 crisis. By conducting a comparative analysis of these organisations, the study aims to uncover how diverse socio-economic and cultural contexts impact their adaptive strategies and overall resilience. The comparative analysis reveals significant differences in the supply chain strategies of Morrisons in the United Kingdom and Bin Dawood in Saudi Arabia. By analysing annual reports from 2020 to 2021 and reviewing relevant literature, the research highlights the urgent need for resilience, innovation and proactive strategic planning to ensure long-term operational continuity during global crises. The findings, which reveal significant differences in the supply chain strategies of Morrisons in the United Kingdom and Bin Dawood in Saudi Arabia, have significant implications for management professionals and policymakers. They provide practical insights and recommendations, empowering the reader with the knowledge to develop effective crisis response strategies in the retail sector and make informed decisions in their respective roles. This research begins with an introduction and definition of the problem and organisation, followed by an analysis of the literature on supply chains and the COVID-19 crisis. The research methodology, which enables comparative analysis and integrating qualitative and quantitative data to explore and comparatively analyse both companies' supply chains, is thorough and robust. Moreover, using an interpretive framework, this study combines qualitative and quantitative data to comprehensively understand the companies’ responses to crises, instilling confidence in the reader about the study's credibility. 2 After analysing the data to find strategies and financial results, the results clear that Morrisons’ focus on local sourcing and internal stability provided a solid foundation for resilience. Morrisons’ approach was deeply rooted in a vertically integrated supply chain, focusing on local sourcing and sustainability initiatives. In contrast, Bin Dawood’s strategies focused on rapid expansion and digital transformation. By strengthening its online retail capabilities and opening new stores in the Middle East, the company sought to meet the increased demand for essential goods during the lockdowns. Both companies have demonstrated great adaptability, but their distinct approaches highlight the importance of context-specific strategies in crisis management. This research contributes to the broader discourse on supply chain resilience and crisis management by providing practical insights into how supermarkets in different regions responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. The thesis concludes with recommendations based on the analysis and findings. This thesis provides a comprehensive view of the challenges faced by Morrisons and Bin Dawood. It also provides valuable lessons for companies aiming to enhance supply chain resilience in a post pandemic world and future global crises that impact corporate economies. Future research should further explore the long-term implications of these strategies, examine how other industries can apply similar approaches to managing global disruption, and investigate supply chain strategies to navigate future global crises.13 0Item Restricted The Tourism Shift in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after the COVID-19 pandemic(Bournemouth University, 2024-07-10) Alhazmi, Ghyda; Zadeh, Shiva IlkhaniThe COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected international tourism, and KSA tourism in particular. This paper aims to examine the impact of the pandemic on the tourism industry of Saudi Arabia and the changes it brought to those consumers’ preferences and industries. In-depth face-to-face interviews have been conducted with several industry players alongside the development of structured questionnaires to establish new knowledge about the difficulties and possibilities in the industry. As the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been solely dependent on oil resources for its major income source, the kingdom has been coming up with measures like Vision 2030 in which there has been an emphasis on the growth of the tourism industry. In particular, before the impact of COVID-19, the sector was one of the major sources of the country’s income and a significant employer of the population; in fact, it contributed about 7% to the gross domestic product of the nation. Nevertheless, the advent of COVID-19 has called for change and negatively impacted the prospects of the industry through closure of business operations, loss of sales, and employment instabilities within the tourism industry. Another significant transformation that was revealed during the COVID transformation was the transition in the focus of customer demand from global to local tourism. This shift was caused by limitations in travel across countries as well as increased awareness of health needs, which led consumers to opt for local attractions. At the same time, the organizations that worked in the sphere of tourism started introducing new digital tools to meet the demand and survive during multiple lockdowns. Government actions and measures were also critical to industrialists in terms of reshaping their strategies and getting new rules and funds since clear working directions and financial incentives helped to bring consumers back and open borders for foreign visitors. Interest in health and safety concerns led to the incorporation of strict measures in KSA and the entire region, essential to serving tourist clients. These measures were such as contactless payment, increased cleanliness of transit facilities and vehicles, and physical distancing. And with regional Tourism consumption increasing, there is a move towards historical & culturalized Tourism attractions & destinations. However, the extant literature also reveals some of the certain lemonade outcomes that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the field of tourism: 1) there were opportunities for the growth of the industry as a whole and for everyone to search for better ways of working. New trends for the development of the tourist industry appeared such as adventure tourism and practicing environmentally friendly policies, as well as the concept of sustainable tourism. However, certain weaknesses of the study need to be highlighted; they were as follows: There were few participants in the study; the study used self-reported measures, which can often bring in some level of bias. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the power and promises of Saudi Arabia tourism through behavioral changes, organizational adaptation and policy-making of the Government. As seen from everyday unfolding events the threat has been significant but the best part is that the industry has the chance to reshape it, reinvent itself and come out even stronger in the post-COVID era. Future research may build on these trends and assess if and how Saudi Arabia's tourism needs to change and adapt for greater sustainability and resilience in the long term.33 0Item Restricted Exploration of burnout among Healthcare Professionals in Gulf regions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review.(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-09-04) Alhussaini, Abdullah; Skivington, KathrynAim: The aim of this study was to identify and understand the key factors that influence the likelihood of professional burnout in healthcare workers (HCWs) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding these factors will help policy makers and institutional management develop and implement strategies that will protect and support HCWs, and thus develop a more flexible and robust healthcare system. Method: HCWs’ views on, and experiences of, burnout, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, were examined. This was achieved through a systematic review and narrative synthesis of relevant qualitative studies published between 2020 and 2023. The studies were identified through a comprehensive search of three major databases (Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINHAL), and were evaluated using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP). Results: The results of the study suggested that the causes of burnout (stressors) can be categorised under four main themes: (a) workload and role expansion, (b) fear of infection, (c) lack of administrative support, and (d) inadequacy of personal protective equipment. These, either collectively or individually, led to psychological and emotional effects, resulting in burnout. The study also found that these stressors did not affect all HCWs equally: their impact depended on the personal and professional profile of individual HCWs. HCWs appeared to exhibit a sense of professionalism, and an ability to adapt and grow professionally, through a range of coping mechanisms. Discussion: The results of the review are examined in the light of the research questions, and the case is made for improving pandemic preparedness through the implementation of context-specific strategies which take account of the identified stressors, and which include coping mechanisms. Conclusion: While the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in increased stress among HCWs across the GCC regions, burnout appeared to be highly influenced by individual context, such as age, experience and role. The factors identified, and their context dependency, should be considered in developing context-specific strategies to support healthcare workers' wellbeing and resilience during crisis conditions.21 0