Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Causes and Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility: An Examination of Corporate Social Responsibility in Saudi Arabia(University of New England, 2024) Alhazzaa, Ateeq Mesfer; Reddy Yarram, Subba; Moss, SupawadeeThe recent adoption of sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the two-decade-long work involved in evolving these goals has led to increased attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in developing countries. As a United Nations (UN) member committed to achieving the SDGs by 2030, the Saudi government released its Vision 2030 economic blueprint in 2016, which includes significant environmental targets such as reducing carbon emissions. However, research is still limited because few studies have considered the causes and consequences of CSR, particularly in Saudi Arabia. The current study aims to address this gap in the literature, specifically in the context of emerging economies. This study explores how ownership structure and leadership characteristics influence environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices in the Saudi Arabian context. It also examines the effect of ownership structure, leadership and ESG performance on financial performance. In addition, this thesis focuses on assessing how ESG practices, in conjunction with ownership structure and leadership, affect financial risk in Saudi Arabia. Hypotheses for this study were devised based on various theories, existing literature and the institutional context. Data were collected from Invest ESG and the annual reports of 136 non- finance industry firms listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange between 2016 and 2020, resulting in 647 annual observations. The generalised method of moments technique was employed to manage potential endogeneity issues in panel data analysis. The findings of the first study suggest that foreign, government and managerial ownership positively affect CSR. In contrast, institutional and family ownership of businesses and frequent CEO turnover impede CSR investment. The outcomes from the second study show that institutional, foreign, family and managerial ownership—as well as leadership elements like CEO turnover and leadership experience—are likely to enhance a firm’s value when aligned with ESG practices. Such enhancements in financial outcomes could be attributed to these ownership and leadership groups recognising the value generation potential of ESG and corporate governance. Conversely, investments in environmental and social initiatives might diminish value owing to the associated expenses to make such projects viable. Finally, the third study reveals that risk-taking is reduced in Saudi firms when these firms are participating in CSR practices. Evidence from this study broadly supports the view that CSR engagement leads to diminished risk-taking in Saudi firms.12 0Item Restricted The Optimal Selection of Financial Portfolios Within The Context of Tadawul Saudi Stock Exchange(City University of London, 2024) Almulhim, Deem Khalid I; Broom, MarkThe Tadawul Stock Exchange, a key component of the Saudi Tadawul Group, is the focus of this investigation, which will examine the exchange's portfolio management dynamics. As the financial business sector as a whole is undergoing extraordinary changes brought about by innovation, globalization, and evolving market structures, understanding portfolio improvement in Tadawul becomes relevant. Using positive thinking and a logical methodology, the study employs advanced financial assumptions to identify a portfolio with fundamental differences and pinpoint the productive Tadawul area using verifiable stock prices for the period November 2020 to October 2023. Tadawul reserves were identified during exploration in 2021. The participant engages in the largest exchange trading in the Middle East and is a significant factor in the global financial climate. This review is expected to add important information to portfolio management methodologies in this unique environment. A comprehensive audit philosophy, including information mining strategies using Python libraries, ensures audit reliability and legitimacy. The cross- sectional investigation covers this period and focuses on 125 selected organizations out of 231 registered in Tadawul. The information diversity process involves careful pre-processing to resolve issues such as missing values and inconsistencies. The review determines performance returns using Excel Solver, combining equal-weight portfolios, the global portfolio with the smallest difference, and portfolios that form an efficient frontier. The results of the equal-weighted portfolio show the significance of portfolio diversification in the Tadawul, with a Sharpe ratio of 0.104, risk of 7.2774 percent, and return of 0.7598 percent. The global portfolio has a minimum risk ratio of 1.115%, a return of 0.2012%, and a Sharpe ratio of 0.175. Additionally, the review differentiates between a portfolio that produces the most extreme Sharpe ratio with a return of 0.688%, a portfolio risk of 1.6374%, and a Sharpe ratio of 0.421. The efficient frontier, which includes 23 portfolios, provides investors with valuable information about risk and return. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of Tadawul Stock Trading's portfolio management and contributes to the broader field of financial portfolio simplification.36 0Item Restricted The impact of risk and uncertainty on healthcare project delivery and its effect on intra-group conflict in the context of Saudi Arabia(The University of Manchester, 2024-07-25) Kheel, Metib Khalifa; Kirkham, RichardHealthcare construction projects are characterised by temporal risks and uncertainties, which may give rise to conflict. Decision-making within project teams is therefore an important focus of academic enquiry, particularly in a post-COVID-19 era, where healthcare projects play a crucial role in supporting pandemic recovery. Understanding the landscape that characterises projects in the healthcare setting could provide useful insights into broader project delivery issues and the effects of decision-making in situations of risk and uncertainty. This thesis describes a qualitative exploratory single case study situated within the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSHRC) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; semi-structured interviews provide an evidence base by which to understand the presence of risk, uncertainty, and intra-group conflict. The findings of this study identify the prevalence of conflict within project teams, exposing the detrimental effects of inconsistent decision-making. Moreover, the study uncovers how risk and uncertainty may directly impact decision-making processes and project delivery schedules, and thus contributing to the existing body of knowledge in the broader field of project studies. The findings illustrate the impacts of regulatory changes, supply chain disruptions, unexpected delays, and cost overruns. In order to moderate the effects of these impacts, the thesis offers recommendations for healthcare construction stakeholders, emphasising the development of robust mitigation strategies and contingency plans. These recommendations advocate for targeted training in project management, risk assessment, and crisis management. By embracing these measures, stakeholders may proactively manage the multifaceted challenges, thus enabling the successful completion of healthcare construction projects in the dynamic landscape of risk and uncertainty.16 0Item Restricted Risk, Corpora, and Discourse: The Construction of Risks to Life in News Media(Lancaster University, 2024-03-28) Alibri, Rakan; Baker, PaulThis thesis investigates the language of risk reporting, more precisely how ten British newspapers use language to discursively construct four “risks to life”: terror attacks, earthquakes, road accidents, and heart attacks. The media do not allot space to these risks equally or in accordance with risk level (i.e., based on number of deaths and likelihood of occurrence). In addition to the media, public perception of risk in the second half of the 20th century was noteworthy for accepting serious everyday risks (i.e., those causing a high number of deaths) while rejecting new low-level technological risks (Zinn & Taylor-Gooby, 2006). The approach of this thesis comprises theories and methodologies from Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) and corpus linguistics. The interdisciplinarity nature of CDS facilitates drawing upon theoretical frameworks from media and risk studies. News values, which play a role in news story selection, identify the newsworthiness of the risks, while risk characteristics, qualities found to influence public risk perception by the psychometric paradigm, enhance the interpretation of risk construction and how that might influence the public perception. The data comprise approximately 14 million tokens of news articles distributed unevenly between four corpora but from identical sources and timeframes (January 2017 to January 2020). The analysis focuses on three aspects: risks to life (events), related social actors, and consequences (i.e., death). It also identifies news values and risk characteristics around these aspects. The findings highlight discursive strategies in risk reporting: dramatisation and naturalisation, (im)personalisation, blame / responsibility, and risk management. These contribute differently to the construction of the risks to life and can potentially be linked to how media amplify or attenuate risks in society, a consequence of media language use. I conclude with their manifestation in reporting the risks to life and how they might be linguistically and discursively realised.9 0Item Restricted Exploring influencing factors on the adoption of nonpharmaceutical interventions during pandemics: COVID-19 as an example(University of Louisville, 2024-05) Alobaydullah, Ahmed; LaJoie, AndrewBackground: Pandemics are associated with loss of life, hospitalizations, and disruption to people’s social and economic lives. As the 2019 pandemic illustrates, COVID-19 can be prevented by pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). Recommended measures such as wearing a mask, washing hands, social distancing, and self-quarantine have been proven to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Identifying the factors associated with adherence to NPIs is the first step in understanding which levers of change to pull when designing health promotion interventions such as health communication campaigns. This dissertation explores these factors and proposes a health communication framework during pandemics. Research Questions: This dissertation has three research questions: 1) What demographic, personal-cognitive, and socio-environmental factors influenced the adoption of non-pharmaceutical interventions during pandemics among health care university students? 2) Which psychological, cognitive, or socio-environmental factors are more predictive of adherence to COVID-19 NPIs among the Saudi population? 3) What risk communication framework best suits public health messaging and communication to promote adopting non-pharmaceutical interventions during a pandemic? Methods: In the first manuscript, a systematic review was conducted to identify demographic, personal-cognitive, and socio-environmental factors influencing the adoption of non-pharmaceutical interventions during a pandemic among health care university students. In the second manuscript, a quantitative non-experimental survey research design study was conducted, where a Social Cognitive Theory-guided survey was used to measure adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions and explore the personal cognitive and socio-environmental influencing factors. The third manuscript uses a grounded theory technique to explore the relevant literature on NPIs communication and develops a conceptual framework to assist the health communicator during pandemics. Results: In manuscript 1, the systematic review identified 18 articles for full-text review. The results yielded 18 demographic factors associated with NPIs practice factors, of which being older, female, observing others practice NPIs, and having higher risk perception levels were influencing factors. Additionally, cues to action, source of information, anger, confusion, and positive attitude, perceived stress, susceptibility, benefits, barriers, and severity influenced NPIs adherence. In manuscript 2, NPIs were strongly correlated with normative beliefs and negatively correlated with self-efficacy. The hierarchical multiple regression model revealed that socio-environmental factors explained a significant proportion of variance in NPIs (52%). In manuscript 3, the Pandemic Behavioral Prevention Framework was developed based on components adopted from the CDC’s Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication Model, The Social Amplification of Risk Perception Framework, and The Social Cognitive Theory. Conclusion: The dissertation’s manuscripts found that demographic factors such as age and gender, personal cognitive factors such as risk perception, and socioenvironmental factors like social norms are influential when deciding to practice NPIs. These factors can be the basis of any health promotion intervention to promote NPIs in future pandemics. Also, we developed the Pandemic Behavioral Prevention Framework to utilize the currently used models of communication, risk, and behavior in shaping effective NPIs communication during pandemics.14 0Item Restricted Cruising The Sea Of Risks: The Impact Of Ship Countermeasures On Intentions To Cruise(Saudi Digital Library, 2023) Bahattab, Shadi; Demurtas, AlessandroCruise ships are one of the fastest growing industries in the tourism sector. Despite the promising future, the cruise industry is frequently challenged by major safety and security threats. Accordingly, multiple risks are found to be associated with cruising. These include onboard major crimes, sexual assault, fires, sea piracy, terrorist attacks, health problems, and infection outbreaks. Such risks have resulted in many bad experiences among passengers, injuries, and loss of life. As a floating resort, the closed environment of a conveniently flagged cruise ship, besides the complexity and the lack of safety and security measures can pose passengers to inevitable dangers, increasing the degree of their vulnerability when cruising. Although some protection measures have been implemented and followed to a certain degree, cruise ships are still devastated by major accidents and negative incidents. This has challenged the reputation of many cruise companies, thereby effecting their growing ability and profitability. Correspondingly, this study aims to investigate the impact of cruise ships safety and security measures on passengers’ purchase intention, through passengers’ safety and security perception. Following an exploratory analysis of all variables, this work is carried out using primary data, which have been quantitatively collected through self-administered questionnaires. The findings indicate that there is a strong correlation between the main three pairs of the aforementioned variables. The provided implications and recommendations can be highly beneficial for cruise operators and academia on how to best understand and determine the existence of the causal relationship between such variables.16 0Item Restricted The Relationship Between Risk Management Practices and Investment Performance in the Context of OPEC and OPEC+(Saudi Digital Library, 2023) Alsalamah, Faisal; Park, SeyoungInvesting in a complicated market structure where it is managed by what economists refer to as a cartel can be challenging since the movement of the market can be unpredictable. Also, the application of the risk management practices can be beneficial in such market once the investor comprehends how the market operate. This literature will present the Relationship between risk management practices and investment performance in the context of OPEC and OPEC+.40 0Item Restricted A Mixed-Methods Study to Investigate the Awareness by Pilgrims and the Saudi Authorities of Health Risks Arising From the Hajj Pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-09-28) Almehmadi, Mater; David, AlexanderOne of the most important factors in developing preventative measures is awareness of health risks among public authorities and the public themselves. The coronavirus pandemic of 2020-2023 has exposed significant weaknesses in public health systems that need to be addressed, although research has so far been limited with respect to studies that have explored the perceptions of both the public and authorities about the uptake of preventative health measures. As it is the host of the annual Hajj pilgrimage, Saudi Arabia offers a good case study of the health management of one of the biggest mass gatherings in the world. Although the health strategy here usually involves an array of preventative measures, the uptake among pilgrims is extremely low. As a case study exploring the factors that determine uptake, the Hajj pilgrimage is approached in this dissertation using a mixed methodology for the collection of data from the officials of the Hajj and the individuals who participate in it. Some 280 participants were canvassed in the quantitative study. The findings are that 94% considered the Hajj to be safe and limited themselves to taking pre-travel advice on health, while 70% of the respondents reported the diversity of the pilgrims to be the main factor threatening health outcomes. Overall, the study reported a significant shortfall in pilgrims’ perception of the health risks associated with the Hajj pilgrimage. Qualitative research was then utilised to collect data from 17 Hajj officials, using semi-structured interviews followed by thematic analysis. The key themes that emerged in the analysis include, first, the safety of the Hajj as perceived by Saudi officials; secondly, in the face of health risks, how the safety of pilgrims is maintained by Saudi officials; thirdly, avoiding the health risks of the Hajj pilgrimage; fourthly holding training sessions for the Hajj workers; fifthly, the pilgrims’ awareness of health risks; sixthly, the education of pilgrims about health risk in their individual countries; and finally, the use of new technologies to raise the pilgrims’ awareness about health instructions and measure their satisfaction regarding the outcomes.21 0Item Restricted THE SECURITY ASPECTS OF USERS’ INFORMATION SHARING ON SOCIAL MEDIA(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alharbi, Mohannad; Chen, Jiangping; Habib, Abdulrahman; Anderson, Rich; Herrington, RichardThis study aims to investigate college students’ security awareness of using social media in sharing information. The two theories that have guided this study are the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the technology acceptance model (TAM). Data was collected from both undergraduate and graduate students from the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton. The total responses included 380 students from different majors with 291 valid responses for data analysis; The structural equation model (SEM) Lavaan package was used to find out the best fit of the model. A diagonally weighted least squares (DWLS) was used to model the variables as ordinal in this study's analysis as ordinal data made the model fit substantially. The study found that 6 factors: attitude (AB), subjective norm (SN), perceived behavior control (PBC), perceived usefulness (PU), perceived risks (PR), and security awareness (SA) influenced behavior intention (BI). Also, I found that AB was influenced by PR and SA, as well as SN influenced by SA. Self-efficacy (SE) influenced PBC. On the other hand, the study found that controllability (C) did not influence PBC; perhaps, an individual’s skills do not interact with social media security settings. Perceived ease of use (PEOU) did not influence BI; perhaps this occurred because of an individual's inability to prevent his or her information from being disclosed in the future, even if they had taken the right precautions. This study contributed to literature on understanding the nature of information sharing among college students on social media. The results may help college security professionals to evaluate or revise the rules and policies regarding cybersecurity and privacy.28 0