Editorial

Citation

Pounder, J.S. and Clarke, M. (2010), "Editorial", Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, Vol. 3 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ebs.2010.34903aaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, Volume 3, Issue 1

The focus of this issue of Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues is on people and perception, and naturally all in a Middle Eastern context. Regarding people that in a business setting constitute the “lifeblood” of organizations and comprise the human capital upon which an economy depends, two issues are central to their effective utilization. First, they must be properly educated and in this context, Majid Aliasgari, Nosrat Riahinia and Fariba Mojdehavar examine the effects of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) on mathematics education in Iran and conclude that CAI does actually increase the learning level of students in mathematics, an area that many students find difficult. Continuing the focus on education, James Pounder and Mohamad Al Sakka describe an approach to the development of a graduate curriculum in human resource management (HRM), originating in the United Arab Emirates and with “prima facie” applicability to Syria, that has the potential to be a model HRM graduate curriculum. Pounder and Al Sakka's study is centrally concerned with people given that it tackles a neglected aspect of a Middle Eastern managers' armoury, namely HRM.

Second, people, especially managers, need timely and useful information. Accordingly, Reza Hosnavi and Majid Ramezan continue the HRM theme in their paper but this time with a focus on management information. The authors propose a model for evaluating management information systems with specific reference to a human resource information system in the Iranian oil industry. Taken together, this and the previous paper constitute an argument for the importance of management education in HRM coupled with a need for management information systems able to provide meaningful information on human resources. This should enable the management education acquired to be practiced on the basis of useful information. The provision of useful information for managers is the central purpose of the paper by Sabina Cerimagic as she surveys the literature in order to advise professionals on the “dos” and “don'ts” of business in countries governed by Islamic Law.

The next focus of this issue is on perception. Helmi Hammami and Mohammed Hossain tackle this “head on” in their study of the perception of the accountancy profession by business students and professionals in Qatar. Despite the recent publicity on the financial crisis which had negative overtones for the accountancy and finance professions, it seems that both business students and professionals in Qatar retain a fairly positive view of the “accountant”. Finally, Zahi Yaseen takes another look at the male versus female leadership style debate this time in a Middle Eastern context. Arguably, there remains a residue of perception, especially in the Middle East, that leadership is largely a male preserve. Yaseen's study provides support for a strand of the literature arguing that, rather than effective leadership being squarely in the male domain, there are aspects of leadership effectiveness where females may exceed their male counterparts.

We, your editors, hope that you enjoy this issue.

James S. Pounder, Matthew Clarke