Editorial

Citation

Clarke, M. and Pounder, J. (2010), "Editorial", Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, Vol. 3 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ebs.2010.34903daa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, Volume 3, Issue 4

The papers in this issue of Education, Business and society Centemporary Middle Eastern are linked by a series of common themes, namely, culture, globalization, and change. All of these themes are evident in the paper by Dina Mehrez and Hadia Hamdy, which explores the phenomenon of the diaspora of skilled workers from Egypt and their contributions over time to the Egyptian economy, an issue that has particular relevance in today’s globalized world with its transcultural flows of people, products, and ideas. The paper examines obstacles that prevent the contributions of “diasporans” from becoming more significant than they currently are and concludes with recommendations for Egyptian government policy, recommendations that are no doubt of relevance in other regional contexts.

Issam Tlemsani’s paper examines the potential for Islamic banking to serve as an ameliorating, reconciliatory force in the context of media and popular perceptions of Islam-West tensions. In this respect, the paper is particularly valuable in highlighting the deep historical links and commonalities between Islamic and Western societies and how recent perceptions of a dichotomy are socially constructed rather than reflecting incompatible cultural essences. The notion of culture is also central to Cerimagic’s paper, which looks at the intercultural experiences of Australian managers working on projects in the UAE. Like Issam Tlemsani, Sabina Cerimagic’s paper notes that cultures are not homogenous, hermetically sealed entities but are complex, internally diverse, and dynamic. Nonetheless, different beliefs, attitudes, and practices tend to evolve and become sedimented in different locations, meaning that those traversing cultures as part of their working life need some degree of intercultural knowledge and skill if they are to maximize their contribution in foreign or unfamiliar locations. On this note, the points raised in Kemp’s article about the value of ethnographic-style research with local companies in the UAE has clear relevance. Linzi J. Kemp’s paper, based on personal experience of confronting the challenges of conducting such research, analyzes the barriers to gaining access to organizations for the purposes of research and what researchers can do to improve their chances of gaining such access.

One aspect of the globalized world we now live in is the space-time compression resulting from practices involving the digital technologies that are increasingly a core element of education, business, and society. Mohammad Al-Hawari and Samar Mouakket’s article addresses critical questions surrounding the central place occupied by technology-enabled learning management systems in higher education. He does this via a study of technology acceptance in one UAE institute of higher education that examines students’ perceptions regarding the use value of such platforms and his findings regarding the interrelationships among factors such as design features, enjoyment, student satisfaction, and retention rates have clear implications for educational leaders and managers in the UAE and elsewhere. Finally, Khalid Arar’s article examines the changing face of management cultures in Lebanon through the lens of two case studies of female principals. The paper resonates with issues of access and equity characterizing the dynamic state of gender relations in the wider region and resulting from the interplay of local and global trends.

Matthew Clarke, James Pounder