Purpose The purpose of this study is to answer the following questions: How to measure customer satisfaction from the provisioning service of both: Islamic and Conventional banks? Can we trust one tool to measure such satisfaction or both banks are different identities and there is a need for separate measurement tool? What is the relationship between banks operating style (Islamic or Conventional) and bank performance? Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey design was conducted to analyze a sample of customers. A total of 480 Jordanian participants were included in the study. Findings The results of confirmatory factor analysis show that the most important drivers of customer satisfaction are Sharia’ compliance, complaints, pricing and convenience, whereas the least important drivers are e-banking, the perception of employees, enjoyment and tangibles. Also, the result of the multi-group analysis shows that the significant impacts of all drivers on customer satisfaction differ from Islamic banks to Conventional banks except for the enjoyment. The significant effects of customer satisfaction on bank performance also differ from Islamic to Conventional banks. Research limitations/implications The result is limited to the selected sample, and hence, future research in other countries should contribute to a better understanding of the impact of customer satisfaction relationship on bank success or performance. Practical implications This study provides a useful information for bank managers on the main driver of customer satisfaction and performance. Originality/value This study is intended to add to the existing literature in three ways: There is a lack of studies on the main drivers of customer satisfaction, especially those based on a consumer’s decision-making process in Arabic countries like Jordan. This study broadens the scope by testing the proposed model using data from a sample of consumers in Jordan. This study serves to propose and validate the drivers that influence customer satisfaction and bank performance and elucidate the manner of their influence, to help with the development of more effective business strategies.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the NPD performance success measures that manufacturing organisations use to assess the success of their new products. Design/methodology/approach – Based on relevant literature review and in-depth interviews, a structured questionnaire was developed as a primary data collection method. Questionnaires were distributed to a sample of 558 manufacturing organisations in Jordan, out of which 355 were returned and valid for the analysis. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were applied to reveal NPD performance success measures dimensions. Findings – This study empirically showed that manufacturing organisations in Jordan use a multidimensional construct for NPD performance success measures to assess the success of their new products. The multidimensional construct consists of NPD financial performance, NPD internal learning, NPD capabilities improvement, NPD knowledge sharing and NPD marketing performance. The findings indicate that NPD financial performance is still the dominant dimension amongst the manufacturing organisations while measuring NDP performance. Also, the study has developed an inductive model of NPD performance success measures which shows the construct’s dimensions complexity. Research limitations/implications – The fact that the paper is a single country study focusing on the manufacturing industry limits its generalisation to other industries/contexts. The paper’s focus on manufacturing organisations limits its contribution to the manufacturing sector. The services sector is a rich field for NPD performance success measures, in addition to being an important contributor to the economy of most, if not all, countries. Further, the paper focuses on only five dimensions of NPD performance success measures, other dimensions of NPD performance success measures might add more insights to their effect on NPD performance success measures. Practical implications – Utilising the findings of this study can help managers make sense of NPD success and failure and plan the NPD strategy and activities across a range of differing situations. The major contribution of this study is increasing the ability of managers to improve their skills and capabilities and focus on the dimensions of NPD success in the best way that enables them to respond effectively to uncertainty caused by changes in the product life cycle which in turn might affect the performance of NPD. The findings urge managers to deal with NPD as a complex process that should be integrated within corporate, business and functional strategies of the firm. Originality/value – The originality of this paper stems from its multidimensional construct of NPD performance success measures as well as in developing an inductive model that shows the complexity of NPD performance dimensions that can be used for assessing the success of new products. The study also has its originality since it is the first empirical work conducted on the manufacturing sector in an emerging market business environment, Jordan.

The purpose of this research was to explore and predict the relationship between the competitive priorities (quality, cost, flexibility and delivery) and the competitive advantage of firms in the Jordanian Industrial Sector. A population of 88 Jordanian manufacturing firms, registered on the Amman Stock Exchange, was targeted using a cross-sectional survey employing a questionnaire method of data collection. The results of the data analysis indicate a significant relationship between competitive priorities and competitive advantage. The research suggests that recognising and nurturing this relationship provides the master key for a firm to survive in a turbulent environment. Therefore, operational and marketing strategies should place emphasis on competitive priorities such as quality, cost, flexibility and delivery to achieve, develop and maintain competitive advantage. This study is one of the first to examine the relationship between the competitive priorities of Jordanian manufacturing firms and their competitive advantage.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate and test the relationship between a company’s strategic flexibility, as evidenced by new product development flexibility and market flexibility, and its operational performance (OP) in Jordanian manufacturing companies. Design/methodology/approach Using a survey questionnaire, data were collected against two strategic decisions market and new product flexibility (NPF) from 222 middle and senior managers belonging to 116 Jordanian manufacturing firms. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to investigate the effects of these two strategic decisions on OP. Findings Results show a significant positive relationship between both NPF and market flexibility and OP. No significant differences between small and medium enterprises and large companies are found, indicating that the model is valid for both sizes. Also, the additional analyses suggest that the proposition that both NPF and market flexibility are important for OP was correct. Research limitations/implications Only two strategic flexibility decisions were considered in this paper, however, researcher could investigate other strategic flexibility decisions on OP. Practical implications The strategic flexibility level, in terms of NPF and market flexibility, that is needed for coping with uncertainty equips managers to handle challenges by enhancing the company’s controlled capacity through a considerable reduction in response time. An improvement in the company’s strategic flexibility enhances its overall performance and competitiveness and this, in turn, has a positive impact on its long-term sustainability. Originality/value The paper provides insights into the strategic flexibility decision practices in a Jordanian context. It provides further evidence that both market flexibility and NPF are significant in enhancing OP.

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This study suggests a novel progression to the current research endeavor by investigating the influence of information technology capabilities on organizational agility. More specifically, this study aims to fill the gaps found in previous studies and contribute to the current state of knowledge of this domain by focusing on the mediating role that IT capabilities play between dynamic capabilities and organizational agility. Toward that end, 270 Jordanian professionals working in supply chain management and operational departments were approached. Data were collected via distrusting a structured questionnaire that includes items assessing dynamic capabilities, IT capabilities, and organizational agility. The results demonstrated that IT capabilities significantly and positively mediated the relationship between resource-based dynamic capability and organizational agility. The study has also discussed several theoretical along with managerial implications of the research.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine new product development (NPD) financial performance enablers through examining the roles of NPD capabilities improvement, NPD knowledge sharing and NPD internal learning in manufacturing organisations in Jordan. Design/methodology/approach Based on relevant literature review on NPD performance, a structured questionnaire was developed to collect data related to NPD performance measures. Questionnaires were distributed to a sample of 558 manufacturing organisations in Jordan, out of which 355 were returned and valid for the analysis. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were applied to reveal NPD performance success dimensions that manufacturing organisations use to assess NPD performance success. Then, path analysis was employed to examine the research model and test its hypotheses. Findings The study’s findings reveal that manufacturing organisations use a multidimensional construct for assessing NPD performance success, which consists of NPD financial performance, NPD internal learning, NPD capabilities improvement, NPD knowledge sharing, and NPD marketing performance. NPD capabilities improvement exerted a positive and significant effect on each of NPD internal learning, NPD knowledge sharing, and NPD marketing performance, respectively. NPD knowledge sharing exerted a positive and significant effect on each of NPD internal learning NPD marketing performance. Each of NPD internal learning and NPD marketing performance exerted a positive and significant effect on NPD financial performance. The structural findings also indicate that 38.1 per cent (R2 is 0.381) of NPD financial performance is explained by the path of NPD capabilities improvement, NPD knowledge sharing and NPD marketing performance, which is the strongest path in the empirical model. Research limitations/implications The paper’s focus on manufacturing organisations limits its contribution to the manufacturing sector only. The services sector is a rich field for understanding NPD financial performance enablers in various service industries. Further, the paper focusses on only five dimensions of NPD performance success, other dimensions of NPD performance success might add more insights to their effect on NPD performance success measures especially their effect on organisational performance. Practical implications The findings of this study provide managers of manufacturing organisations with empirical insights related to the multidimensionality of NPD and their complex relationships to enhance NPD financial performance. The empirical findings assist managers to assess their NPD strategies, processes and implementation based on a results-oriented approach. The major contribution of the study is identifying the strongest paths of NPD financial performance enablers which reveals the complexity and criticality of NPD capabilities improvement, NPD knowledge sharing and NPD marketing performance on NPD financial performance. The rationale is NPD financial performance is still the most important NPD performance success dimension amongst manufacturing organisations. Originality/value The originality of this paper stems from developing and testing a multidimensional model of NPD financial performance enablers for the first time in emerging markets, Jordan. NPD financial performance is a function of other areas of NPD performance dimensions, namely; NPD capabilities improvement, NPD knowledge sharing and NPD marketing performance. This empirical evidence is provided to managers for the first time by this study.

This paper describes and explains the use of political risk assessment techniques in Jordanian multinational corporations (MNCs).A multi-method approach to collect data was followed. A self-report questionnaire was delivered by hand to the general managers of all Jordanian MNCs which were identified as operating internationally. Semi-structured interviews were used as a means of elaborating on the findings from the questionnaire.The study identified the extensive use of heuristic political risk assessment techniques (due to their flexibility, simplicity and low cost). Scientific techniques, on the other hand, were used by only a minority of MNCs. As has been the case in earlier studies, flexibility, simplicity and cost considerations were all found to be influential in this regard.However, the study also found that key decision makers in Jordanian MNCs believe that official data is subject to censorship and is therefore not reliable. This undermines the efficiency of using highly sophisticated scientific techniques. Since there are a number of other countries in the Middle East -and elsewhere -in which these considerations also apply, this finding has important implications for international businesses which operate in these countries, whatever their home country.