This article assesses the effects of internal and external factors on the profitability of Jordanian commercial banks. A panel data set of thirteen commercial banks between 2000 and 2018 was used. Pooled ordinary least squares, random and fixed models were applied. Moreover, a Hausman test was performed to confirm the suitability of models, which was preferred on the random effect model. Also, a Wooldridge test for serial correlation and a modified Wald test for groupwise Heteroskedasticity were used and both of their null hypotheses were rejected. However, to deal with these problems, a robustness analysis was performed using feasible generalized least square. The findings suggested that internal factors and in particular, bank size and diversification, had positive effects on bank profitability, while credit risk, operational risk and leverage risk were negatively related to bank performance. However, capital risk had a positive but insignificant impact on bank profitability. As for the effect of external factors, the results suggested that financial development and inflation had a positive and significant impact on bank profitability, while market concentration and stock market volatility had a significant negative effect on bank profitability. Further, a negative and insignificant impact were found for GDP and refugee crisis on bank profitability in Jordan. The findings would help managers of commercial banks, investors, government, policy makers and shareholders to make better decisions and improve performance by highlighting areas of weaknesses. In general, policy makers should become more aware with these insights on profit determinants in Jordanian commercial banks.

This study provides a techno-financial evaluation of two sites in Malaysia: Kudat, located on the coast of the northernmost part of Sabah, the state of East Malaysia with promising wind potential, and Putrajaya in the Klang Valley region with moderate wind potential at high elevations similar to the dominant cities in Malaysia. Three small-scale wind turbines were evaluated, taking into account a nominal electrical power generation below 100 kW. The research is focused on 220 residential households. The software used to perform the evaluation was Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER). The research novelty is the examination of the non-hybrid small-scale turbines at high elevations for regions with low wind speed, such as Malaysia. Regardless of the wind farms’ financial profit, this study used the net present cost (NPC) analysis in all cases. This research demonstrates the feasibility of small-scale wind turbines mounted at high elevations for generating sufficient energy. The results indicate that in both areas, the RX-20KH3 model is the best option, and the costs of the FH-5000 and RX-20KH3 farms are proportionate for a renewable project. Furthermore, with government support, the WES80 farm could be suitable.

Renewable energy sources have become necessary for long-term energy sustainability due to the increased demand for electric cars and worrisome rises in carbon dioxide emissions from traditional energy sources. Furthermore, transportation is one of the sectors that uses the most energy on the planet, accounting for 24% of overall consumption. Fossil fuels are still the dominant energy source for balancing global demand/supply dynamics. Supporting laws and regulations have enhanced the first phase of environmentally friendly energy-resource consumption. This has spurred the development of new solutions that cut greenhouse-gas emissions and reduce the air pollution produced by internal combustion engines that are fuelled by fossil fuels. Wind energy is one of the clean energy sources that may be utilised for this purpose. Wind energy has been used to power electric-car-charging infrastructure, generally in a hybrid mode with another renewable source. This research examines the possibility of using wind energy as a standalone energy source to support electric-vehicle-charging infrastructure. Using data from Malacca, Malaysia, and HOMER software, the project will build and optimise a standalone wind-powered charging station. An RC-5K-A wind turbine coupled to a battery and converter is the appropriate choice for the system. The findings demonstrate that the turbine can produce 214,272 kWh per year at the cost of USD 0.081/kWh, confirming wind’s future feasibility as an energy-infrastructure support source.

The Sukuk market in Malaysia runs parallel with the conventional bonds market and provides investors with investment options whereby the market trading is open to all. Indeed, Malaysia has proven itself as a center of choice for foreign corporations to issue Sukuk as well as to invest in these areas, as it offers one of the most diverse (in terms of types of securities, tenures, asset classes, structures, issuers and risk profiles), innovative and sophisticated array of investment choices in the global market. Thus, the objectives of this study are to investigate the significant mean different of amount Sukuk issue between Malaysia and across emerging market economies. The secondary data will be utilized to achieve the study objective for almost 10 countries that issue Sukuk from 2000 until 2015. The data then will be analyzed by using ANOVA or post Hoc test comparison as well as Levene’s test. The results prove that Malaysia is a leader in the Sukuk market in terms of largest Sukuk issuer and Sovereign Sukuk and there is a significant mean different between Sukuk issuance by Malaysia and other countries.

Competition is one of the realities of the business environment, and despite this, the awareness of organizations (especially in developing countries) of the importance of dealing with it has not yet developed until in recent years. Developing countries are unable to follow these methods so that these competitive situations will be deeper and more powerful due to the clear interaction between not following the scientific method and adhering to random and improvisational methods, which is reflected in the capabilities of these organizations. The research deals with the impact of strategic planning (external orientation, internal orientation, functional coverage, and resources provided for strategic planning) in the university's competitiveness (the strategy of the educational institution, Governance and management, Financial and material resources, Faculty members, Students, Scientific research, Community service, Curricula), as an expression of a vision of the role of strategic planning in achieving effective adaptation to competitive situations and improving the university's competitiveness, to establish a reality in the minds of the leaders responsible for the planning process that working in traditional contexts in light of the changes and accumulating problems of the Iraqi environment leads to results that are not effective concerning the size of the problems. Hence, the research problem arises by raising a major question which is: What is the impact of strategic planning on the competitiveness of Iraqi universities according to the national institutional accreditation standards of the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research? To achieve the goal of the research and answer its questions, the research applied to a sample of (158) individuals at the University of Technology and the research adopted the questionnaire to collect the data that were processed and analyzed using several statistical methods. The research reached several results, including the researched university has employed strategic planning with all its indicators to improve its competitiveness. the most important recommendations were the necessity for the university to employ more strategic planning to improve the university's competitiveness.   Received: 2 March 2021 / Accepted: 3 August 2021 / Published: 5 September 2021