Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of organizational culture and leadership style on employees’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment and work motivation in the educational sector in the state of Qatar. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted using a questionnaire with a sample size of 364 employees in the educational sector in Qatar. Data were analyzed using factor analysis, Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression, were employed to examine the relationships between the variables under investigation. Findings Significant positive relationships were observed between supportive culture and job satisfaction; supportive culture and organizational commitment; participative-supportive leadership and job satisfaction; directive leadership and job satisfaction; job satisfaction and work motivation; job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Practical implications This paper would help managers and policy-makers in the education sector to develop a better understanding of organizational culture and leadership styles and their influence on employee satisfaction, commitment and motivation. Originality/value The education sector is experiencing a fast growth in Qatar due to significant outlays by the government. This study is among the first in the country to understand the variables affecting employees’ performance in education sector.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the factors that influence the mindset of youth in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in choosing entrepreneurship as their future employment. It also suggests the pathway to improve the role of the universities as strategic drivers in inducing an entrepreneurial mindset. Design/methodology/approach An exhaustive literature review of extant research followed by an exploratory study was conducted. Furthermore, to understand factors influencing the role of universities, interpretive structural modelling methodology is applied to evolve a hierarchy-based relationship among the strategic factors. Findings The results of empirical research suggest that young people in the UAE rank entrepreneurship as their first employment choice. However, most of them have not attended any formal entrepreneurship-related course in school or in college. The study also suggests that individual and environmental factors influence the entrepreneurial mindset of both males and females in the UAE. The structural model developed in the study indicates that to give an impetus to the entrepreneurial mindset, the government must create a supporting environment with UAE universities playing the role of a catalyst. Practical implications Professional entrepreneurship instruction is seen as a strategic tool to stimulate financial and societal growth. The results could provide insights for both entrepreneurship educators and policymakers and will boost their commitment to promote the entrepreneurial mindset within UAE society by enhancing and developing traits associated with entrepreneurial success. The results support recognition of the factors that induce educational programmes and economic incentives targeted at the development of sustainable entrepreneurial culture and ventures in the UAE. Originality/value The study is an effort to highlight the role of higher education in envisaging and cultivating entrepreneurs in a fast-growing developing country through a survey and a hierarchy-based model.

Purpose -Supply chain risk management assumes importance in the wake of organizations understanding that their risk susceptibility is dependent on other constituents of their supply chain. The purpose of this paper is to present an approach to effective supply chain risk mitigation by understanding the dynamics between various enablers that help to mitigate risk in a supply chain. Design/methodology/approach -Using interpretive structural modeling the research presents a hierarchy-based model and the mutual relationships among the enablers of risk mitigation. Findings -The research shows that there exists a group of enablers having a high driving power and low dependence requiring maximum attention and of strategic importance while another group consists of those variables which have high dependence and are the resultant actions. Practical implications -This classification provides a useful tool to supply chain managers to differentiate between independent and dependent variables and their mutual relationships which would help them to focus on those key variables that are most important for effective risk minimization in a supply chain. Originality/value -Presentation of enablers in a hierarchy and the classification into driver and dependent categories is unique effort in the area of supply chain risk management.

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Purpose In Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, entrepreneurship is not a very popular option among women. The low rate of entrepreneurship as a career choice among females is attributed to factors that are specific to females in GCC region. The purpose of this paper is to understand these variables and their interrelationships that lead to low rate of adoption of entrepreneurship as a career choice among females in GCC region. Design/methodology/approach The research followed a two-stage process; first, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify barriers to female entrepreneurship in GCC region. In the second stage, the identified barriers were modeled using fuzzy interpretive structural modeling technique to construct a hierarchical structure and the impact matrix cross-reference multiplication applied to a classification approach to analyze the control power and dependence among these barriers. Findings The research shows that there exists a group of barriers having a high driving power and low dependence requiring maximum attention and of strategic importance, while another group consists of those variables that have high dependence and are the resultant actions. Practical implications This research will help policy makers to focus on variables that are most important and requires immediate attention for the development and empowerment of female entrepreneurship in the GCC region. The paper suggests future course of action to provide an impetus to efforts aimed at improving female entrepreneurship in the GCC region. Originality/value The policy makers in the GCC region have accorded high priority to entrepreneurship to reduce the dependence of population on government jobs. This research is one of the few studies on female entrepreneurship conducted in GCC region to understand the impediments that limit the adoption of entrepreneurship as a career choice by women.

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: to investigate the antecedents of resilience and to highlight the importance of resilience in achieving reconfiguration in supply chains.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on literature on supply chain resilience and collects data from 253 companies in Qatar to understand the influence of the antecedents of supply chain resilience and the impact of resilience on reconfiguration using partial least squares structural equation modeling.FindingsThe findings show that antecedents like risk management culture, agility and collaboration positively affect the supply chain resilience. Further, the study establishes that companies can leverage their supply chain resilience to reconfigure supply chain in case of disruptions.Practical implicationsThis study is important for supply chain managers in Qatar, as the country faced major disruption of supply chains in wake of the blockade imposed by its neighbors with which it had the only land route and maximum trade. The findings from this study should aid mangers in developing resilient supply chains.Originality/valueThis paper highlights the role of supply chain resilience in achieving reconfiguration. Further, novelty of the work reported in this paper lies in its context where supply chains recently faced actual disruptions.