This study provides additional evidence on information technology (IT) governance and its relationship to firm performance in emerging markets. It aims primarily to determine the level of IT governance in Saudi Arabian companies; it also aims at examining the impact of IT governance on the firm performance. The study target sample is 131 companies taken from 20 sectors of the Saudi financial market; during the year 2017. The researchers have used the IT-related backgrounds of the members of the board of directors as an indicator of IT governance. The researchers have also used another group of corporate governance indicators in addition to a set of control variables. The performance of the companies has been referred to as the operational performance which is represented as Return on Assets (ROA) and the financial performance as the Return on Equity (ROE). The descriptive results have been shocking. The study has shown a sharp decline in IT governance in Saudi companies; only 15% of companies have members of the board of directors with IT-related backgrounds, and the IT governance is not adopted or used in many important sectors. However, the regression analysis shows that there is a positive impact on IT governance only on the operational performance of Saudi companies. The results of this study provide a significant indicator of IT governance in Saudi companies. These results can be also used to develop the corporate governance code to focus more on IT governance.

PurposeManagers claim that fresh graduates are unequipped to meet market demands. The aim of this study is to investigate the perception of employers in retail Islamic banks of Bahrain on newly graduated business students. The Singaporean Model of Employability Skills was implemented, to ascertain the mean ratings of employability skills in terms of their importance and the competency of business graduates.Design/methodology/approachThis deductive research approach initiated with a literature review that identifies research gap and a model that was tested via a self-administration adopted survey by collected data from 220 senior employees at retail Islamic banks of BahrainFindingsThe systematic of convenience sampling technique was used in selecting 161 samples and the researcher received only 85 completed questionnaire forms. Findings initiate that employers appreciated the importance of teamwork, risk management and decision-making skills. Their main recommendation was that employers should establish a durable bond with universities to enhance employability skills.Originality/valueBecause the researcher gathered all data from employers of different Islamic banks in Bahrain, this sector in addition will get the advantage of the results that banks will formulate their strategic plans accordingly to tackle the business graduates’ weaknesses. Likewise, universities and researchers might be motivated to look into new innovative methods that assist graduates to accommodate with market conditions.

Oil and gas industry is complex and competitive and its projects are characterized by their importance and complexity. To achieve sustainability, oil and gas firms have to initiate and complete projects to scope, schedule, cost and quality. Hence, efficient Project Management Methodologies (PMMs) play a crucial role in successful project delivery. A conceptual model, adopted from the literature, was used to assess the influence of PMMs on project success. Based on a questionnaire data from 95 project management practitioners within the oil and gas industry in the Kingdom of Bahrain, correlational and regression analyses were used to test the research hypotheses. The quantitative study was backed with 17 semi-structured interviews to obtain in-depth understanding about the organizational PMMs. The major finding of the study revealed that applied PMMs have higher influence on project success in comparison with comprehensive PMMs. The companies in the oil and gas industry in Bahrain need to pay sharper attention to their methodologies and get them evolved with time to achieve higher success rates.

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Purpose: the main objective is to explore the usability of medical mobile applications and to study the factors affecting the acceptance of the Electronic Medical Record Systems (EMRs) among physicians in Bahrain. Methodology: The study followed a quantitative design employing a questionnaire based on the Extended Technology acceptance Model (TAM2) to test the relationship between the acceptance of EMRs and the factors affecting it; System Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), Job Relevance and Output Quality in addition to descriptive questions to understand the extent of use of the mobile medical Apps among the physicians. The study covered 53 physicians from various hospitals across Bahrain. SPSS was used to analyze data. Findings: Acceptance of EMR is positively affected by US, EOU, Job Relevance and Output Quality and thus accepts all the intended hypothesis. Implication: the research emphasizes on the role of hospitals' management to introduce the importance, usefulness and impact of such technological advancements on the physicians work flow and quality of patient care and to provide effective training and support on how to use the implemented EMR so end-users may own the system.