Mohammed Hossain

Customer perception on service quality in retail banking in Middle East: the case of Qatar

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the service quality in retail banking in the Middle East in general, and Qatar in particular, based on different levels of customers perception regarding service quality. Design/methodology/approach - This is an analytical study based mainly on the primary data collected through a scientifically developed questionnaire. The questionnaire have been personally administered on a sample size of 120, chosen on a convenient basis from four Qatari banks, i.e. Qatar National Bank, Doha Bank, Qatar International Islamic Bank, and Arab Bank. The questionnaire has been designed on the basis of the study of previous scholars such as Berry Findings - The result indicates that customers perception is highest in the tangibles area and lowest in the competence area. Practical implications - In order to achieving higher levels of quality service in retail banking, banks should deliver higher levels of service quality and in the present context customers perceptions are highest in the level of infrastructure facilities of the bank, followed by timing of the bank, and return on deposit. Owing to the increasing competition in retail banking, customer service is an important part and bank managers should be rethinking how to improve customer satisfaction with respect to service quality. Originality/value - This paper makes a useful contribution given that there are only a few studies dealing with the assessment of service quality in banking environments.

Corporate social responsibility reporting in Qatar: a descriptive analysis

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the current status and extent of corporate social responsibility reporting (CSRR) in the annual reports of Qatari companies listed on the Qatar Exchange. It seeks to contribute to the meagre descriptive literature on CSRR in emerging economies in general, and in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in particular. Design/methodology/approach - The paper reviews the annual reports of companies from both the financial and manufacturing sectors. The paper uses content analysis and covers five areas of CSR reporting including environment, human resources, product development, community involvement and others relating to inequality and the employment of disabled people. Findings - The paper finds that most companies disclosed information related to human resources and product development, followed by community involvement. However, no companies reported environmental issues in their annual reports. Research limitations/implications - The research is based on annual reports for the financial year 2007. Hence, the conclusions reached cannot be generalized. A longitudinal analysis is needed to highlight trends in CSRR practices in Qatar. An in-depth case study would also facilitate our understanding of why companies are making or not making certain types of social and environmental disclosure in Qatar. Originality/value - Descriptions of CSRR in different parts of the world are still welcome, and arguably CSRR research in GCC in general and Qatar in particular is very limited.

Effects of board and ownership structure on corporate performance: Evidence from GCC countries

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of ownership structure and board composition on bank performance as measured by Tobins Q and market to book value in Gulf Co-Operation Council (GCC) countries. Design/methodology/approach – A dataset of 58-listed banks of GCC countries for the period 2010 is used. The methodology is based on multivariate regression analysis. Findings – The result shows that the extent of family ownership, foreign ownership and institutional ownership has a significant positive association with bank performance. However, government ownership does not have a significant impact on performance. Other governance variables such as CEO duality and board size appear to have an insignificant impact on performance. Practical implications – Better corporate governance mechanisms are imperative for every company and should be encouraged for the interest of the investors and other stakeholders. The study implies that ownership by corporate governance is more effective for G...

Perceptions of the accountant held by business students and business professionals in an emerging country: The case of Qatar

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how business students and business professionals in Qatar perceive the accountancy profession.Design/methodology/approach – The paper designs a survey based on Osgood semantic differential theory of attitude assessment (30 bipolar pairs). The survey is administrated to 400 respondents. Factor analysis reduces variables to five and analysis of variance is employed to study the main differences between groups.Findings – Findings show that professionals and students, taken together, report a fairly positive image of the accountancy profession. However, students perceptions are more positive compared to professionals. Among students, other demographics affect how students view the accountancy profession.Research limitations/implications – The sample is limited. Larger samples would confirm or otherwise the findings of this study. Future research could enlarge the scope by including other actors such as educators. Also, exploring other Arab countries would...

Women in the Boardroom and Their Impact on Climate Change Related Disclosure

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between gender diversity and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) score/index. Specifically, the study describes extant research on theoretical perspectives, and the impact of women on corporate boards (WOBs) on carbon emission issues in the global perspective.,This study uses the carbon disclosure scores of the CDP from 2011 to 2013 (inclusive). A total observation for the three-year periods is 1,175 companies. However, based on data availability for the model, the sample size totals 331 companies in 33 countries with firms in 12 geographical locations. The authors used a model which is estimated using the fixed-effects estimator.,The outcomes of the study reveal that there is a positive relationship between gender diversity (WOB) and carbon disclosure information. In addition to establishing a relationship between CDP score and other control variables, this study also found a relationship with Board size, asset size, energy consumption and Tobin’s Q, which is common in the existing literature.,The limitations of the study mostly revolve around samples and the time period. To further test the generalizability and cross-sectional validity of the outcomes, it is suggested that the proposed framework be tested in more socially responsible firms.,There are increasing pressures for WOBs from diverse stakeholders, such as the European Commission, national governments, politicians, employer lobby groups, shareholders, Fortune and Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) rankings and best places for women to work lists. The study offers insights to policy makers implementing gender quota legislation.,The study has important implications for putting into practice good corporate governance and, in particular, gender diversity. The outcomes of the analyses advocate that companies that included women directors and had a smaller board size may expect to achieve a higher level of carbon emission performance and to voluntarily disclose the level of carbon information assessment requested by the CDP.

Greenhouse gas disclosures by Chinese power companies: trends, content and strategies

Purpose n n n n nThis paper aims to investigate the greenhouse gas (GHG)-related disclosure trends, content and strategies of the eight most high GHG-emitting Chinese power companies, over a period when government pressure to manage GHG emissions increased. n n n n nDesign/methodology/approach n n n n nData were collected from the 2000-2009 annual reports, corporate social and environmental responsibility reports and websites of eight Chinese power companies. Content analysis results were supplemented with excerpts from documents written in English or Chinese. Legitimacy theory informed the interpretation of the findings. n n n n nFindings n n n n nGHG-related disclosures increased from 2002 when the Chinese Government ratified the Kyoto Protocol and promulgated stringent environmental regulations. However, some expected types of GHG-related disclosure were absent or rare. Disclosure practices were found to be underpinned by reputation management objectives and reflected a symbolic rather than substantive legitimation strategy. n n n n nResearch limitations/implications n n n n nThis study extends the literature on GHG-related disclosures by carbon-intensive firms and points to the need for future research to examine such disclosures in different countries to appreciate the variety in practice. n n n n nPractical implications n n n n nWhile the Chinese Government appears to have driven the emergence of GHG-related disclosure practices, companies can effect improvement by expanding the scope and content of what they disclose. Also, the growing emphasis on website disclosures may present challenges in ensuring the reliability and assurance of GHG disclosures. n n n n nOriginality/value n n n n nThis is the first study to examine GHG-related disclosure practices by Chinese power-generating companies, a sector crucial to managing the GHG effects of China’s significant economic growth.

Proportional reactive power sharing for islanded microgrids

In this paper, droop-based automatic control schemes are presented to control parallel inverter-interfaced distributed generators (DG) in a way that proportional reactive power sharing is possible in islanded microgrids under different structures. This paper modifies the conventional reactive power-voltage (Q-V) droop control strategy used in inductive (L-type) islanded microgrids by implementing voltage control law in overall control operation such that reactive power becomes inversely proportional to the reactive droop gain if the initial values of inverter-interfaced voltage-sources are the same. Reactive power sharing approach for resistive (R-type) islanded microgrids is also included in this paper; in which it is shared depending on rate-of-angle of voltage-sources, i.e., reactive power-frequency (Q-f) droop. The proposed control methods utilize linear modal analysis to design both types of droop-based controllers. A 5-bus microgrid with 4-parallel inverter-connected DG units is considered for simulations under load changing phenomenon where results show the excellency of the designed control schemes.