Learning Organization and Intellectual Capital: An Empirical Study of Jordanian Banks

The purpose of this paper is to investigate empirically the relation between the learning organization andintellectual capita Jordanian banking industry. The intellectual capital is measured by three dimensions,namely, human capital, structural capital, and customer capital. 86 Questionnaires are sent to managers andexecutives in Jordanian banks headquarters using convenience sample, however, 66 questionnaires werereturned and the response rate is 77%. Quantitative approach is employed to test the proposed researchhypotheses; correlation analysis and regression analysis are conducted. The results support the hypothesisthat learning organization has a positive impact on banks intellectual capital. The results extend theunderstanding of the role of organizational learning in creating intellectual capital and building sustainableadvantages for banks in emerging economies.Keywords: Banking Industry, Intellectual Capital, Learning Organizations, Hypotheses Testing, Jordan

Supply chain risk assessment and mitigation under the global pandemic COVID-19

[EN] Supply chain (SC) disruptions were massive in 2020, with many manufacturers forced to close their operations temporarily. The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has changed the way enterprises perceive risks and the potential effect on their supply chain. Many enterprises are now very dependent on third-party services, so it is necessary to adapt to sustainability challenges. This paper aims to provide a detailed review of research related to risk assessment and mitigation of the SC under lockdown due to COVID-19. Then, it identifies risks associated with supply chains (SCs) during the pandemic using the Failure Mode Effect Analysis. Finally, it suggests improvements to have a fully resilient supply chain. In addition, it explored Supply Chain Resilience (SCR), its phases, and strategies by examining an enterprise that managed COVID-19 pandemic disruptions and turned their potential losses into revenue. Furthermore, we discussed a case study where the enterprise increased its total income by nearly $1 million.Bani-Irshid, AH.; Hamasha, MM.; Al-Nsour, L.; Mohammad, L.; Al-Dabaibeh, A.; Al-Majali, R.; Al-Daajeh, H. (2024). Supply chain risk assessment and mitigation under the global pandemic COVID-19. International Journal of Production Management and Engineering. 12(1):43-63. https://doi.org/10.4995/ijpme.2024.19240436312

DIMENSIONS OF THE QUALITY OF SERVICE IN THE JORDANIAN TOURISM COMPANIES AND THEIR RELATIONS TO CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

The present study aimed to reveal the reality of the dimensions of quality of service in the Jordanian tourism companies and their relationship to customer satisfaction. Preliminary data have been collected from customers through questionnaire has been designed for this purpose, after analyzing the data, the study found a positive relationship between reliability, safety, credibility and tangibility and customers satisfaction among Jordanian tourism companies. While there was no relationship between the responsiveness and eligibility and between customer satisfaction in tourism companies The study recommended that the tourism companies have to continue and concern of all the components of service quality and to enhance it in order to get the satisfaction of employees. The Jordanian tourism companies have to concern over the responsiveness and eligibility regard the respond to the customer needs, and the administration of the company should take care of the customers’ complaints and queries. The employees should shorten some of the actions in order to speed customer service. Signboards should be available at the time of provision of services, and provide a sufficient number of staff who provides service to customers. The companies should raise the efficiency of the staff, raise their deductive ability to perform their roles, provide them with the knowledge to their work, to provide staff with adequate information about the service provided, and the company should pay attention that the staff provides the services with highly skilled

Factors and issues affecting electronic insurance adoption in an emerging market

This study examines the factors and issues affecting the adoption of electronic insurance (EI) in the Jordanian insurance sector. The methodology of the study is based on convenience sampling, thus, the sample consists of 175 respondents familiar with E-services, with different backgrounds, professions, businesses, income groups, sectors, and regions. Questionnaires were distributed and disseminated electronically using SurveyMonkey. The study employs both descriptive and ANOVA analyses to analyze the responses. The results show that EI promotes sustainability, reduces costs, saves time and holds some operational benefits beneath. The ANOVA results show that the impact of income and age on sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and operational benefits is significant at least at the 5% significance level. Respondents are also aware that EI may involve issues and challenges related to security and privacy, customer-related issues such as lack of knowledge about repositories, and insurer-related issues such as data shifting. The ANOVA results indicate that gender affects customers’ perceptions of EI adoption regarding customer-related issues; its effect is significant at the 5% level of significance. On the other hand, age and income level are important factors that shape respondents’ perceptions of EI in Jordan. Age is only significant for security-related issues, and income level is a deciding factor in insurer-related issues; their effect is strong and highly significant at the 5% and 1% levels, respectively

A review of endocrine therapy for hormone-dependent breast cancer

Purpose of the study: to provide current data on pharmacotherapy of hormone-dependent breast cancer (hdBC) and to consider the feasibility of introducing new hormone therapy drugs for breast cancer into clinical practice. Material and Methods. We analyzed 80 publications available Pubmed, Springer, Cochrane Library, etc. concerning the study of pharmacological characteristics of various groups of drugs for the treatment of hdBC, of which 49 were included in this review. Results. Currently, there are several approaches to the treatment of hdBC. Selective estrogen receptor modulators and aromatase inhibitors are the most studied and frequently used drugs. The cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitors can be present in both the first- and second-line therapy. Currently, close attention is paid to the development of new drugs based on genomic profiling of the tumor, which is the standard of treatment for hdBC, and contributes to the personalization of therapy. Conclusion. Further development of drugs holds great promise for increasing overall survival and more accurate prognosis, response to conventional systemic therapy, and individualization of pharmacotherapy for hdBC. However, further research and development of new drugs is required. In this regard, the introduction of oral selective estrogen receptor degraders into practice and the development of new drugs that block estrogen-dependent and independent signaling to estrogen receptors are the most promising trends

Worldwide trends in diabetes since 1980: a pooled analysis of 751 population-based studies with 4.4 million participants

BACKGROUND: One of the global targets for non-communicable diseases is to halt, by 2025, the rise in the age-standardised adult prevalence of diabetes at its 2010 levels. We aimed to estimate worldwide trends in diabetes, how likely it is for countries to achieve the global target, and how changes in prevalence, together with population growth and ageing, are affecting the number of adults with diabetes. METHODS: We pooled data from population-based studies that had collected data on diabetes through measurement of its biomarkers. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in diabetes prevalence—defined as fasting plasma glucose of 7·0 mmol/L or higher, or history of diagnosis with diabetes, or use of insulin or oral hypoglycaemic drugs—in 200 countries and territories in 21 regions, by sex and from 1980 to 2014. We also calculated the posterior probability of meeting the global diabetes target if post-2000 trends continue. FINDINGS: We used data from 751 studies including 4 372 000 adults from 146 of the 200 countries we make estimates for. Global age-standardised diabetes prevalence increased from 4·3% (95% credible interval 2·4–7·0) in 1980 to 9·0% (7·2–11·1) in 2014 in men, and from 5·0% (2·9–7·9) to 7·9% (6·4–9·7) in women. The number of adults with diabetes in the world increased from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014 (28·5% due to the rise in prevalence, 39·7% due to population growth and ageing, and 31·8% due to interaction of these two factors). Age-standardised adult diabetes prevalence in 2014 was lowest in northwestern Europe, and highest in Polynesia and Micronesia, at nearly 25%, followed by Melanesia and the Middle East and north Africa. Between 1980 and 2014 there was little change in age-standardised diabetes prevalence in adult women in continental western Europe, although crude prevalence rose because of ageing of the population. By contrast, age-standardised adult prevalence rose by 15 percentage points in men and women in Polynesia and Micronesia. In 2014, American Samoa had the highest national prevalence of diabetes (>30% in both sexes), with age-standardised adult prevalence also higher than 25% in some other islands in Polynesia and Micronesia. If post-2000 trends continue, the probability of meeting the global target of halting the rise in the prevalence of diabetes by 2025 at the 2010 level worldwide is lower than 1% for men and is 1% for women. Only nine countries for men and 29 countries for women, mostly in western Europe, have a 50% or higher probability of meeting the global target. INTERPRETATION: Since 1980, age-standardised diabetes prevalence in adults has increased, or at best remained unchanged, in every country. Together with population growth and ageing, this rise has led to a near quadrupling of the number of adults with diabetes worldwide. The burden of diabetes, both in terms of prevalence and number of adults affected, has increased faster in low-income and middle-income countries than in high-income countries. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust

Antimicrobial resistance in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: experiences, challenges, and perspectives

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a rapidly growing global health threat that undermines the effectiveness of first-line treatments for serious infectious diseases. During the Eighth Regional Conference of the Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET), held in Amman, Jordan, from September 15–18, 2024, this critical issue took center stage under the theme “Advancing Public Health Preparedness and Response.” A dedicated roundtable discussion on AMR explored the challenges of implementing effective AMR surveillance, the widespread misuse of antibiotics, and the urgent need for a One Health approach that integrates human, animal, and environmental health. Speakers emphasized that political commitment, sustainable funding, and cross-sector collaboration are essential to curbing AMR, particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), where factors such as high antimicrobial consumption, conflict, weak health systems, and poor access to regulated antibiotics exacerbate the problem. The discussion also highlighted the critical roles of laboratories and infection prevention and control (IPC) programs in healthcare settings, both of which are central to AMR surveillance and stewardship. Global efforts, including the WHO’s Global Action Plan on AMR and the AMR Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform, were recognized as vital frameworks for fostering international cooperation and guiding regional responses. The roundtable concluded with a call for strengthened governance, enhanced laboratory capacities, improved surveillance systems, scaling up IPC programs and enhanced public awareness campaigns to confront the rising threat of AMR in the EMR

Cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes mortality burden of cardiometabolic risk factors from 1980 to 2010: a comparative risk assessment

Background High blood pressure, blood glucose, serum cholesterol, and BMI are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and some of these factors also increase the risk of chronic kidney disease and diabetes. We estimated mortality from cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes that was attributable to these four cardiometabolic risk factors for all countries and regions from 1980 to 2010. Methods We used data for exposure to risk factors by country, age group, and sex from pooled analyses of populationbased health surveys. We obtained relative risks for the eff ects of risk factors on cause-specifi c mortality from metaanalyses of large prospective studies. We calculated the population attributable fractions for- each risk factor alone, and for the combination of all risk factors, accounting for multicausality and for mediation of the eff ects of BMI by the other three risks. We calculated attributable deaths by multiplying the cause-specifi c population attributable fractions by the number of disease-specifi c deaths. We obtained cause-specifi c mortality from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors 2010 Study. We propagated the uncertainties of all the inputs to the fi nal estimates. Findings In 2010, high blood pressure was the leading risk factor for deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes in every region, causing more than 40% of worldwide deaths from these diseases; high BMI and glucose were each responsible for about 15% of deaths, and high cholesterol for more than 10%. After accounting for multicausality, 63% (10\ub78 million deaths, 95% CI 10\ub71\u201311\ub75) of deaths from these diseases in 2010 were attributable to the combined eff ect of these four metabolic risk factors, compared with 67% (7\ub71 million deaths, 6\ub76\u20137\ub76) in 1980. The mortality burden of high BMI and glucose nearly doubled from 1980 to 2010. At the country level, age-standardised death rates from these diseases attributable to the combined eff ects of these four risk factors surpassed 925 deaths per 100 000 for men in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia, but were less than 130 deaths per 100 000 for women and less than 200 for men in some high-income countries including Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, and Spain. Interpretation The salient features of the cardiometabolic disease and risk factor epidemic at the beginning of the 21st century are high blood pressure and an increasing eff ect of obesity and diabetes. The mortality burden of cardiometabolic risk factors has shifted from high-income to low-income and middle-income countries. Lowering cardiometabolic risks through dietary, behavioural, and pharmacological interventions should be a part of the globalresponse to non-communicable diseases

Cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes mortality burden of cardiometabolic risk factors from 1980 to 2010: A comparative risk assessment

Background: High blood pressure, blood glucose, serum cholesterol, and BMI are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and some of these factors also increase the risk of chronic kidney disease and diabetes. We estimated mortality from cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes that was attributable to these four cardiometabolic risk factors for all countries and regions from 1980 to 2010. Methods: We used data for exposure to risk factors by country, age group, and sex from pooled analyses of population-based health surveys. We obtained relative risks for the effects of risk factors on cause-specific mortality from meta-analyses of large prospective studies. We calculated the population attributable fractions for each risk factor alone, and for the combination of all risk factors, accounting for multicausality and for mediation of the effects of BMI by the other three risks. We calculated attributable deaths by multiplying the cause-specific population attributable fractions by the number of disease-specific deaths. We obtained cause-specific mortality from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors 2010 Study. We propagated the uncertainties of all the inputs to the final estimates. Findings: In 2010, high blood pressure was the leading risk factor for deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes in every region, causing more than 40% of worldwide deaths from these diseases; high BMI and glucose were each responsible for about 15% of deaths, and high cholesterol for more than 10%. After accounting for multicausality, 63% (10·8 million deaths, 95% CI 10·1-11·5) of deaths from these diseases in 2010 were attributable to the combined effect of these four metabolic risk factors, compared with 67% (7·1 million deaths, 6·6-7·6) in 1980. The mortality burden of high BMI and glucose nearly doubled from 1980 to 2010. At the country level, age-standardised death rates from these diseases attributable to the combined effects of these four risk factors surpassed 925 deaths per 100 000 for men in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia, but were less than 130 deaths per 100 000 for women and less than 200 for men in some high-income countries including Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, and Spain. Interpretation: The salient features of the cardiometabolic disease and risk factor epidemic at the beginning of the 21st century are high blood pressure and an increasing effect of obesity and diabetes. The mortality burden of cardiometabolic risk factors has shifted from high-income to low-income and middle-income countries. Lowering cardiometabolic risks through dietary, behavioural, and pharmacological interventions should be a part of the global response to non-communicable diseases. Funding: UK Medical Research Council, US National Institutes of Health. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd