Intellectual capital and financial performance of Sharia-compliant banks in Saudi Arabia

Financial performance is the fundamental aspect to test the performance of the companies. The performance of insurance sector, like any other service industry, is supposed to depend significantly on customers. When it comes to customers, it is an established fact that customer satisfaction would be an important element. Customer satisfaction primarily depends on the quality of service it gets. It can be safely hypothesized that better service quality would lead to higher satisfaction, which would ultimately lead to higher profits for the company. Studies on this relationship in the insurance sector for Saudi Arabia are missing. Hence, this study aims at studying both the profitability of companies and quality of service and tries to relate it to customer satisfaction. The results are quite surprising, as the study establishes that although the qualities of services are found wanting in many areas, companies are earning good profits. A probable reason could be the statutory nature of the services. Nevertheless, this study recommends improving the quality of services and differentiating services between age groups for further improvement.

This research aims to assess direct and indirect influences of organizational culture on job performance, as well as to evaluate the impact of each sub-element of organizational culture on such performance. It is argued that employees performance derives, on the one hand, from a long-term perspective related to changes that organizations manage and implement during their process of growth. A second dimension of organizational culture can be given through organizational values, routines and distinctive aspects of culture that allow organizations to create solid competitive advantages. Since most studies in this field were held in Western work cultures, this paper will be devoted to the analysis of this relationship within an Arabic cultural environment and more specifically within a Saudi context. A quantitative study tool, based on a comprehensive research questionnaire, was used and the sample was selected from various government departments being operative in Alkharj. The findings indicate a positive relationship between organizational culture and job performance. Likewise, four organizational culture sub-elements, namely Managing Change, Achieving Goals, Coordinating Teamwork and Cultural Strength, were found affecting positively on job performance, but with varying and distinct intensity. Only Customer Orientation was found negatively associated with job performance.

Saudi Arabia is well known in the world for the holy places Makkah and Madinah. Hajjis and visitors come to perform hajj and Umrah every year in Makkah and Madinah from all around the world. Hajj and Umrah visits play a vital role in the inbound tourism of Saudi Arabia. The tourism revenue of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is increasing absolutely but losing its contribution to the GDP proportionately. So, this paper tries to find out the economic activities of all components of tourism sector which are responsible for the negative trend. It also explains the relationships and variability of tourism revenues and expenditures with GDP and offers suggestions to enhance revenue of tourism sector. This study is based upon secondary data obtained from the website of SAMA (Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority) and General Authority for Statistics of Saudi Arabia. In tourism sector of Saudi Arabia, the increasing trend of expenditures of some economic activities is more than its revenue. The increasing trend of expenditures comparatively its revenues lowering contribution of tourism towards GDP. To improve the level of tourism revenue, government has to provide world class facilities and develop new tourist spots and allow the visitors to visit such places according to the Shariah and Kingdom rules. Government has to focus on developing passenger rail transport and other means of transport to connect all the tourist spots to provide easy conveyance, and on improving and developing tourism sector by helping the government and private organizations that are engaged directly or indirectly in providing services to the domestic and inbound tourists to assure more contribution to GDP.