Economic activity vs generation of local budgets’ revenues: Regional disparities in COVID-19 instability

Islamic finance has grown rapidly in the recent years particularly in the Middle East and the world. It receives a great attention of bankers and financial scholars due to its stability during financial shocks and crises. The paper uses empirical analysis to test the role of Islamic banking in enhancing the economic growth of United Arab Emirates (UAE). Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross formation (GF), and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) are used as representatives for economic growth, while Islamic banks’ investments are used as a representative for Islamic financial sector in the UAE. The study uses time series techniques to test the link between the variables. In the current study, co-integration along with error correction models is utilized. All econometric work is done using Eviews. The findings reveal that the causal relationship between Islamic banks’ investments and economic growth of UAE is supply-leading direction. Furthermore, the findings depict that Islamic investments have contributed in increasing investments and in bringing FDI into the country in the long-term. The study also shows that there is two-way association between Islamic banks’ investments and FDI. It shows that FDI supports Islamic banking and Islamic banking brings FDI. The paper concludes that authorities of the UAE should devote more attention for this growing banking sector by facilitating regulations for establishing new Islamic banks and then creating a suitable environment for their growth and progress in the UAE.

Talents play a critical role in achieving organizational strategic goals and a higher level of performance in the healthcare industry. Therefore, the UAE government, which strives to provide world-class healthcare services, encouraged the adoption of talent management strategies and creation of essential capabilities for talent recruitment, development, and retaining. This study explores the talent management strategies, policies, and practices in multiple departments of a public UAE hospital. Moreover, it investigates required skills, competencies, and programs for those departments in the context of Industry 4.0. The study adopted a case study approach and qualitatively surveyed a purposive sample of 13 departmental managers, section heads, and supervisors who are experienced in employee management. The study found that talent management at the studied hospital is undefined and unclear in terms of strategies, policies, and practices. Furthermore, the study highlighted the need for employee encouragement, motivation, and engagement, as well as confirmed the critical role of management and leadership in facilitating talent management in the hospital. Accordingly, a UAE hospital could benefit from this study to develop its talent management policy and strategies that will guide managers in the Industry 4.0 era.

Acknowledgment
The nursing administration, nursing research committee at Tawam hospital and managers who responded to the study survey are acknowledged for the extension of support for the study.

TikTok is increasingly influential in promoting brand awareness and boosting purchase intention. From a social media marketing perspective, brand awareness significantly influences consumers’ purchasing decisions. The primary objective of this study is to investigate and measure the factors influencing the brand awareness of TikTok users through social media marketing communications. The paper employs exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach’s Alpha test, and regression analysis to test the hypotheses. 24 observed variables were divided into six groups. Each variable was assessed using a 5-point Likert scale. The sample size includes 240 valid responses from TikTok users collected via convenience sampling. The questionnaire was distributed to TikTok users from Vietnam via the link on Google Forms. The collected data were processed by SPSS 20 software. The results suggest that six independent variables positively affect brand recognition via social media marketing on TikTok, with a 95% confidence interval at Sig. = 0.000 (0.05). Each of the six variables positively impacts initial expectations and is statistically significant at 1%. The results show that trends (Beta = 0.299) are the most decisive factors impacting brand awareness of TikTok users. Besides, electronic word of mouth (Beta = 0.242), influencer (Beta = 0.220), entertainment (Beta = 0.206), interaction (Beta = 0.200), and storytelling (Beta = 0.179) also positively affect the brand awareness of TikTok users. Limitations and further research suggest that marketers should investigate the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the consumer’s brand awareness-constructing process.