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The purpose of this study is to analyze the fluctuations in gold prices within the Saudi Arabian market and to develop a reliable forecasting model to aid market participants and policymakers in making informed decisions.

In this study, we employ a rigorous time series analysis methodology, including the ARIMA (Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average) model, to analyze historical gold price data in the Saudi Arabian market. The approach involves identifying optimal model parameters and assessing forecast accuracy to provide actionable insights for market participants.

The study showcases that the autoregressive properties of past gold prices play a pivotal role in capturing the inherent serial correlation within the market, enabling the ARIMA model to effectively forecast future gold price movements with accuracy.

Our study primarily focuses on quantitative analysis, whereas few qualitative parameters are not included. Future studies may benefit from incorporating qualitative factors and expert opinions to enhance the robustness of gold price predictions and capture the full spectrum of market dynamics.

Participants and policymakers may find this study helpful in navigating the complicated Saudi Arabian gold market. By understanding financial stability and investment decisions more thoroughly, individuals and institutions may be able to manage their portfolios more effectively.

By combining historical insights with advanced ARIMA modeling techniques, this research provides valuable insight into gold price dynamics in the Saudi Arabian market.

The objective of this study is to examine the nature of cryptocurrencies, risks involved in using it due to its volatile nature, advantages, disadvantages and its functions as money.

This is an inductive approach to a descriptive analysis (Qualitative research). In order to come to an adequate conclusion, we reviewed several studies and articles previously published in this field related to our research questions, and then explored the nature of Cryptocurrencies, their advantages and disadvantages, risks associated with cryptocurrency usage and their user-friendliness in Saudi Arabia.

The findings of this study reveal that anonymity and concealment are important aspects of cryptocurrencies. This system does not follow a transparent process that can make it parallel to conventional fiat currency.

Although this study focuses on the issue of trust, it fails to recognize more technological factors hampering its transaction mechanism instead of enhancing it, owing to a lack of facts and knowledge.

Like conventional transaction system users must sign their crypto transactions that others must duly verify easily. Once a promise is made, one will not be able to back out of it until it is protected from revocation by the signer.

In comparison with reviewed literature, this study focuses more on the issue of volatility, which accounts for the fact that cryptocurrency has not been accepted as a permanent tool of monetary policy. Additionally, the study finds that the Saudi public is largely pessimistic toward such currencies.

The identities of Muslim women tend to be essentialized into binaries of what she is and what she ought to be (Golnaraghi & Dye, 2016). For far too long Muslim women’s voices in North America have been marginalized by hegemonic Orientalist (Said, 1978) and traditionalist (Clarke, 2003) Islamic discourses. When it comes to issues of agency, empowerment, and self-expression, it is either imposed by Western ideals or regulated by traditionalist politics of Islam (Zine, 2006). As such, Muslim women activists must engage and negotiate within the dual and narrow oppressions of Orientalist and traditionalist Islamic representations of her (Khan, 1998; Zine, 2006). Given the scarcity of space provided in print media (Golnaraghi & Dye, 2016; Golnaraghi & Mills, 2013) for Muslim women to construct, appropriate, and remake their own identities, some have turned to social media to challenge these dichotomies through activism and resistance. Such a space is necessary in order to recover, resurface, and reauthorize the hybrid voices, experiences, and identities of the Muslim woman on their own terms in order to challenge hegemonic discourse. Highlighting the nuances of feminist activism, particularly that of Muslim postcolonial feminists that can make a difference to Critical Management Studies (CMS) as a community concerned with social justice and challenging marginalization and oppression. The “Somewhere in America #Mipsterz” (Muslim hipsters) video launched in 2013, the site for our critical discourse analysis, is one case where this resistance can be seen, showcasing fashionable veiled Muslim women artistically expressing themselves to the beats of Jay Z.

This study aims to gain the perception of Selangor’s disadvantaged women on the Sharīʿah (Islamic law) rules on two micro-equity financing instruments, namely, muḍārabah (profit sharing) and mushārakah (profit-and-loss sharing) (M&M).

A survey was carried out in the rural area of Selangor district in Malaysia by administering a self-generated structured questionnaire. A total of 330 completed questionnaires were retrieved from the members of an Islamic microfinance institution (IsMFI), namely, Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM). The data were analysed by using structural equation modelling.

The female borrowers of AIM perceive the Sharīʿah rules of M&M requiring high moral and ethical values and diligent repayment performance. They are aware of some other underlying provisions such as business liquidation, share transfer, information discloser and business termination. The overall findings of this study suggest that the perceived Sharīʿah rules are akin to those that are commonly used in general partnership businesses between Muslims. It also indicates that disadvantaged entrepreneurs would accept the rules that are easy to comprehend as well as favourable to their interests. It further suggests that respondents’ experiences of microfinance and business operation do not have a significant influence on their perception of M&M instruments.

This study was limited to Selangor. So, the perception of Muslim women surveyed may not represent the views of all women in Malaysia. However, it can offer a primary understanding of the said issue.

The findings of this study can help IsMIFs take initiatives to offer M&M as micro-equity finance to poor women entrepreneurs.

So far, limited studies have been carried out on M&M-based microfinancing. This paper offers new insights presenting disadvantaged women entrepreneurs’ perception of these financing instruments.

Big Data can be utilised for efficient use of resources and to provide better services to the resident in order to enhance the delivery of urban services and create sustainable build environment. However, the adoption of Big Data faces many challenges at the implementation level. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify the challenges towards the efficient application of Big Data in smart cities development and analyse the inter-relationships.

The 14 Big Data challenges are identified through the literature review and validated with the expert’s feedback. After that the inter-relationships among the identified challenges are developed using an integrated approach of fuzzy Interpretive Structural Modelling (fuzzy-ISM) and fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (fuzzy-DEMATEL).

Evaluation of interrelationships among the challenges suggests that diverse population in smart cities and lack of infrastructure are the significant challenges that impede the integration of Big Data in the development of smart cities.

This study will enable practitioners, policy planners involved in smart city projects in tackling the challenges in an optimised manner for the hindrance free and accelerated development of smart cities.

This research is an initial effort to develop an interpretive structural model of Big Data challenges for smart cities development which gives a clearer picture of how the identified challenges interact with each other.

During coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, owing to several reasons, consumers behaved impulsively while shopping. Impulse buying has led to a distortion in the availability of various items in the stores. This study aims to explore the factors affecting the impulse buying behavior of consumers during a pandemic like COVID-19 in India.

Using an online questionnaire, 304 Indian consumers were surveyed using a convenience sampling technique. Proposed hypotheses and model were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The study confirmed that fear and resource availability are the most significant factors affecting consumer’s impulse buying behavior during a pandemic. The findings suggest that retailers can minimize the consumer’s fear and manage impulse buying to their advantage by providing better resources to their patrons while they shop.

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in the context of businesses, it is being observed that the purchase preferences of consumers have become chaotic and significant swings are visible in their shopping behavior. Thus, the study is an attempt to shed light on the factors that affect consumer impulse buying behavior in such disruptive settings.

The purpose of this study is to understand and evaluate the roles and functions of the Sharīʿah committee (SC) of Islamic banks (IBs) in Malaysia and to recommend a resetting of the scope of responsibilities to enable the SC to effectively respond to current market needs.

A Likert-type survey questionnaire was developed and distributed to all available SC members through e-mails and online surveys as well as self-administered questionnaires. At the end of the survey, 87 useable questionnaires were collected from 161 SC members, representing a 54% response rate.

This study finds that most SC members have the necessary Sharīʿah qualification, and they are mostly academics with doctoral degrees. However, there is a noticeable lack of diversity in the composition of experts in the committees. Respondents indicate that their main functions are to ensure Sharīʿah compliance of bank operations and product offerings. This is of course consistent with their stated functions as outlined in the Bank Negara Malaysia's Sharīʿah Governance Policy Document (BNM, 2019). The study finds that SCs are not involved in product development, nor responsible for financial performance. Respondents indicate three ways to enhance the role of SCs: improving banking knowledge of the members, more engagement with the board of directors (BoDs) and broadening the functions of SCs.

This study highlights two policy implications. First, there is a strategic need for IBs to consider having a diversity of expertise in the SCs while maintaining the Sharīʿah experts as core members. Second, this study recommends a reset of the scope of duties of the SC to include three new areas: risk management, product development and financial performance.

This study evaluates the current functions of the SC of IBs in Malaysia and provides suggestions for improvement in the composition of the committee and in the scope of duties of SCs based on contemporary needs.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of the board and risk committee in respect of risk-taking in conventional and Islamic banks in Malaysia.

This study uses unbalanced panel data for 15 conventional and 14 Islamic banks over the period 2007–2016. The generalised least squares random effects technique is applied.

The evidence shows that independent directors and frequency of board meetings reduce risk-taking but that the number of directors with finance and banking experience and those with multiple directorships tend to increase risk-taking. The findings also indicate that the size of the risk committee, the number of directors on the risk committee and the appointment of a designated risk officer tends to reduce risk-taking in banks. By comparing conventional and Islamic banks, the findings show that Islamic banks have lower exposure to portfolio risk but higher insolvency risk.

The findings in this study suggest that the board and risk committee have an impact on bank risk-taking. The implications for management include having more independent directors, fewer directors with multiple board memberships and having an efficient risk committee in order to reduce risks. Regulators should look into the issue of multiple directorships as this is positively related to risk-taking. Islamic banks should expand their operations as our findings indicate that bigger banks are better able to manage risk.

This study covers bank governance and risk committee, which are crucial in influencing the risk-taking behaviour of conventional and Islamic banks.

There is no industry in the world where a crisis caused by terrorism has such a strong impact as in tourism. Providing security for visitors before and during a trip can be a critical success factor for the competitiveness of a particular destination or organization or for business tourism when tourists consider multiple alternatives. Information about political instability, violence, crime or terrorist attacks could cause a substitution effect by tourists. International terrorism and tourism share some characteristics, as both cross national borders, involve citizens from different countries and use the new travel and communications technologies. In recent decades, terrorism organizations have been using tourism targets to gain global visibility. Based on a broad analysis of literature and data, the main goal of this research is to update the work of Seabra (2019) and help to analyse the main connections between terrorism and tourism, specifically by presenting the main terrorist events targeting tourism activity and destinations in the last 35 years and their main consequences for tourism industry.

The purpose of this paper is to argue that academic librarians must learn to use web service APIs and to introduce APIs to a non-technical audience.

This paper is a viewpoint that argues for the importance of APIs by identifying the shifting paradigms of libraries in the digital age. Showing that the primary function of librarians will be to share and curate digital content, the paper shows that APIs empower a librarian to do that.

The implementation of web service APIs is within the reach of librarians who are not trained as software developers. Online documentation and free courses offer sufficient training for librarians to learn these new ways of sharing and curating digital content.

The argument of this paper depends upon an assumption of a shift in the paradigm of libraries away from collections of materials to access points of information. The need for libraries to learn APIs depends upon a new role for librarians that anecdotal evidence supports is rising.

By learning a few technical skills, librarians can help patrons find relevant information within a world of proliferating information sources.

The literature on APIs is highly technical and overwhelming for those without training in software development. This paper translates technical language for those who have not programmed before.