Bank Area Research Articles

Machine learning analysis and nowcasting of marine fog visibility using FATIMA Grand Banks campaign measurements

Introduction: This study presents the application of machine learning (ML) to evaluate marine fog visibility conditions and nowcasting of visibility based on the FATIMA (Fog and turbulence interactions in the marine atmosphere) campaign observations collected during July 2022 in the North Atlantic in the Grand Banks area and vicinity of Sable Island, northeast of Canada.Methods: The measurements were collected using instrumentation mounted on the Research Vessel Atlantic Condor. The collected meteorological parameters were: visibility (Vis), precipitation rate, air temperature, relative humidity with respect to water, pressure, wind speed, and direction. Using all variables, the droplet number concentration was used to qualitatively indicate and assess characteristics of the fog using the t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding projection method (t-SNE), which clustered the data into groups. Following t-SNE analysis, a correlation heatmap was used to select relevant meteorological variables for visibility nowcasting, which were wind speed, relative humidity, and dew point depression. Prior to nowcasting, the input variables were preprocessed to generate additional time-lagged variables using a 120-minute lookback window in order to take advantage of the intrinsic time-varying features of the time series data. Nowcasting of Vis time series for lead times of 30 and 60 minutes was performed using the ML regression methods of support vector regression (SVR), least-squares gradient boosting (LSB), and deep learning at visibility thresholds of Vis < 1 km and < 10 km.Results: Vis nowcasting at the 60 min lead time was best with LSB and was significantly more skillful than persistence analysis. Specifically, using LSB the overall nowcasts at Vis 1 < km and Vis 10 < km were RMSE = 0.172 km and RMSE = 2.924 km, respectively. The nowcasting skill of SVR for dense fog (Vis ≤ 400 m) was significantly better than persistence at all Vis thresholds and lead times, even when it was less skillful than persistence at predicting high visibility.Discussion: Thus, ML techniques can significantly improve Vis prediction when either observations or modelbased accurate time-dependent variables are available. The results suggest that there is potential for future ML analysis that focuses on modeling the underlying factors of fog formation.

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Financial Management

This study examines the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on financial control, exploring the implementation of AI technology in financial selection-making strategies, predictive analysis and hazard manipulation. the use of a systematic literature examine approach, this studies covers the substantial modifications delivered via using AI in improving operational overall performance, presenting deep insights for financial preference making, and improving customer revel in in the banking area.. Even though it provides great benefits, this research also highlights ethical challenges, data security, adoption risks, as well as the need for policy and regulatory adjustments to the development of AI technology in the context of financial management. It is hoped that the results of this research can provide guidance for companies and policy makers in facing revolutionary changes in financial management in the digital era.

Financial Sukuk: Concept, Legal Principles, and Types

Sukuk, often referred to as Islamic bonds, represent a unique and innovative financial instrument within the realm of Islamic finance. Originating from the principles of Shariah law, Sukuk offer a distinct alternative to conventional bonds by adhering to Islamic principles that prohibit the payment or receipt of interest (Riba). Instead of interest-bearing debt, Sukuk are structured as investment certificates, granting investors a share in the ownership of tangible assets or services. This adherence to Shariah principles ensures that Sukuk are compatible with Islamic ethical and legal standards, attracting a diverse range of investors seeking financial instruments aligned with their religious beliefs. As Sukuk continue to gain prominence in global financial markets, they contribute to the development of more inclusive and diverse investment options, catering to both Islamic and non-Islamic investors alike. This research paper presents a thorough literature review of Sukuk in the Islamic economy and showcases their definition, typologies and other aspects. Sukuk, often referred to as Islamic bonds, play a significant role in the Islamic economy. These financial instruments comply with Islamic law (Shariah) principles, which prohibit the payment or receipt of interest (Riba) and promote risk-sharing and asset backing. Sukuk provide an alternative means for raising capital that aligns with Islamic finance principles. The study herein is of significance for researcher as well as postgraduate researchers in the areas of Islamic banking, economy studies and accounting.

Effect of Financial Technology on Financial Performance of Deposit Money Banks in Southwest, Nigeria

Financial Technology in the recent times, has significantly intensified competition in Nigerian Banking Industry, hence Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) face persistent pressures from a wide and diverse range of competitors, while the regulatory environment becomes less protective of the financial institutions. This study therefore examined the effect of financial technology on the financial performance of deposit money banks in southwest, Nigeria. The study employed an Ex-Post Facto research design to establish functional relationship among customers and employees of the DMBs branches in the South West geopolitical zone in Nigeria. The descriptive statistics, which involved the current levels of financial performance on deposit money banks showed an improvement in the return on assets due to the deployment of financial technology with the weighted average of 216 or 35.94% while more than 97% of respondents perceive the level of improvement in equities of banks in Nigeria as moderate followed by the rate of improvement in net income margin of banks with weighted mean of 192 or 31.9%. The empirical results showed that the deployment of automated teller machine, mobile banking, internet banking and point of sales on the financial performance of banks have significantly and positively improve banks’ return on asset, equity and the net income. This is an indication that the financial performance of Nigerian banks’ are highly sensitive to changes in the alternative banking channels as 1%, rises in automated teller machine increase the return on asset by 0.18%. In the same vein, increase in mobile banking to the tune of 1% raised the level of return on asset by 0.29%. Thus the study concludes that the deployment of mobile banking and internet bank drive virtually all the indicators of bank financial performance in Nigeria. However, the paper recommends that, the deployment of mobile banking was more pronounced, and particularly in the area of banks’ return on equity although all the alternative banking channels contributes to bank financial performance in Nigeria.

Hydrodynamics, Diagenesis and Hypoxia Variably Drive Benthic Oxygen Flux in a River‐Reservoir System

AbstractBenthic oxygen flux with complex spatiotemporal variations is essential for the global budget of carbon dioxide and the regional security of water quality and ecology, but its dominant driver under different circumstances has yet to be identified. In this study, a parametric scheme of oxygen flux was proposed and validated with aquatic eddy correlation measurements and then coupled with a diagenesis model and a water environment model. The coupled model was applied to a river‐reservoir with significant environmental gradients in hydrodynamics, diagenesis, and hypoxia, which are three factors that competitively drive the variation in benthic oxygen flux. The results indicate that hydrodynamics dominate the flux in the riverine and thalweg areas, diagenesis is the dominant driver of the lacustrine and bank areas, and hypoxia shows dominance only in the hypolimnetic anoxic area. In general, diagenesis is the dominant driver of oxygen flux in river‐reservoirs, followed by hydrodynamics, both of which are more prominent than hypoxia. If the operated reservoir experiences a wet year, the dominance of hydrodynamics tends to increase, while that of diagenesis and hypoxia decreases. The three divers exhibit similar but more stable dominance in riverine systems than in reservoirs, while diagenesis becomes the exclusive driver of oxygen fluxes in lacustrine systems.

PERAN PERBANKAN SYARIAH TERHADAP PERTUMBUHAN EKONOMI SEKTOR RIIL DI INDONESIA

This exploration expects to look at and examine the job of sharia counts on genuine area monetary development in Indonesia. The job of sharia banking is estimated utilizing outsider assets (DPK) and supporting gave (PYD), while genuine area financial development is estimated by total national output (Gross domestic product). 387 time series data from economic and financial statistics and sharia banking statistics are used in this study. Indonesia during the exploration time frame 2008-2016 with month to month information as the data set. The multiple linear regression method was used to analyze the data. This exploration found that the sharia banking area supports genuine area financial development in Indonesia.

Implementation of Green Banking in the Largest Polish and Romanian Commercial Banks – An Analysis of Progress, Strengths, and Weaknesses

In the context of the Green Deal, which set out to transform Europe into a climate neutral area by 2050, governments and international bodies have shown a growing interest in the financing activities that contribute to this objective. This is because the financial system plays a crucial role in channelling resources towards less polluting technologies. Due to its central place in the financial system, the banking system has obviously taken on the same responsibility. Commercial banks can make a change towards a greener economy through the services they provide (green financial products), their loan portfolio (financing companies with a lower carbon footprint instead of highly polluting ones) and the internal transformation of their own activities (using renewable energies, less paper, etc.). The main aims of this paper are the assessment of the degree of development of green banking in Poland and Romania and the identification of weaknesses and strengths in the following areas: strategy, best examples of ESG (environmental, social governance) practices, ESG rating, methods to calculate and reduce the CO2 emissions, risk management, organization and management of a bank, financing the bank’s activities, credit activities (corporate banking and retail and mortgage banking). Using data from their reports and official websites, we find that steps have been made towards green banking, but progress is meagre, and the process is only in its early stages. This study will be useful to practitioners through the landmarks and set of criteria it proposes, as well as to researchers as a starting point for a deeper analysis of each area of green banking.

The Impact of HRM Practices and Leadership Styles on Administrative-Office Staff Performance in Palestinian Universities

This study investigates the impact of HRM practices and leadership styles on administrative-office staff performance in traditional universities and university colleges in Palestine. A pilot study was conducted before data collection to check content validity and reliability, which was successfully achieved. The primary data were collected through questionnaires distributed to a purposive sample of administrative-office employees from nine Palestinian universities and university colleges across the West Bank area. A total of 256 questionnaires out of 270 were eligible for data analysis. The response rate was 0.94. The data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 24 utilizing the data analysis program: PLS-SEM version 3. The findings of this research study have reported that HRM practices (training and development, compensation and rewards, employee relations, and performance appraisal) are positively related to administrative-office staff performance. In contrast, leadership styles (transformational and transactional) were found to have no significant impact on administrative-office staff performance. The study's contribution is threefold: the "population gap" contribution, HRM Practices' theoretical-practical gap contribution, and leadership styles' theoretical-practical gap contribution, besides its practical significance. The study has reached several recommendations, the most important of which are the examined HRM practices should be reinforced and emphasized in order to increase administrative-office staff performance and boost their effectiveness and in case of future examination of the relationship between leadership styles and employee performance, the researchers may employ a mediator or focus on investigating different styles of leadership other than transformational and transactional.

Prediction of Hemoglobin Levels and Eosinophil Counts Due to Soil Transmitted Helminths (STH) Infection in Elementary School Students in the River Banks Area, South Kalimantan, Indonesia

Introduction: Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) infections in School-Age Children still exist as a public health problem in the River Banks Area. Elementary school students are one of the vulnerable populations to STH infection. This research purposed to determine the prediction of hemoglobin levels and eosinophil counts due to STH infection in elementary school students in the River Banks Area, South Kalimantan, Indonesia. Methods: One hundred thirty-three kato katz stool preparation of three elementary school students in the river banks area, 68 were male and 65 were female, aged between 7 and 12 years old, were conducted for egg per gram (EPG) STHs eggs count Kato Katz method microscopic examination, and hematology analyzer blood examination to determine hemoglobin levels and eosinophil counts. Result: Linear regression analysis revealed that EPG of STHs was associated with a hemoglobin level of 13.937 with a -0.031 fold decrease in risk and with an eosinophil count of 140.204 with a 4.156 fold increase in risk, (95% confidence interval; p<0.001). Conclusion: Although EPG of STHs can be used to predict the risk of decreased hemoglobin levels and increased eosinophil counts, EPG is not the only factor to predict both of them in elementary school children.

Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Bank: credit beyond convention

Learning outcomes After reading and analysing the case study, the students would be able to understand the various challenges in terms of credit expansion for a rural co-operative bank, discuss the role of an apex co-operative bank within the three-tier credit structure, understand the co-operative banks’ product offerings in the agribusiness space and understand the various styles of leadership and change management models within a rural bank. Case overview/synopsis This case study exemplified the enabling role played by a co-operative credit institution, Andhra Pradesh State Co-Operative Bank (APCOB). It discussed the issues and challenges APCOB faced in mainstreaming an unconventional lending process through its lower tiers. Although the three-tier credit structure played a significant role in the disbursal of short-term loan to farmers, the managing director strongly felt the need to reach out to farmer institutions like farmer producers organization through suitable product offering and right processes. Complexity academic level This case study could serve as an introduction to rural credit co-operatives in MBA courses such as bank management, agricultural finance and rural credit and organizational behaviour. The case study could also be administered as a part of training programmes for state co-operative banks, district central co-operative banks and urban co-operative bank that are involved in planning and execution of development strategies in the area of co-operative banking and agribusiness development. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only Subject code CSS: 1: Accounting and Finance.

Do sustainable banking practices enhance the sustainability performance of banking institutions? Direct and indirect effects

PurposeThere is a dearth of empirical research examining the influence of various facets of sustainable banking on the environmental sustainability performance (SP) of banks in developing economies like Bangladesh. This study looks at how green banking practices (GBPs), green finance (GF) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices affect SP in both direct and indirect ways.Design/methodology/approachThe research framework of this study was designed based on legitimacy theory to examine the direct and indirect impacts of GBP on environmental SP through GF and CSR practices. Based on a structured questionnaire and convenience sampling, the data were collected from banking institutions to investigate the association among the study variables. Subsequently, the obtained data were evaluated using a well-established structural equation modeling (SEM) approach via SmartPls 4.0 software.FindingsThe empirical findings reveal that GBP has a significant direct impact on GF, CSR practices and the banks' SP. Further, the findings show that GF has a direct and significant impact on CSR practices and SP. Likewise, CSR practices have a direct and significant influence on the SP of banks. Additionally, among indirect effects, both CSR practices and GF mediate the association between GBP and SP, whereas GF also has an indirect effect on the relationship between GBP and CSR practices. Surprisingly, the findings demonstrate that CSR practices do not have an indirect effect on the association between GF and SP. Hence, the greater the bank's involvement in green banking activities, the greater the influence of green financing and CSR practices on environmental sustainability.Originality/valueThis study adds to the growing body of research in the areas of sustainable banking and environmental sustainability literature by evaluating the link between GBP, CSR practices, GF and SP. Besides, this is a ground-breaking study that examines both direct and indirect effects of different aspects of sustainable banking (GBP, GF and CSR practices) on the SP of the banking industry in an emerging country like Bangladesh. On the theoretical level, it adds to the application and expansion of legitimacy theory in the sphere of banking and finance. It provides new insights into the dynamics of green banking, GF and CSR practices within the framework of legitimacy theory. Hence, the current study offers significant suggestions to managers, academicians and researchers on how to advance the sustainability of the banking industry by adopting green banking, GF and CSR practices.

Impact assessment of river bank erosion in the lower part of Mahanadi River using geospatial sciences

The river bank erosion is gradually changing landscape in river and riverine areas. Therefore, assessment of the exact uncovering and altering of the various river features aspects is more essential. The current analysis is dedicated to river bank erosion (RBE) on lower part of the Mahanadi River (Odisha) using Remote Sensing (RS) and GIS applications. The Mahanadi River basin is more dynamic and affects the neighborhood landscape. The difficulties of river bank areas are indirectly or directly associated with bank erosion, this usually produces lots of challenges like landslides, flood hazards, flood inundation, and land alteration. Landsat imageries are applied to extract erosional locations and land alteration by applying satellite datasets and geospatial software like ArcGIS software v10.8 and ERDAS Imagine v2014. Erosion rate variations were measured through the Erase tool by applying GIS methods. The lower part of Mahanadi River has changed all selected parts like 1091 ha (A), 1245 ha (B), and 646 ha (C), while the accretion areas are like 865 ha (A), 1204 ha (B), and 812 ha (C) correspondingly. The vegetation gradually decreased (3241 ha) while the cropland increased (1541 ha), while the river sand is observed at 1374 ha (1991) and 1727 ha (221) in the investigated area. The most affected villages are Patugadadharpur, Dankarisahi, Rasanga, Karabar, Badabanpur, Gopa, Gopinathpur, and Samapurdal. Therefore, the erosion or accretion activities are triggering landscape change over the examining location. These outcomes help to prepare for future disaster management, building awareness, novel adaptation strategies, and planning purposes.

Morphological Modelling to Investigate the Role of External Sediment Sources and Wind and Wave-Induced Flow on Sand Bank Sustainability: An Arklow Bank Case Study

Offshore anthropogenic activities such as the installation of Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) developments and sediment extraction for marine aggregates have been shown to disrupt current flow, wave propagation, and sediment transport pathways, leading to potential environmental instability. Due to the complexity of the interconnected sediment transport pathways in the south-western Irish Sea combined with an increase in planned anthropogenic activities, the assessment of this risk is imperative for the development of a robust marine spatial plan. Subsequently, this study uses two-dimensional morphological modelling to build upon previous studies to assess the dependency of Arklow Bank’s local sediment transport regime on external sediment sources. Additionally, scenario modelling is used to identify vulnerable areas of this offshore linear sand bank to wind and wave-forcing and to examine the nature of this impact. A sediment budget is estimated for Arklow Bank, whereby seven source and nine sink pathways are identified. New evidence to support the exchange of sediment between offshore sand banks and offshore independent sand wave fields is also provided. The areas of the bank most vulnerable to changes in external sediment sources and the addition of wind- and wave-induced flow are analogous. These high vulnerability zones (HVZs) align with regions of residual cross-flow under pure current conditions. The restriction of sediment sources off the southern extent of Arklow Bank impacts erosion and accretion patterns in the mid- and northern sections of the bank after just one lunar month of simulation. Where tidal current is the primary driver of sand bank morphodynamics, wind- and wave-induced flow is shown to temporarily alter sediment distribution patterns. Wind and wave-induced flow can both accelerate and decelerate the east-west fluctuation of the upper slopes of the bank, yet the nature of this impact is inconsistent due to the misalignment of the directionality of these two forces. The methods and new knowledge derived from this study are directly applicable to tidally-dominated environments outside the Irish Sea.

Revealing soil erosion and sediment sources using 137Cs and fingerprinting in an agroforestry catchment

Soil erosion and accompanying sediment issues have a significant impact on environmental sustainability. However, there is not currently a clear understanding of the relationship between soil erosion and sediment sources at the catchment scale, which has led some researchers to regard areas with severe soil erosion as the main sediment source. This view does not apply in all circumstances.•This paper uses 137Cs to study the average annual erosion rate of different land use types. The results show that the erosion rates of woodland, sparse woodland and farmland areas were 400, 1756, and 2771 t·km−2·a−1, respectively, multiplied by the corresponding area. Surface soil erosion levels in the catchments of the three types accounted for 11%, 26% and 25%, respectively, and the total accounted for 62% when the gully bank accounted for 38%.•Fingerprinting technique results show that the relative source contributions of woodland, farmland, sparse woodland and gully bank areas to sediment at the small catchment outlet were 4%, 10%, 48% and 38%, respectively. The results reveal that the detachment process of soil and the transport process of sediment with runoff were internally related and independent of each other.•By comparing on-site erosion rates with downstream source contributions, we have a clearer understanding of soil erosion and subsequent sediment transport process in the agroforestry catchment in mountainous areas.We emphasize the importance of governance and management in areas with severe soil erosion, mainly targeting types such as hillslope framland. In addition, sparse woodland and gully banks should be given more attention, as they account for a large proportion of sediment in the downstream catchment.

Cyclostratigraphic Analysis Results of the Rock Magnetic and Geochemical Characteristics of Belogrodni Formation Stratotype (Danian Stage in the Volga Right Bank Area Near Saratov)

Cyclostratigraphic Analysis Results of the Rock Magnetic and Geochemical Characteristics of Belogrodni Formation Stratotype (Danian Stage in the Volga Right Bank Area Near Saratov)

Safeguarding Its Way to Security or Not – Should Fintech Become a Bank(Tech)?

The purpose of the article. This article explores the trend of fintech firms obtaining banking licenses, challenging their traditional advantage of not being banking institutions. It investigates two hypotheses:
 H1 – Banking licenses bring more opportunities than threats for fintech companies;H2 – Obtaining licenses positively impacts their profitability.
 Methodology. The study utilizes the literature review and applies Porter’s Five Forces methodology to assess the strategic implications of banking licenses for fintech firms. Financial analysis is conducted on three selected companies based on market capitalization, banking license timeline, and geographical diversification. Profitability ratios (ROE and ROA) are analyzed before and after obtaining the license.
 Results of the research. Fintech firms with banking licenses experience more opportunities than threats, as confirmed by Porter’s analysis. However, only one out of three analysed companies immediately improved profitability ratios after obtaining the license. In conclusion, obtaining banking licenses opens growth opportunities for fintech firms, but immediate profitability improvements are not guaranteed. Additional requirements and challenges arise during the transition to a banking area. The study acknowledges limitations and suggests further research to confirm and expand these findings in the evolving fintech landscape.

Ecological vulnerability assessment of coral islands and reefs in the South China Sea based on remote sensing and reanalysis data

Coral reefs are ecosystems that are highly vulnerable to external environmental impacts, including changes associated with ocean acidification and global warming. Assessing the vulnerability of coral reef growth environments over large areas of the sea is a difficult and complex process, as it is influenced by many variables. There are few studies on environmental vulnerability assessment of coral islands and reefs in the South China Sea. It is therefore particularly important to understand the environmental sensitivity of corals and how coral communities respond to changes in climate-related environmental variables. In this study, indicators were selected mainly from natural environmental factors that hinder the development of coral reefs. The sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS), wind velocity (WV) and direction, sea level height (SL), ocean currents (OC), and chlorophyll concentration (Chl) of coral reefs in South China Sea Island were integrated to calculate the coral reef environmental vulnerability region. In a GIS environment, Spatial Principal Component Analysis (SPCA) was used to develop sensitivity models and evaluate the ecological vulnerability of coral reefs. Based on the Environmental vulnerability indicator (EVI) values, the study area was classified as 5 grades of ecological vulnerability: Potential (0.000–0.577), Light (0.577–0.780), Medium (0.780–0.886), Heavy (0.886–0.993) and Very Heavy (0.993–1.131). Sensitivity models identified regional gradients of environmental stress and found that some coral reefs in western Malaysia and southwestern Philippines have higher vulnerability. Meanwhile, the study found that the reefs of Paracel Islands and Macclesfield Bank areas of medium vulnerability. Future use of high-precision data from long time series will allow better estimates of site-specific vulnerability and allow for the precise establishment of marine protected areas so that the ecological diversity of coral reefs can be sustained.

Facilitation between two dominant ecosystem engineers extends their footprints and degree of overlap

Ecosystem engineers influence the habitat, diversity, and productivity of ecosystems. However, multiple ecosystem engineers may coexist, and because of their dominant influence, how they interact can affect the entire system. In the southeastern US, the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin) and coarse cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora (Loisel) are two prominent ecosystem engineers that affect estuarine ecosystem functioning. Despite both species' importance and their proximity to one-another, few studies have focused on bidirectional interactions between these two species. First, we assessed the potential effect of fringing oyster reefs on adjacent cordgrass stands. We found that when tidal creek banks are occupied by oysters, cordgrass horizontally extends towards the water 5.25 m more (often overlapping with the oysters) than adjacent bank areas that were lacking oysters. Ostensibly, the positive effect of oysters to increase cordgrass occupancy is due to known abilities of oysters to stabilize shoreline, baffle hydrodynamic energy, and accrete sediment. Second, we experimentally examined the effects of cordgrass on oysters using the presence and absence of cordgrass and cordgrass-mimic treatments to parse the mechanistic effects of structure and shade provided by cordgrass. We found that oysters recruited 2.4 times more and increased biomass 3.2 times more underneath natural cordgrass and shade mimics compared to plots with cordgrass removal and structure-only mimics. Thus, cordgrass shade is an important mechanism of facilitation, especially on small recruiting oysters that are vulnerable to desiccation. Collectively, the mutualism between these two engineers expands their footprints and amount of overlap, strengthening their presence and thus their ecosystem services to the estuary.

River bank erosion vulnerability demarcation based on the sensitivity analysis of geotechnical parameters: Majuli Island, India

The present study assesses the vulnerability of the river bank area most sensitive to erosion by combining the data obtained from existing literature and performing numerical simulation using finite element-based numerical code. Various geotechnical parameters, like average particle size (D50), Plasticity Index (PI), Elastic Modulus (E), Dry Unit Weight (γd) or Saturated Unit Weight (γsat), Coefficient of Permeability (k), Undrained Shear Strength (cu), Moisture Content (w%) and soil types based on the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS), were taken into account. Weighted Ranking Analysis (WRA) was performed based on the sensitivity of relevant geotechnical factors affecting bank erosion. The results indicate that the areas influenced by the Subansiri River (western bank) and the Brahmaputra River (southern bank) fall in the highly vulnerable zone category, while the Luhit and Kherkutia Suti Rivers (northern bank) fall in the moderately vulnerable category to river bank erosion.

The Impact of HRM Practices and Leadership Styles on Administrative-Office Staff Performance in Palestinian Universities

This study investigates the impact of HRM practices and leadership styles on administrative-office staff performance in traditional universities and university colleges in Palestine. A pilot study was conducted before data collection to check content validity and reliability, which was successfully achieved. The primary data were collected through questionnaires distributed to a purposive sample of administrative-office employees from nine Palestinian universities and university colleges across the West Bank area. A total of 256 questionnaires out of 270 were eligible for data analysis. The response rate was 0.94. The data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 24 utilizing the data analysis program: PLS-SEM version 3. The findings of this research study have reported that HRM practices (training and development, compensation and rewards, employee relations, and performance appraisal) are positively related to administrative-office staff performance. In contrast, leadership styles (transformational and transactional) were found to have no significant impact on administrative-office staff performance. The study's contribution is threefold: the "population gap" contribution, HRM Practices' theoretical-practical gap contribution, and leadership styles' theoretical-practical gap contribution, besides its practical significance. The study has reached several recommendations, the most important of which are the examined HRM practices should be reinforced and emphasized in order to increase administrative-office staff performance and boost their effectiveness and in case of future examination of the relationship between leadership styles and employee performance, the researchers may employ a mediator or focus on investigating different styles of leadership other than transformational and transactional.