This research was conducted with the aim of identifying various changes made to knowledge management (KM) practices implemented by organizations in the Sultanate of Oman following the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. Further, the study focused on identifying the impact of those changes on various aspects of human resources management. Snowball and purposive sampling techniques were used to collect relevant data from 110 line managers in various organizations in the Sultanate of Oman. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-squared and post-hoc tests. The Bonferroni correction method was adopted to reduce the risk of Type I error. The findings indicated that organizations started utilizing an inside-out approach to KM after the COVID-19 crisis began, shifted KM process from manual to computer-based and spending from conventional to e-KM activities. Key finding is that the organizations demonstrated an increased dependency on internal knowledge sources. In addition, line managers began measuring the effectiveness of KM practices, a metric which had been mostly neglected in the pre-pandemic period. Perceived benefits of these changes included increased employee motivation and engagement, increased employee learning and job-related skill, along with an enhanced knowledge-sharing culture across the organization. Important measures taken to mitigate the perceived negative impact of these changes, or enhance the perceived positive impact, included consistent persuasive communication with employees and identifying alternate financial resources to support KM activities. This research contributes to the field of KM and projects it as a supportive discipline to effective crisis management. Findings of this research can help in identifying the areas of training and improvements in the KM framework. This research is global and topical in nature as it relates to the e-KM practices during the ongoing global COVID-19 crisis and portrays the changing e-learning scenario in the organizations in Oman, one of the prominent countries in the middle east and represents the middle east regional culture and economy.

Factors Influencing Purchase of FMCG by Rural Consumers in South India: An Empirical Study

Main reasons for student dropout from higher education may be low academic performance, poor socialization skills, low confidence levels, busy social life and financial issues. As students’ dropout from higher education has been rising, there is a need to understand this problem for finding suitable solutions. Research objectives for this institutional research are to explore patterns in dropout data at Foundation program, establish criteria for identifying students at-risk of dropout and identify areas of improvement for reducing dropout rate, as the dropout problem is high at Foundation level of the college. Research methodology includes application of exploratory study based on analysis of secondary data pertaining to 22 semesters, Spring 2012 to Summer-I 2017. Findings revealed that 1966 students dropped out from Foundation program during the study period with an average of 94 students per semester. Dropout rate was higher among males and was more at Levels I and IV. Though dropout happened in Foundation, academic departments would also experience major loss, as Foundation is the ‘feeder program’ for other bachelor’s programs. It is recommended to have a dropout process flow-chart not only to understand the exit journey of dropping students, but also to reverse the journey. It is recommended to set up a dropout committee, design an early warning system for creating alerts and bifurcate Foundation department into Language sub-department and Technical sub-department (Math and IT courses). It is further recommended to have an effective data management system that would enable administration to reduce dropout rates and create a ‘feel good’ environment for the students.

Online education has become an imperative not only due to the technological innovations but also due to the emerging social conditions arising out of COVID-19. Technological competencies are essential among the instructors for successful online teaching. Modern College of Business and Science (MCBS), Sultanate of Oman is one of the pioneering institutions in the Middle East region in adopting hundred percent online education with the onset of COVID-19. Main aim of this research is to evaluate the online teaching competencies of instructors at MCBS. Competencies identified through the benchmarking exercise and from literature, were divided into pedagogical and technical competencies, spread across three stages of online teaching: before, during and after an online teaching session. A self-administered questionnaire was circulated among 80 instructors selected through the systematic random sampling technique, out of which 53 valid responses were received and used in the data analysis. Descriptive statistics along with paired and independent sample t tests and ANOVA were conducted for evaluating the online teaching competencies of the instructors at MCBS. Linear regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between qualification or certification in online instructional methods (independent variable QC) and online teaching competency (dependent variable OTC). Findings indicated lower/less technical competencies than the pedagogical competencies. Stage-wise analysis revealed that the technical competencies are lower in Stage 1. A regression model that explained 43 percent of variation in dependent variable revealed that OTC is dependent on QC. Thus, it is recommended that the instructors need to be supported in acquiring qualification or certification in online instructional methods. While theoretical implications relate to innovation diffusion theory and theory of distance education, practical implications of this research relate to the ongoing hundred percent online instruction method. This study can be extended to evaluating the impact of personal factors on the online teaching competency and to the wider participants in the higher education sector.

During an economic crisis, companies redesign their functional strategies for survival and growth. This paper aims at identifying HR practices adopted during the current economic crisis in Oman, and explains the resultant effect of crisis-driven HR strategies from an HR managers' perspective. Primary data was collected online from 112 HR managers representing various manufacturing and service organizations in Muscat, Oman. It was found that HR managers perceive a greater impact of economic crisis on their businesses rather than other types of crises such as natural and technology crises. They think that managing employees during an economic crisis is relatively easier than managing other resources and other stakeholders. Changing HR practices during economic crises include, abeyance of employee benefits and cutting costs on employee recreation. Knowledge management activities have been increased and non-monetary motivation techniques are being adopted as a part of crisis-driven HR management. Increased employee engagement and enhanced corporate image among employees were identified as the resultant effect. Testing the hypothesis revealed that cost cutting on employee recreation is significantly higher in large organizations, job redesign activity is significantly higher in small organizations, while large organizations find it difficult to deal with employees during periods of crisis more so than small and medium sized organizations do.