Marketing Plan Oman Shapoorji

Executive Summary

The current marketing plan discusses the different marketing options that can be used by Oman Shapoorji for constructions in order to open a new market for the company in Kuwait. Kuwait and Oman are both countries of the GCC which makes it a good idea to begin a new business in Kuwait as Omani company. The plan includes the main marketing objectives that explain how and why OSCO is entering the market of Kuwait. The plan also provides a view about the company and its services and how to enter the Kuwaiti market. The marketing plan depends on the marketing mix to discuss the different marketing areas such as price, product, positioning and other areas. There is an action plan with dates and activities and there is also a designing for the integrated marketing communication, designing the marketing channel and the e marketing strategy. It is recommended that extra research can be done by the company to add to this current marketing plan and improve it and complete any shortage or needed information within it.  

Marketing Objectives

The following objectives are relevant to the company's plan to enter a new market:

1. Increasing the market share of the company's services.
2. Expand the company's business into the contracting market in order to raise the profit margins.
3. Expand the company's services and reduce its costs.
4. Increasing the company's business in Kuwait, the Gulf area and the Arab world by entering a new market where the company's business can be expanded.
5. Establishing a new office with new employees in the Gulf area in Kuwait.

Introduction

Oman Shapoorji is intending to enter a new market which is North African countries. Oman Shapoorji has proved its success in the Gulf area and it is one of the leading construction companies in Asia. This is a marketing plan that identifies the main features of the new market that the company is intending to enter and the features of the business product area that will be marketed in Kuwait.

The Company

Oman Shapoorji Company LLC (OSCO) was established in 1975 as a major construction company that had a big share in Oman's economic renaissance and was of an outstanding distinguished activity in the construction field. The company has stakeholders in Oman and India as it has stakeholders as owners in Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Limited 150 years now.

Services

OSCO has provided many services for its customers in Oman such as building many of its famous landmarks and infrastructure as it provides its services for both public and private sectors. It is also providing other services as being a facility management division and among these services are maintenance services, operation services, housekeeping and cleaning services provided for Muscat Palace Complex and Associated Properties and other important places such as Ministries and governmental Houses. The company also has an in-house MEPI Division that provides complete mechanical, electrical, processing and instrumentation services and solutions for buildings, hospitals, hotels and other industries and infrastructure works.    

Target Market

OSCO is currently working in the Omni market. The construction business in Oman is great and increasing with heavy investments in the infrastructure, transport, tourism and other private buildings. The government of Oman is focusing on building a future rail line that connects Oman with other areas in the Arab Gulf.   Oman is planning for making the construction of 6 airports and new port cities. Oman is characterized with increasing population which makes it important for having more infrastructure and construction projects in the Sultanate as the infrastructure in Oman are representing 61% of all construction projects in Oman. It is also having strong residential and commercial developments that require lots of construction work. Oman is also having many tourist construction projects that is associated with many private and governmental construction projects related to private businesses or the governmental real estate projects such as housing projects. According to data got from the publications of Oman's Ministry of National Economy, there is a growth at the construction industry of Oman in 2007 estimated with 34.7% representing RO470.7 as it was in 2006 RO349.5 Million and in 2005 RO292.1 Million. (Deloitti, 2014)

The company is intending to open a new market in Kuwait which is a country that is although it is small, it has many construction projects that are continuously increasing. The construction market of Kuwait has much strengths such as the movement of Kuwait government forward and there are many developments in many sectors related with constructions. The Public Authority of Housing and Welfare is allocating much money for housing projects by the help of the oil and gas sector in Kuwait. Real estate is also receiving rising investments as there are transactions that are increased estimated with 40% increase in 2013 with about 7.27bn $. These reasons made Oman Shapoorji tends to open a new market in Kuwait. (Oxford Business Group, 2015)

Market Segmentation

Geographic

The market of Kuwait is considered a neighbor market to Oman where OSCO is established which raises the chances of the company's success based on its location for the new market.

Demographic

Kuwaiti people only represent about one third of the people living there so the company may also address those living in Kuwait with construction business from non Kuwaiti. (Indexmund, 2015)

Psychographic

As to the psychographics of Kuwait, people of Kuwait are always keen on the environment which is a basic value the company focuses on as the company never uses forbidden or harmful substances either to living creatures or to the Earth.

Behavioral

The company depends on respecting the behaviors of the customers in Kuwait in addition to respecting the rights of intellectual properties and all relevant rights to construction activities.

PESTLE Analysis

Political	Kuwait is a semi democratic constitutional emirate with a hybrid political system divided on the elected parliament and the government which is controlled by the ruling family. Kuwait is a Gulf country and one of the GCC countries and it is known for having freedom and political rights for Kuwait and non Kuwait. In Kuwait, the legislature is the National Assembly which has the power to remove ministers from their positions. Kuwait has a stable political life as almost all citizens are Muslims; Sunna and Shia and both are living together in peace which makes it a good country for a new business to flourish there as the government is also welcoming businesses coming from different world countries especially those of the GCC.  (NYTIMES, 2015)
Economic	Kuwait is a rich country that has about 6% of the oil reserves of the world. It has an economic freedom that is of 62.5 score which results in its having a 74th freest economy in the 2015 index. This makes it a very good market for OSCO new business activity. Its government encourages trade and business activity from other countries of the world especially countries of the GCC such as Oman and this can be regarded via its regulations and legislations that facilitate economic activities including taxes and import and export laws and legislations. It has monetary freedom, labor freedom and corruption freedom as clarity and honesty are the basic policies of the economic activities of Kuwait. Kuwait is known for its active construction industry as the country has many construction works which makes it a good area for OSCO to open a new market there. (Heritage, 2015)
Sociological	Since the 19th century, Kuwait was a country that was under Ottoman Empire control then it became an independent sheikhdom after the first world war under the protection of the British Kingdom., it became a fully independent country in 1961. The country enjoys much oil production.  Kuwait's culture depends on a history of tribe life as an Arabian Gulf country but within time, the country turned to be very modern in all life aspects such as education and construction. The country has many residents from many countries all over the world but the country is struggling to save and keep its Kuwaiti identity and this is clear in the traditions of families and the way Kuwaiti build their houses and homes. As a GCC country, Kuwaiti people welcome other GCC businesses in the country and the government encourages them.  (Elliott et al, 2012)
Technological	Kuwait is enjoying high levels of technology as the country has very developed transportation system known with its updated and developed airports and highways inside the country and those join it with other countries whether by land or by air or sea. The technology is found in all its communication systems including telephone codes, internet and media. There are four broadcasts owned to the state in addition to a satellite channel. The country has different private channels used on the latest technologies which makes marketing there is effective by the latest technologies of media and social media. People are interested in the latest technologies in everything especially communication and social media. Kuwait has a development plan that includes a scientific and technology plan which ensures good investment future for business entities. (Zahran, 2014)
Legal	Kuwait is a country of the GCC and its legal system which is based on the country's civil law jurisdiction as the laws of Kuwait are based and derived from the laws of Egypt which is an Arab country deriving its laws from France. Kuwait has a court system with six major divisions which are the family, civil, commercial, criminal, administrate and leases. Its commercial legislations are good and suitable for any business to invest in Kuwait as it provides good tariffs for importing and exporting materials in addition to its availability for joint ventures and work of agents. As it is a GCC country, it has good laws related to Gulf countries and business with them such as free passing for goods across Gulf borders and its allowance for samples and advertising materials coming from a Gulf country to be duty free. (Doronin, 2013)
Environmental	Kuwait is a country that has hot climate in summer and Cool in winter. It is a desert country with a dry climate and different climate from other countries where there are winds and rains in different times of the year. There are very high temperatures in summer and very low temperature in winter but winter months don't last too much time. (Doronin, 2013)

Marketing Strategies

7Ps

Product

OSCO is providing its construction services as its product added to plumbing, maintenance and mechanical and electrical services. The company provides all types of construction services including facility services and services of constructing many different things such as buildings, houses, infrastructures, buildings, mosques and holiday resorts. The company focuses on its services quality as it has a quality policy that ensures delivering the products at high levels of quality according to the demanded feature and designs. (OSCO, 2015)

Price

The company has a pricing strategy that depends on the market demands, consumers expectations, abilities and value of the service to money. Pricing of the construction services presented by OSCO are paralleling with the international pricing policies for construction services and are matching the Arab and Gulf world expectations and abilities. There is a pricing policy that is based upon investigating the market in the Gulf area and find out all relevant prices of the services presented by the company and to compare prices to international prices of plumbing, electricity, mechanical, painting, floor fixes and other relevant construction works and then to set the prices of the company to be attractive for clients compared to other companies locally and internationally.

Promotion

OSCO depends on a promotion plan that ensures good spread for the company's work into Kuwait. Promotion plan includes advertising for the company's projects and services into Kuwait by using many advertising channels targeting both public and private sectors to develop effective advertising plan and reach as many customers as possible. The company depends on media channels such as TV, radio and the internet to recognize people of Kuwait with the company's strengths and abilities. The company aims at using more advertising channels than competitors in the Gulf area use as it will focus on promotional products to be delivered to project managers, engineers, public customers and companies. A sponsorship is going to be done during February to support Kuwait national day celebrations. A charitable initiative is also going to be done by the company for charitable events in Kuwait such as Ramadan and support for cancer. Print media and website media are going to be well designed and presented for Kuwaiti people. (Taylor and Smith, 2004)

Place

OSCO depends on the place factor as Kuwait construction market is a Gulf market which is not completely different from Oman's while Kuwait building and construction tends to be very modern but modernization is also found in Oman. Place is well chosen by the company because Kuwait besides being a Gulf company, it is a rich company with good construction activity as the Kuwaiti government has announced that the projects of building constructions are participating with a very big share in Kuwait's economy estimated with 42% of the construction projects pie of the year 2015 as they express the township project development in Kuwait that is included within the Public Authority for Housing Welfare that is aiming at providing the public national with affordable houses in addition to the infrastructure.  (Thebig5hub, 2015)

Process

The company's planning process depends on four major orbits which are: the company's current situation, what is needed for improving it, the future target of the business, which ways should be followed to reach competitive advantage and how to use these ways effectively. The company has a processing plan that employs all the available resources of the company to apply it in addition to a time schedule for ensuring the time needed for each process involved within the marketing plan needed for entering the construction Kuwaiti market. The current market situation is first analyzed and then an action plan is set to specify the different activities to be done. (Entrepreneurial Insights, 2015)

Positioning

OSCO depends on its position in Oman and Asia to build a brand position in Kuwait where there are many customers already know the name and brand of the company as its projects are well known around the Gulf area and Asia. Emphasizing the current distinguishing features of the company can be used for positioning it in Kuwait via advertising means and this can ensure its credibility. Positioning can be based on discussing the Kuwaiti market and its needs in order to compete other business entities in the field of construction by assuring the best services provided by OSCO to clients in Kuwait.

People

The company depends on a well trained staff for invading the Kuwaiti construction market, they are well trained and prepared including engineers and workers in all construction fields. The staff includes effective human resource managers that focus on training the employees such as those working in the customer service and in the sales management. The company focuses on Kuwaiti customers as they are targeted by its plan to market for its services in Kuwait and it focuses on their love for modernization in building and construction field.

Designing the E marketing strategy

Product and Brand Strategy

The company intends to use e marketing as a means for implementing the marketing plan successfully. Many elements will be addressed by the e marketing strategy including  online websites for the company that includes its plans and intentions in developing and upgrading the construction industry in Kuwait in addition to a declaration about the company's done projects and the services it provide its customers with. E marketing can be used to enhance a place for the company online through being available in banners' ads and being existed in the construction related sites by providing online advice through the company's consultants. Increased information will be provided for customers about the company, its business and the fields and services it can provide them with through the sites found online and the online advertisements. (Fowler, 2015)

Online Advertisements

The company will focus on the ads found online to prove its existence to all people of Kuwait so all Kuwaiti forums, Facebook pages, Instagram, Twitter and websites related to engineering and constructions or those related to people interested in home designs, landscape, interior designs and building will be used for advertising for the company using different advertising channels such as banners, You tube commercials and discussions where consultant from the company will work for giving advice to young engineers and those interested in the company's facilities and services from Kuwait.

The internet as a promotion element

The company will use the internet to send a message to people about the business of the company and why it is investing in Kuwait, this will be for building a customer business relationship build on trust and understanding as when customers realize that the company is respecting Kuwait and its history as a Gulf country and is intending to present its services for the country to meet the Kuwaiti taste and the taste of  a Gulf country people. (Yannopoulos, 2011)

Designing the marketing channel

Customers' needs

Kuwait is a country with a high GDP and the customers are enjoying good construction projects by many companies inside and outside Kuwait. There is considerable successful construction development in Kuwait and this raises the level of quality and creativity customers need regarding construction and all relevant works such as plumbing, electricity and mechanical works. There is a high need to support the infrastructure with modern technology in construction works.

Channel Objectives

1. Providing the market with job opportunities.
2. Providing creative solutions for housing projects in Kuwait.
3. Minimizing the shipping distance of the channel and decreasing the handling amount between Oman and Kuwait for the materials used by the company.
4. Choosing a suitable shipping company for reducing costs.
5. Establishing a competitor channel in a country strong in construction projects.

Major Channel Alternatives

There are some intermediaries for carrying the channel work such as marketing agencies, offices, contracting firms and exclusive distributors. (Rosenbloom, 2011)

Designing the integrated marketing communication

The company tends to develop an effective integrated marketing communication program involving an advertising program and a program for relationships of the company in Kuwait such as relationships with other firms that can share in helping the company make a successful promotion campaign.

Communication platforms

Direct Marketing

The company uses the direct market of Kuwait to market its services through many direct channels such as companies that have partnership with Oman Shapporji in Kuwait.

Advertising

Advertisements are used for making communication relationships with the customers in Kuwait through reaching as many people as possible and the company can target different types of clients to address via advertisements as they can be directed to engineers and contractors or for ordinary people who can find the merits of the company and recommend its services to other companies.

Sales Promotion

Sales promotion is used as a marketing platform for increasing the communication policy with all stakeholders and to open new horizons for the company in Kuwait. Sales promotion will focus on the achievements of the company in Oman to address the availability of doing other resembling achievements in Kuwait.

Public Relations

Public relations depend on the company's relations with different facilities of Kuwait and different construction agents in addition to the relations of the company with the public clients through charitable participation, sponsorships campaigns, donations and participation in the events that are interested to the public in Kuwait such as festivals of February and Ramadan and sports activities of the famous football and other sports clubs there.

Steps in marketing communications program development

To ensure the success of the program, there should be the following steps to develop it:

1. Focus on the target audience of Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti potential clients, their needs and expectations.
2. Designing a message for communication which is quality and innovation are the main policies of Oman Shapoorji.
3. Establishing a budget for communication platforms.
4. Measuring the results and evaluating them. (Pelsmacker and Kitchen, 2004)

Detailed action plan

Activities	Start Date	End Date	Description	Objectives	Who is responsible	How
Message platform	1-1-2016	1-2-2016	Invading the market of Kuwait by the message of quality which reflects the company's policy.	Ensuring the good innovated work of the company.	The human resource management of the company.	Using media channels, websites and social media.
Positioning	1-2-2016	1-3-2016	Taking a position among construction companies in Kuwait.	Showing the best of the company's abilities in Kuwait's market.	Marketing agents and distributors	Using advertisement and public events to reach the public and private companies
Brand implementation	1-3-2016	1-4-2016	Providing some participations in the Kuwait community events such as charity and social events	Building a brand relationship with the Kuwaiti customer	Marketing agents and management	Using the public events and associations and advertising channels
Evaluating success	1-4 -2016	1-5-2016	Measuring the market and customer ability to engage the company into marketing business	Recognizing the level of success of the marketing strategies to improve it when needed	Management of the company	Using online questionnaires and surveys in addition to making discussions with engineers and contractors.

Evaluation and recommendations

The current marketing plan should be evaluated according to the outcomes and reactions of the addressed audience and expected clients. The purpose of evaluation is to measure the degree of effectiveness of the marketing plan and the strategies used within it and to find the best and worst solutions used during the time duration of the plan. All stakeholders should be engaged during the different monitoring stages as all activities should be monitored and results should be investigated. Evaluation is to be done on two stages: at first evaluating the process and how marketing is achieved and the second stage is evaluating the outcomes of the marketing plan. All the marketing mix elements should be evaluated in order to find out any shortage or problems that may face the business when being implemented in Kuwait. Evaluation shouldn't neglect any part of the marketing plan and it should be done over time stages and time planning. 

Consumers behaviors regarding the services provided by OSCO should be evaluated and measured, they should also be analyzed in order to find out the percentage of the acceptance of the company and its services in Kuwait, how far they find the services are convenient to Kuwait in their prices, level of quality and other relevant important information such as innovation and providing new services for Kuwaiti people. Evaluation should be applied according to a program for evaluation and this should be done through some steps including engage stakeholders in the evaluation process, describing the marketing plan, determining the purpose from the marketing plan, gathering suitable evidences about the level of acceptance to the service after monitoring and investigating, justifying the reached conclusions and ensuring the lessons learned and making the important needed implementations.

It is recommended that the company should reach conclusions that are clear and can be understood in order to find out the reasons for any shortage in the plan. The company should make comparison studies and researches about how construction businesses opened new markets in other areas or countries and how they used proper marketing plans for setting a position for themselves in the new markets. Their plans should also be studied to reach lessons and implementations that can be added to the company's marketing plan and change it to the better. It is recommended to do more researches to find out how this current marketing plan can be improved and developed. It is recommended that the company finds out new innovative and creative ideas for marketing to be added to this plan in order to match any new idea that may appear in the market related to constructions and the relevant activities to this industry such as any new advertisement technique or any suggestions related to human resource management to reach better levels of success to the marketing plan.

OPRIC LMP and CSR

Introduction

Orpic suffers a lack of effective social responsibility and a holistic approach in dealing with the community and the environment and this lead to problems in profitability as a result for passive reputation of the company that has been affected by such a situation. Issues related to oil wastes are neglected by the company and although there is a department for corporate social responsibility in the organization, there is a big shortage in the application and activities of that department. Challenges facing ORPIC growth include the proper application of the policies of corporate social responsibility and to have a holistic approach that ensures the right CSR application in the organization. There are pressures practiced by shareholders to urge the company take serious steps in the field of CSR. The current paper is discussing the problem of Orpic through reviewing and investigating the literature and the relevant theories such as the institutional theory that depends on going beyond the integrating of CSR into the company's behavior and realizing it historically and politically in addition to discussing tools for solving such a problem in ORPIC and techniques such as engaging shareholders in CSR activities or stakeholders' management, neutralization, scientific solutions and doing researches on the organization's current integrated management systems and discussing the business processes optimization. The research aims at discussing leaders' roles in taking serious actions to solve such a problem and suggesting strategies to be followed in order to applying CSR effectively in order to help the community and the environment and to raise the company's competitive advantage in the market and among all stakeholders. 

Problem statement

Corporate social responsibility is a term that has received much interest in the past decades as a result of the global trends towards having a clean world and a safer environment in local and national and international areas especially in developing countries where there are many passive practices in that regard as giving much interest to CSR in developing countries raises the effect on reducing poverty and pollution rates that are high with an absence of the governance observation in many of these countries. Spence, (2010) explained that the danger of the lack of enough CSR practices and activities increases in oil and gas companies that have passive behaviors regarding wastes, oil extraction processes and other relevant activities that are harm to the society and to the environment in general; he added that in many developing countries CSR activities and practices need more care due to the political conflicts and social problems these countries may suffer but Oman is a country that is advantaged with stable political conditions and high economic degree which make it a good place for initiating corporate social responsibility practices but there isn't enough knowledge and applications in this issue which makes it urgent to make different various researches in how to apply CSR in business organizations especially in oil and gas companies such as Orpic. Orpic has a corporate culture that gives interest to CSR and the company has a special department for it but there is need for applying different activities related to CSR and participating in the different social events in the local and the global levels. Orpic needs to have much more understanding for its role in CSR practices in addition to realizing methods that enable it to have strong CSR roles. Orpic practices of oil extraction and refinery works may affect the Omani society and environment as a result of not proper getting rid of wastes that lead to many complaints from shareholders and clients and other stakeholders which made the company in a critical situation that requires instant solutions that can be managed by the CSR department and by the company's leadership that can study the problem dimensions and identify methods for facing it with the help of many theories and investigations. The current research is trying to define the main problem Orpic company is suffering and states how it affects the general profitability of the company in addition to understanding the need for CSR to oil companies and to countries such as Oman and to find solution to face such a challenge that leads to reduced profitability of the company. The research is trying to review the past literature in relation with the problem of oil and gas companies and compare the case in different countries and then to suggest how CSR can be developed and sustained in Orpic in order to help the company reach a solution for its problem that is suffered in the community of Oman and perhaps in the global community.

Theoretical platform

Devin, (2014) discussed the institutional theory in relation with CSR and companies that try to apply CSR principles as he referred to the traditional techniques of business organization in following CSR old practices that depend on the history of the organization and its old means of dealing with the community which results in a resistance in change of the old traditional means of dealing with the world and the community and within the current age and the need for developing criteria followed in CSR, it become urgent to apply new techniques in CSR and look to the world not from an institutional perspective but within a holistic approach that focuses on a wider world and a better environmental globe. Jackson and Rathert, (2015) discussed how business organizations may not be able to understand how and why to communicate CSR in its proper place and what implications can be applied to prove that the company is reflecting real interest in such a policy and not only just pretending to the public that it has a CSR strategy as they confirmed on the need to be professional in presenting CSR to the local and global society and that this policy should be integrated within the organizational mission, values and corporate strategy; this may lead to complaints from the community that regard that the company is not giving the needed care to it through its programs and practices of CSR and then there must be a change in the organizational strategy dealing with corporate social responsibility. Buldybayeva, (2014) discussed how oil organization may neglect that they have to be more careful regarding CSR practices because the society is usually looking at them and considering them a main cause of pollution and are only interested in profits which raises the need to deal with those problems by the oil companies in order to be able to meet the social needs and add new dynamic dimension to the community as oil revenues can be shared with local governments or with the community where oil is found and people see that this oil is already owned to them; he referred that the different levels of corporate strategies in the organization result in different CSR models that may include the participative, hierarchical, exogenous, hybrid, endogenous or minimalist and each of those models can be used by the company's management to address the local and international community but the model should be selected carefully by the company's managers and researchers who can decide what model can be used to apply different CSR practices that can satisfy all stakeholders as each model has its own applications and these applications are what decide if the community is satisfied or not with the CSR type of the organization. Traditional approaches of CSR consider it a type of participation in the society of business without regard to the industry, products, society, the community or the economy of the country where the company is based.  

Eweje, (2007) explained how good CSR practices can raise the company's profits and improve its image in the society because it is then considered as a responsible member of the society with a legal standing that supports its position in the society due to the applications of corporate conduct that reflects the company's serious responsibility that is assured with its legal commitment; he also referred to the voluntary corporate conduct that is involved within the company's social responsibility as he asserted its importance to the company and to the society and they should reflect both local and international corporate social responsibility values in order to provide diversity of activities and provide a wider image of CSR that can be accepted locally and globally with a great variety of relevant activities to different attitudes, values, cultures and systems. This was affirmed by Gulbrandsen and Moe, (2005) as they confirmed that oil companies in particular should raise its interest in CSR practices as this type of business has long term dimensions that may really affect the society and harm the world and the environment in addition to addressing a very wide number of people from the industry and the public so there should be special regard to CSR of the company and to update the different practices and applications of the company's CSR. They explained that the government should also be careful from such types of industry by setting laws and legislations that control the process of production of oil and refinery in order to ensure general CSR to be applied by the company and set punishment on companies that are not following rules regarding wastes and production; they asserted that those who should deal with the practices of CSR in the oil companies shouldn't be among engineers, managers or low experienced professionals but they should be high experienced CSR professionals who are able to provide successful CSR projects and develop the different activities related to it in addition to recognizing the degree of social acceptance to the company's CSR participation locally and internationally as those high experienced professionals are able to conduct research and use different tools to assess the public acceptance of the company's share in CSR and can suggest new innovated solutions for any problems that may appear in that regard. Another important thing added to that is that oil companies' corporate culture such as Orpic is mainly focusing on technical skills of solving an identifiable problem which may be quantifiable and this limited focus lead to delivering limited community involvement and participation which in turn leads to great public dissatisfaction with the company's CSR projects in addition to a lack of sustainability. It is not important for the oil company to insist on the ‘business-case’ model that is applied as an approach to CSR as it leads to give interest to only relevant CSR issues to oil but the CSR activities need to be more social related and should be characterized with sustainability and accountability.  

Justification of theory

Orpic considers the environment as a major interest to its priorities which makes the company aware to the way its products and operations are done but the efforts done by the company are not enough for coping with today's world demands in the field of CSR so there should be a holistic approach that adopts new ideas and new CSR projects. Although the company has launched some environmental initiatives that are meant for reducing the environmental effects associated with the company's operations; Orpic is still suffering the need to provide the local and global society with enough activities and projects to ensure its insist on new innovative ideas in CSR and to prove that the company is adopting new modern methodologies of CSR and not following traditional institutional techniques. Orpic is working hard for reducing the harmful emissions the company may add to the environment and thus it thinks that it complies with the global environmental requirements but there should be more efforts for keeping the environment cleaner and trying to use new scientific techniques to keep the environment away from such harmful emissions and wastes. According to Thomsen, (2012), the institutional demands of CSR shouldn't be neglected by the company but they should be aligned with the social demands and environmental demands as all stakeholders should be put into the company's consideration when thinking of CSR in order to achieve success in that field, he confirmed on making analysis for the company's institutional strategies in adopting activities and practices relevant to CSR and explained that CSR policies should be updated from time to time by the company management and all shareholders should be discussed in order to realize the methods the company can apply to achieve acceptable CSR activities and projects. This was also discussed by Anderson and Bieniaszewska, (2005) who confirmed the role of including CSR within the company's strategy and how this should be integrated as a part of the company's business strategy, they also added that CSR should meet the needs of the different interest groups including shareholders as this can maximize profits and enable the company to strengthen its name in the community locally and globally. Orpic has provided the Omani society with different CSR development projects estimated with million dollars including Falaj Al Qabail Maintenance 124,667,23 Quick Win – completed 2 Ramadan Campaign 129,861.70 Quick Win – completed 3 AIESEC Partnership program 19,479.25 On going 3 Eyidia Campaign 129,861.7 Quick Win – almost completed 5 Football Tournament 31,166.81 Quick Win – will take place soon 4 Kick worldwide Outreach Program 317,901.44 On going 5 Tailoring Project 52,983.57 On going 6 Farmers Project 168,820.21 On going 7 Professional Education (for Providing training programs for the employment of 90 technical Professional) 420,751.91 and current Cyber Café project but these projects were not all successful and the community still complained of the emission of gases and the pollution the company causes by wastes throwing in addition to its location near villages and people homes which requires instant solutions to satisfy the public and confirm the company's policy relevant to CSR. (Orpic, 2016)

Orpic has many refineries and plants for producing oil and relevant products and the company produces different chemical products that may affect the environment when the production processes are not safe enough but the company tries hard to keep the environment around it clean yet this is not completely done as there is criticism and protests from the community that the company has to take more precautions in addition to providing the society with more share of the helping projects and job opportunities to solve problems of unemployment of native Omani so it is important that the company find solutions to such a problem, there should be greater roles for leaders in the company who can discuss the validity of the CSR department and checking if it is doing enough research in the Omani community and in the international society and then to compare the measurements of quality to those of the company and leaders should encourage CSR department to compare the current strategies used by the company in this regard to those of other international companies and then to find out new solutions; shareholders should meet with the company's management in order to discuss the matter, the public claims and suggest new scientific solution for wastes keeping and safe production. Dando and Martin, (2003) asserted the need to have friendly relationship with the community and the oil companies and that can be achieved if the oil companies found effective safe ways to get rid of wastes without causing harm to the public as he confirmed the need to find natural ways for waste recycling or usage in order to reduce harmfulness to the environment and reduce the pollution hazards by developing suitable techniques for the last disposal of dangerous wastes with bad substances it has or wastes can be used as energy source without harmful effects. The company should also provide the community with enough explanations about its activities related to CSR and this should occur in public events, meeting and conferences. Scheel, (2012) discussed how oil companies can maintain sustainability when they apply CSR practices as he stressed to have long term plans and make use of time to get rid of the complexity of the CSR practices which makes them less valued and regarded by the society and he focused also on changing the different practices of CSR in the community to have a holistic approach that can be realized locally and internationally and this can be made with the help of international institutions and organizations that care for CSR and provide international frameworks that can be applied by many countries such as the activities presented by the United Nation conferences. Orpic can make use of its current projects relevant to CSR and upgrade them, develop them and make them coping with the international frameworks in that concern in order to provide innovative ideas to the public and should focus on new methods for using wastes and emissions of oil production.  

Orpic is adopting many different projects that can prepare the company for the great changes occurring currently and till 2018 as the company is having three main projects that are supporting fuel Orpic’s transformation from being a national oil refinery to become an international integrated refining and petrochemicals company and in that regard the company is trying to expand its CSR practices and projects to cope with international measurements such as the company's current projects including beautification of Majees street and Al Mina Roundabout Street that is made by planting the streets' both sides in addition to making the construction works for their walkways and a forestation of Al Hilal Club playground that is existed in Auqda village in Liwa, as well as making a beautification project in the wilayat, in addition to other social projects that will be conducted by Orpic. (omanobserver, 2014) All the previously mentioned news is good and promising but the problem is that the company regards CSR as following laws, legislation and complying with the laws which is not true as CSR are those actions and events that are more and beyond the commitment of laws and legislations but this is a policy and a valued approach by the company and all stakeholders. According to Frynas , (2009)the oil and gas companies should have significant community development schemes to be implemented by them in order to help satisfy the public community as new projects such be more close to people as for example, development projects including schools, hospitals and employment programs in addition to participating in international partnerships with known trustworthy established development agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as well as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and at the same time they have to ask specialist consultancies and non-governmental organizations for implementing the needed development programs actually on the ground as this raises the company's reliability and the projects' validity. This was confirmed by Justice, (2016) who added that CSR should explain the industry practices and they should reflect a real value of the organization and not being just a pretended practice and oil companies in particular should show high CSR responsibilities and a big share in the community development. Witte and Jonker, (2006) referred to the nature of oil companies that raises the risks resulting from operations such as exploration of oil and gas, land clearance and the emissions and wastes from operations of gas refinery processes and that all these operations raise the public awareness and rag against such companies which makes it very necessary for them to develop a sustainable CSR program that is characterized with high biological protection systems and pollution related initiatives in order to prove its kind intention and hard work in that regard in addition to implementing practices against environmental risks and declaring the methods used by the company in protecting people and sharing responsibilities with them. Sustainability is important and needs to be stressed on while achieving CSR projects and this ensures future of these projects that is developed and promising and ensures safety for all stakeholders on local and international levels.

Conclusion

In conclusion, CSR is not only following the rules and legislations of the government in order to apply projects that prove the company is following those laws but it is broader than this as it should bear a value of the organization and a mission that ensures the existence of a holistic approach followed by the organization to participate in the social responsibilities including keeping the environment safe and clean and providing services to support the public in the community. Oil and gas companies in particular are always accused by the public community and organizations of keeping the world safe of being very dangerous on the world and the environment due to the harmful emissions and wastes those companies affect the world with and due to their existence besides villages and cities full of people so there should be high interest by these companies for CSR practices and activities that should reflect a deep awareness and understanding for the stakeholders' needs and the society aspirations from the company. Orpic has its own policy and strategy for CSR that are followed by the company to help the Omani society and keep the environment clean and safe but there should be more interest in reducing the harms and emissions of the company in order to have better reputation among local and international societies and this can be applied by the help of managers who should suggest new strategies for the company that are based on involving CSR practices and projects that are coping with the international measurements of international organizations responsible for world corporate social responsibility. 

Recommendations

It is recommended that Orpic should make deep analysis for the current practices and activities of the company relevant to CSR and to assess how far those practices, activities and projects reflect the real company's intentions in achieving helpful and cooperative approach that presents to the society help and safety regarding all the operations the company makes and the different intentions of improving the Omani society and its people in addition to proving the company is following a holistic approach that considers all global considerations regarding keeping the environment clean and safe and helping the world community. Orpic is recommended to change some of its current strategies in order to ensure the company is updating its corporate strategies and including CSR in all its practices. The company is asked to work with international organizations that give care to new updated and innovative ideas and suggestions regarding CSR practices and this can help Orpic follow international measurements of quality regarding oil emissions and helping the society programs. It is better if Orpic asks high professionals to implement the different CSR practices, analyze them, discuss how far they are successful and update them to cope with the international society and to be careful for declaring to the society how the company is careful to assure quality of its practices especially CSR practices.

Leadership and Trust

Introduction

Leadership has a big role to be played in the business organization as leadership can push the business organization towards success or failure and this depends on the leadership style, the methods and techniques used by leadership to guide employees and on the degree of trust between leaders and employees and how far this can achieve the organizational goals and can motivate employees, raise their morale and job satisfaction for achieving welfare for themselves and for the organization. Leadership and trust are two main factors that helps any business organization achieve its goals and reach competitive advantage as according to Vadell, (2009) there is a great role for trust in leadership as there are senses of obligation and duty involved in leadership and there is a relationship between trust and organizational commitment as leaders who are trustworthy are those who are usually more commitment to the organizational values, culture and goals. Trust is the new core of leadership as trust has to be mutual between employees and leaders and there should be limits for trust which makes the organization is not liable for dangerous decisions and risky issues but risk is also needed to be mastered and implemented and trust encourages effective successful risky decisions.

Leaders have to build trust among stakeholders through different means and methods as according to Nooteboom, (2003) the trust process in an organization can be managed by successful leaders who are able to maintain and use the right tools for building trust between them and all stakeholders as leaders who are great leaders can't be so without trust. Trust in leaders can increase the work engagement, productivity, efficiency and profitability because when employees trust their leaders, they believe in the jobs assigned to them by their leaders and they work to satisfy themselves and their leaders who are working for their welfare and the welfare of the organization where they work. The current paper is discussing leadership and trust by referring to the relationship between leadership and trust, the effects of trust on leadership, how trust can change the work outcomes and how the lack of trust can affect the work and the business organization, this will be presented by critically analyzing different authors' views from the literature in addition to presenting the researcher's point of view based on readings in the literature.

Body

Mineo, (2014) discussed the importance of trust in leadership referring to trust as a tie that connects the leader with his followers and provides the organization with the ability to succeed; he confirmed that trust is a main element of those forming the process of leadership development as trust encourages employees to communicate with their leaders freely and express their feelings, needs, complaints and problems they may be suffering in the business organization. This is a good opinion as it was also asserted by  Savolainen and  Häkkinen, (2011) who added that there is a big impact of trustworthiness on leadership as they referred to its importance in current business management; they explained how trust can be a basis for functioning relationships that are able to bring in effective business cooperation and successful team work. They also added that a leader who is trustworthy have many skills that can be transmitted to his followers through his behaviors as all employees will like to imitate his behaviors that are mostly representing the organizational behaviors and values which facilitates the processes meant to reach the organizational goals. Trust is formed by a leader through his behaviors and actions performed to achieve different tasks and in the way he deals with employees and other stakeholders. This was confirmed by Salas et al, (2007) who asserted that when the leader shows trust in all his acts such as being fair with all employees, respect them, show empathy, discuss different issues and encourage employees to work by integrating them all in one whole unit that works for the benefits of the organization; this returns to the organization with great benefits and profits. Trust is developed and raised throughout time and situations that occur and bear the real deep trustworthy leaders whose behavior express how far they deserve trust from other stakeholders including employees and clients as this trust can help in building different relationships with stakeholders such as clients, for example, who are in need for leaders' trust because they represent trust in the business organization itself.

According to Fairholm, (1994), If the business organization is working under high risky conditions, trust in leaders become a must and a main necessity for work as employees here need to trust they leaders in providing them with the safe work environment and the needs that ensures their safety and security. Leaders have to focus on reducing pressure on employees when needed and ensuring their job satisfaction as this raises trust and respect and encourages employees to perform better at work. He also referred to the culture of trust as trust needs to be a part of the organizational culture which means leaders should also have trust in their employees with a level that permits them to assign sensitive jobs to those employees when the work needs this and this doesn't mean not to take the required precautions set by the organization as trust doesn't mean not to follow rules and laws in everything.

Hassan and Ahmed, (2011) discussed how the business organization make use and get benefits from trusted leadership as they referred to authentic leadership that should be based on trust in order to make leadership an effective and successful management tool on the long term as trust should be real and based on real leadership behaviors as if trust was based on fake behaviors, it can't be used as a tool for long term management. They stressed on the need for ethicality of leaders to make them have effective governance as they have to follow high moral standards and ethical attitudes in their daily discussion, decisions, actions and behaviors because this helps them to be real heroes who inspire other subordinates to follow their path and behaviors. This opinion is good as leaders who are not following moral behaviors in the way they work can't be honest and the organization can't put its secrets and work details under their control as most leaders who are not trustworthy and are not honest can be the main causes of failure of the business organization as their bad behaviors lead to losing trust in them by employees, clients and other stakeholders which leads to many losses and problems. Sarwar, (2016) discussed the relationship between trust and the leadership style as he focused on the transformational leadership style confirming that it bears more trust factors for employees as it is based on communication, discussion and applying different changes in the business organization that are able to bring in more stability in the work environment which raises trust between employees and their leaders, this can be true to a great extent as transformational leadership is proved to bring in effective results in the business organization but it all depends on the leader and how he is applying the leadership style as the leader himself should be able to raise trust whatever leadership style he is following. He also referred to confidentiality and how it is a part of trust in leadership positions as leaders usually keep important files and data relevant to the business which makes them in very sensitive positions in relation to the way they may use such data and how they have to be transparent in all the processes and decisions they make which raises the levels of trust in them by employees and all stakeholders.

Webber, (2002)discussed the barriers to effective team processes referring to lack of trust between team members and the team leader confirming that when trust is lacked between the team members and their leader; this leads to have diversity in goals and the ways to reach them as members of the team may not be convinced with goals presented by a non trusted leader who lies a lot and never keeps promises. This view was also presented and confirmed by Gillespie and Mann, (2004) who explained that leaders are the main persons in a team and that they are playing the most effective roles in the team which is developing trust as this role can raise effective functioning of a team and lead to high levels of cooperation and sharing information as when trust exists with high levels within one team, this leads to honest competition that depends on sharing information and making full use of it for the welfare of the team in addition to reducing individuality feelings and selfish acts within one team. Dirks and Ferrin, (2002) discussed the different leadership practices that can raise the level of trust in the leaders and referred to these practices by stating that they are important to enhance employees' trust in the leader as sense of vulnerability of the followers or their perceptions about the character of the leader are not enough on the long run to maintain sustainable trust. Among these practices they mentioned employees' motivation, engagement and empowerment by the leader as these practices can raise employees' rust and respect to their leader who insists on involving employees in decision making processes and respecting their opinions in addition to encouraging them to be creative and innovative with a tendency to adapt their suggestions and ideas after testing them; they explained that these practices are best done by the transformational leaders who work by a real desire and intention to engage employees, motivate them and empower them by the help of the whole organization that bears a value of being all transformational.  

Evans, (2015) reported that trust is an element that should be a part of the whole organization ensured by its leadership in all areas and processes of the organization and he referred to the need of having a work environment that encourages trust building and sustainability as he presented a view of the work environment where leaders build trust and mentioned an example which is a work environment that is free from spying elements, strict monitoring and supervising techniques or giving too many instructions to employees in a way that makes them feel surrounded by over controlling forces as employees should enjoy a work environment with enough amount of flexibility as this raises their trust in their leaders and in the organization in addition to increasing their self confidence which helps in having better results and more productivity. This is completely true as the work environment is a very important part of the process of building trust within a business organization as when leaders encourage the supportive work environment; this raises employees morale and make them feel a part of the work organization and make them work hard to achieve the organizational goals.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to stress the importance of trust to any leader in any organization as trust can bring in the best results and outcomes for the organization, when a leader is trustworthy, this encourages his subordinates to be more effective and efficient at work and work as a part of the organization as they consider their leaders as heroes whom they should follow and respect. Many authors believe that transformational leaders are the best in building and maintain trust as transformational leaders have the main tools of building trust such as the different practices such as motivation, respect, being fair with employees, engagement and empowerment of employees as these practices can build trust and encourage employees to provide their best to the welfare of the whole organization which means the welfare of themselves. Trust is related to leadership as it involves many factors such as confidentiality as a leader is a person who keeps much data relevant to the organization as such data may be secret and very confidential so the leader who is trustworthy is that honest leader who is able to keep important data on high secret levels and who is characterized with honesty and respect. A leader of a team needs to encourage trust within one team and among the team members as team work requires high levels of trust that encourages sharing information and reduces selfishness and individuality as when there is enough trust in the team; they all work for the team benefits and welfare in order to achieve success for the team and not for each member within the team.

The current topic can give many lessons to be learnt in relation to leadership and trust as among these lessons are raising the need for having a work environment that encourages trust existence in the work environment as when the work environment is supportive, safe and provides enough comfort and respect for employees; trust can be raised in leaders as a result of trust in the organization. Another lesson is to include trust building as a main part of the organizational culture in order to get sustainable trust and keep it on the long term. There is also another lesson which is encouraging employees to be engaged and empowered in the decision making processes and encourage their innovative and creative ideas in order to build a trust that is real and not fake as this can bring in the best business outcomes and more profits for the organization.

Islamic Banks and Investment financing

Introduction

Many Muslims today began to prefer Islamic banking in different areas of the world and they prefer to invest their money in it due to many reasons such as applying Islamic laws that don't apply charging interest systems which makes clients safe and happy related to what they belief in their religion Islam. Islamic banks use different financial instruments based on Shariaa. Islamic banking are common in the Middle East and it has spread also in other areas of the world such as the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and the USA.  (Yousef and Aggarwal, 2000). The current paper presents this topic through literature and presents a research proposal in the same area.

Problem statement

Islamic banking and investment financing are important today in many areas of the world as the Islamic banking industry has attracted the attention of many investors around the world as it provides investors with different financial solutions that can help them during crisis and repercussions. It is found that Islamic banking can be good at risk management which raised the interest in this type of finance investment.

Research questions

1. What are the important features that make Islamic banking common?
2. How can Islamic banking be effective for financial investment rather than other banking systems?
3. What type of clients does Islamic banking serve and what is the nature of this service? What type of lending contracts they can make there?
4. What are the challenges facing Islamic banking?
5. How do Islamic banking face the different challenges and risk factors?
6. How will the future of Islamic banking in Oman and in the whole world look like?

Objectives

• Understanding Islamic banking and why it became important in investment financing.
• Analyzing the challenges facing Islamic banking.
• Identifying solutions for those challenges facing Islamic banking and investment financing.
• Predicting the future of Islamic banking and investment financing.

Scope of the study

The study discusses Islamic banking and investment financing internationally and in Oman as well via examples.

Literature review

Islamic banking has been defined by many authors in different ways but it can be referred to as a financial institution that is applying the Islamic Shariah principles on all its rules, status, procedures, operations, activities and investment processes in addition to applying ban to operations related to interest receipt and payment. It is based on the Islamic economy concept and it is trying to apply the value system of Islam. Among the important features Islamic banking depends on is that it depends on profit and loss sharing rather than any other investing finance principle. This means that Islamic banking depends on risk taking as clients are not assured to gain profits but profits reflects the success of the Islamic financial institution as profits means work. Profit and loss sharing means that the traditional banks based on interests are replaced with a financial institution that applies participation in both loss and profit with clients as the interest fixed rate is replaced by a return variable rate that depends on the bank's economic activities. (Bello and Abubakar, 2014)

Islamic banking has specific characteristics that make it preferred by many finance investors such as its being based on the profit and loss sharing system and not depending on interest free or what is called Riba in Islam. The Islamic banking system makes investment such as loans and other investments as advances in conventional sense serve the investors' interests and the interests of the local community under what is called Mudarabah.

Distinguishing Features of Islamic Banking:

Comparing Islamic banking to other banking systems; there can be distinguishing features as follows:

1. Abolition of Interest (Riba) 

As interest is considered as being Riba by Islamic Shariah; it is not supported by Islamic banking services as they are interest free and being replaced by sharing profits and loss.

2. Adherence to public interest

Islamic banks activities depend mainly on presenting interest to the public through the different projects they have to make in the public community as their profits and benefits go to both individual clients and public welfare.

3. Being a multi-purpose bank

Islamic banks will be multi-purpose ones as they mix between being financial institutions for commercial and investment purposes and investment management institutions that establish supportive projects and ventures that help individuals sharing in the bank and others involved in the society.

4. Having better evaluation for the investment demand

Islamic banks have very careful attitude for evaluating the equity oriented finance application as Islamic banks have specific mechanisms for risk sharing which makes them have better evaluation for risk practices and how to be more careful to avoid loss.

5. Working as a development catalyst

Islamic banks depend on profit-loss sharing which makes them have better relationships with entrepreneurs and this adds financial experiences to the institutions which are non-financial and make Islamic banks as a catalyst for financial needs and consults for clients and help them make foe any liquidity shortage by providing them with financial advice through their financial consultants. (Mahmud, 2015)

Islamic banking are effective for financial investment rather than other banking systems as according to Dakhlallah, (2011) Islamic banks are offering different services that  don't depend on Riba practices and it is effective for those interested in following Shariah principles whether individuals or institutions. Islamic banks are facilitating resources allocation by providing different solutions for investment and by establishing different projects that help the individuals and the society as well. The means that Islamic banking profitability of their own projects represents deciding factors for allocating the financial resources and how far they can be developed. Islamic banks are more effective for economy of countries if they are really applying investment through economical projects as this helps a lot in developing economy. Islamic banking can also ensure equitable distribution of resources and income among the participating factors including the bank, the depositors as well as entrepreneurs via its built-in mechanical programs added to other welfare activities that are pursued through Zakah distribution service.

Islamic banks make agreements with their clients to buy them the shares they are going to invest in. They accept all types of clients Muslim and non-Muslim as many non-Muslim require different investments and go for Islamic banking. Clients in Islamic banks are considered partners with an Islamic financial institution (IFI) through Mudarib partnership as parties all share profits and the (IFI) receives a defined profit percentage. 

Islamic banking has many different lending contracts as they have a rent to sale deal or a buy-sale deal and deals involves underlying assets behind them as risk must be shared between lenders and borrowers in order to avoid Riba. There are different types of lending contracts in Islamic banking such as Murabaha that is an Arabic word which means short term trade finance as clients chooses the goods they need the bank to finance in. Another type is Musharika which is a joint enterprise business that the clients and the bank contribute capital in as well as chare profits based on an agreed ratio. Mudaraba is another type of lending contracts that is a partnership between the bank and clients with 100% capital for the bank but profits are shared based on specific ratios. Another type is Ijara where the bank buys the asset the clients need and then makes a joint ownership with the client who rents the asset and pays a rent for the bank to own the asset after a number of paid rents that may increase with time according to the increase in the asset price. (Dakhlallah, 2011)

Challenges face Islamic banks

Islamic banking has been facing different challenges lately and this lead to many efforts exerted by these banks to raise the effectiveness of its finance investment; the challenges may be resulting from comparing them to commercial banks or from facts related to the nature of Islamic banks or perhaps some challenges resulting from the terrorist actions done by some Muslims who are fanatic in fact and don't represent real concept of Islam. This makes Islamic banks suffer and try hard to find solutions. Here there are some challenges faced by Islamic banks and need solutions:

1. Legal support

Islamic banks offer specific business laws and contracts that lack the legal support in courts or in legal dealings as for example; when there are disputes related to Islamic financial institutions at court, they are dealt with in the same way disputes of commercial banks are dealt with and this may lead to different problems related to the contracts and other financial problems related to taxes that deal with contracts of Islamic banks as buying and selling contracts which increases taxes twice. This means that there should be special courts for Islamic banks and their dealings and contracts.

2. Islamic prudential regulations

This refers to the need for having strong supervision over Islamic banks as there are not currently effective Islamic prudential regulations which make the Islamic banking industry make different illegal acts in dealing with customers such as in Ijara as the bank here is the owner who takes advance and some Islamic banks use Ijara as "Rahn" which makes it resemble "Riba" that is forbidden in Islam.

3. Shariah based products

The Shariah based products are those products presented by Islamic banks to clients and they are all the same from an Islamic bank to the other which makes competition is very low and almost not found. The products are either Ijara or Murabaha mostly. This makes Islamic banks lack having efficiency in different financial areas such as having effective and standard financial contracts or even standard products which leads clients to be afraid of taking risks with Islamic banks.

4. Nature of Islamic banks

The nature of many Islamic banks as being financial institutions for Murabaha and Ijara and neglecting important factors in the Islamic financial concepts such as Mudaraba and Musharaka which leads to ambiguity in dealing with clients. Another thing is the ambiguity of projects applied by some Islamic banks and to the processes and procedures they take in buying shares for clients and selling them which raises risks and makes clients feel afraid. (Karimi, 2016)

5. Small assets and capital size

This refers to the fact that Islamic banks are not very old compared to commercial banks and that Islamic banks assets are not big enough for making all the needed operations of buying for Ijara and this leads to limitations in the bank's processes.

6. Terrorism movements in the Islam world

Terrorism movements performed by many people around the world pretending to be Muslims lead many people around the world to have Islamophobia and think that dealing with Islamic banks is dealing with terrorist and this reduced the development of Islamic banks in many countries around the world. (Iqbal, 2007)

How can Islamic banks face the challenges they face

Islamic banks have to take serious steps to face the different challenges face them; these steps should include urging the government to give more care and interest to Islamic banks by sharing in more CSR projects and by establishing effective profitable projects for engaging the youth in. Another thing to face these challenges is to employ effective supervisors by the central banks to guide Islamic banks and help them improve their level of implementing different financial projects. There should also be more supportive laws and legislations that suit Islamic banks' systems and realize how they work. Islamic banks should use the media channels and make effective advertising campaigns to make people aware of the way they work, their services and how they can invest their money in Islamic banks. Islamic banks should work harder to reach more people by sharing in public events and being a sponsor to different public events.

Future of Islamic banks in the world and in Oman

Many researches prove that Islamic banks have grown rapidly in their beginnings and currently that growth is declining which shows that Islamic banks are in need to review their strategies and techniques in order to find out reasons for this decline and solutions to face it and regain trust of clients again. Islamic banks in the future are supposed to change their dynamics and focus on new areas as they have to regard their profitability compared to commercial banks as they are in need for making repositioning for their position among other financial institutions. Atkearney, (2016)confirmed that they need to work more for facing competition and not only depend on attracting Muslims who are afraid of Riba and its interests. According to Mubeen et al, (2014) the future of Islamic banking in Oman seems to be successful, promising and effective because the study shows that people in Oman are all preferring Islamic banks and that the number of clients of Islamic banks is increasing daily which raises the expectations for promising future for Islamic banks in Oman as people are almost Muslims and prefer Islamic financial dealings and the Islamic banks in Oman prove to present effective projects for investing money of their clients which raises the trust in them by clients from Oman.

Research methodology

Research design

This research used the Descriptive Research design that depends on implementing the survey method.

Sampling Design: this study depended on the Proportionate Stratified Random sampling method as a number of 100 questionnaires were delivered to Islamic banks clients in Oman and a number of 30 questionnaires were distributed to economists in Oman.

Sample Unit: the sample unit of this study includes Islamic banks clients as well as economists from Oman including employees from Islamic banks and others from business institutions.

Data Collection Methods: the study depends on both primary data and secondary in it as the data was collected through the answers of the questionnaires and through other sources such as the internet, journals and books.

Data Analysis Method: The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics and SPSS program.

The Importance of Jogging

Many people think running is better than jogging and that it can achieve better results in reducing weight, burning fats and keeping healthy but there are many studies that suggest jogging to be rather better than running as they refer to jogging as keeping life line stable on the long run. The study was made on about 5000 runner and jogger as its results showed that the participants mortality rates that were tracked after that were reduced among joggers and health rated were improved. 

Many studies also say that jogging can have low risk of death rather than running. You can start by practicing jogging for about 40-50 minutes daily three times a week and then to increase the time period to one hour daily or five days a week. 

There are many points that should be regarded and noticed while jogging such as the following:

1.  Choose comfortable shoes that give you the cushion feeling during jogging.

2. You can jog outside in a safe area that is wide and not crowded with soft level surfaces such as tracks of colleges and clubs but if you are jogging very early or very late in time, it is better to do this at home using your trade mill. 

3.  Do stretching exercises before you start jogging in order to warm your muscles up. 

4. Choose comfortable running suits.

5. Switch the speed of your feet and make relaxed stretches from time to time. 

6. Set up a regular schedule and try to follow it regularly to watch the results soon. 

Selected types of companies within the scope of commercial laws

Introduction

Commercial law can be defined as a group of legal statements and rules that control and decide the duties and rights of engaged parties within a specific business or trade and they govern any arising disputes between sellers and buyers caused due to any transactions between them and those legal rules can settle some issues related to insurance, banking, affreightment or any other relevant issues. The commercial law concerns different types of companies such as the general partnership as there are rules for determining this partnership related to properties, ownership and the sharing process of gross related to such a partnership. Being a partner means that the person is legally engaged within a partnership. It is important when two parties make an agreement or more than two persons, to have within natural or legal persons as natural persons are those whose age is not under 18 years old who have judicial permission. This shows how far the commercial law is important and needed for general partnerships. Commercial law also cares for issues related to limited partnership which is a type of commercial partnerships resembles general partnership but the limited partnership must include one general partner at least and one limited partner at least while the general partnership includes two general partners at least. The commercial law controls how the general and limited partners can manage control, share in the rights of using the partnership property and having different liabilities for the partnership debts. A joint venture is a company or a business agreement between two companies or more than two and they agree to develop a field of business for a period of time that may be limited to form a new business company by the joint venturers financial contributions. The new business entity is controlled by the joint venturers and both of them share the revenues and expenses of the new companies. Joint ventures are made between individuals, companies or both. They may be small or major projects. A limited liabilities company is a business organization that has members who can't be personally held liable for the liabilities or debts of the company. This type of company represents a hybrid entity that has different characteristics of different companies such as those of a corporation and a partnership or those of sole proprietorships. (RSM, 2016)

A general partnership is a company that has a legal character and responsible partners who are working together and have direct and unlimited responsibility. Commercial law deals with this type of companies to control their business and relevant activities. A general partnership is established for purposes of practicing a business with a specific trade name. It should have a partnership agreement that is registered with the related ministry such as in Oman, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. In Oman to start a general partnership, there should be a capital minimum which is 3.000 RO. The general partnership partners are liable to the debts of the General partnership as long as they are related to the company's property. A general partnership depends on the commercial law which gives each partner the right to act in an independent way as well as be able to pool resources, avoid big formalities and avoid high startup costs. The partner in such a company has to accept some resources and time not equal contributions as he has to trust the other partner business judgment and be fully responsible for the liabilities and debts of the business in spite of the risks involved in this. Each individual in such an agreement has to realize that there are no person to govern the other's decisions without stated terms about this in the agreement and that any partner is able to enter in a binding contract on behalf of the other partner. This makes it hard for partners to make a decision-making policy that is strong in such an organization. (Richmond, 2016) The joint venture is an arrangement based on a contract between two ventured parties and they have to agree on the governing terms and conditions written in the agreement. The two parties can make an equity joint venture through establishing a company that is owned in proportions that are known and agreed on by some specific funded subsidiaries or by purchasing equity in a company that already exists. The new business entity can be a limited liability company or a corporation or any other form that is applicable to the commercial law. The equity joint venture is usually made for collaborations that are closer and on long terms and they have higher levels of investment. Equity joint ventures are sometimes more difficult than others to be wind up as they are based on contractual agreements that are terminating and also the parties involved within it prefer to liquidate the assets which can be time-wasting. A joint venture involves terms that govern the mutual relationship between the involved parties.  (Stewart and Maughn, 2011)

The current assignment is discussing four types of companies that are ruled and governed by the commercial law which are the general partnerships, limited partnerships, joint ventures and limited liabilities companies. The assignment presents general and special characteristics of two main types of them which are the general partnerships and joint ventures. It discusses how these two types of companies are formed, liquidated and managed in accordance to the Omani commercial law. The paper is explaining the processes and procedures of how those two types of companies handle disputes and discussing issues and differences that arise in those companies. This is concluded and summarized to focus on the most important points in the assignment.

Discussion

There are different characteristics for general partnerships such as the fact that a general partnership is consisted by two entities or even two individuals or more than two. There can be two great corporations that can form one partnership when those great organizations agree to establish a new business entity by the two corporations. Forming a general partnership requires the business to be unincorporated and intending for making profits. There are unincorporated requirements such as the formalities the entity should have for forming the corporation that shouldn't be the partnership as the law related to the partnership is limited and not supporting high profits for the business. The partnership law is involved within the commercial law as a subcategory. Yet corporations for example are not in need for formation to find more profit. Sharing profits should be agreed by the two parties and such agreement makes a kind of a rebuttable presumption that confirms that the partnership existed. General partnership agreements should be written, the agreement has to identify the partners, their relevant duties, their responsibilities, respective business and the shared income by each partner; it should also define times for ending the partnership and all important details related to the business. There are capital partners who form a general partnership and those are the partners who agree to provide money and there can be labor partners who provide work.  In the general partnership all the partners are individually liable.  The general partnership can be useful for the two parties if the business is successful but it can lead to different problems if the business is a failure. Many problems are reasons for disputes about which party should bear the loss burden obliged by the partnership. (Manolov, 2013) Joint ventures refer to a wide group of commercial arrangements that are held between two or more entities that are separated as each party is considered an entity and provides resources to the venture to create a new business that collaborates the parties together and share profits as well as risks that are involved within the venture. Any party within the joint venture can present the land, the intellectual property, equipment and human resources or other assets. Each party should have a specific expertise that is relevant to the business and its development and this should be decided and agreed by all parties. It is important to have a shared vision between the parties and this should also include the objectives of the joint venture. It is necessary to realize the involved risks within joint ventures and the fact that the jointly managed and owned business can be well risk managed and mitigated through realizing its benefits and how to employ different services to serve that business and raise its revenues. There are reasons for establishing joint ventures such as the same business objectives of the two parties and the different shared views of different business activities. Joint ventures have to face different challenges and find creative solutions to them such as making the management as close as possible to the business management issues and both interests of needs of the both parties should be regarded and considered.  (Beamish and Lupton, 2009)

To form a general partnership in Oman, it is important to get the agreement of the two or more included parties and this should be done legally and according to the Omani law. They should be jointly and severally liable to the association obligation based on the Omani commercial law and this to the full extent of their own wealth. Participation in the general partnership has no limited maximum but all the general partnerships must be registered in the Omani commercial registrar. The agreements that form the relationship among the general partnership parties must bear the name of one or two of them showing that there is a partnership between them. General partnerships are managed through development upon all the partners unless there are other terms indicating management and should be written in the agreement. All acts can be performed by managers. All acts that managers perform should apply to the objectives of the agreement and the partnership based on the limitations that the agreement considers and the limitations that the Omani commercial law puts. Liquidation of general partnerships can be as a result of different reasons that should be specified in the association memorandum of the partnership and according to the Omani commercial laws. Liquidation and dissolution can be done based on death, withdrawal, bankruptcy or declaration of insolvency of one of the partners. Dissolution can also occur when there is a filature of one of the partners in accomplishing the assigned agreed obligations to him. It may also occur at expiration of the partnership term. (Al Alawi & Co., Advocates & Legal Consultants, 2016)   In Oman joint ventures are formed based on the Omani commercial law and the terms refer to the joint ventures there. They can be formed according the agreement by two companies who want to submit a joint tender in Oman where cooperation is the main objective of the two companies to present a new company where each of the two companies can execute different certain parts of a project provided by the joint venture. The two parties of the venture in Oman have to decide the ways for determining their relationships during the period of the venture. This is done via the joint venture agreement.  Joint venture in Oman is managed according to the agreement of the JV and this refers to all relevant affairs. Management in joint ventures can be done by any member of the venture. Liquidation can be done without any juristic personality; therefore, no question of liquidation. However, the JV Agreement can be terminated as per contractually agreed provisions. According to the Omani commercial law, the joint venture shall not have any legal connections with a third party except in case that there is a contractual relationship between the two main parties of the venture and a third party. (Hubbard et al, 2012)

General partnerships are controlled and governed by the Omani commercial law that can help them when there are disputes, issues and differences as the law depends on the rules that are set in the agreement of the partnership determined by the partners. Governance rules that the partners of the general partnership determine can differ from those set by the Omani rules and then the Omani law practices deal with the issues based on such rules of the partnership. For example; according to Article 42 from the Omani commercial law, a partner who withdraw from the partnership and this causes the latter’s dissolution must be responsible for compensating other partners for the damages caused by his withdrawal if it constitutes a breach of the partnership’s Memorandum of Association. Withdrawal from a partnership established for an indefinite period is not considered as a breach of the partnership’s Memorandum of Association. Agencies can be used as legal representative for the entity or a person and partners can ask agencies for processing disputes and issues of differences. This can be done via a contract between the partner and the agent. Partnerships are able to grant certain authorities to specific partners on condition that the grant exists in the partnership document. Without an agreement to any partners can bind the partnership without asking the consent of the other partners. (Bartos, 2016) Disputes related to joint ventures can arise in any stage of cooperation of the two parties and they can cause failure of the project. Disputes can arise then about sharing profits or any other reasons. Disputes may also arise over management and this can lead to tension in the organization between parties and may lead to great loss and failure. Bankruptcy of the joint venture can be another reason for legal disputes. Accusations can then occur and legal advice is needed. Dishonesty and fraud allegations can also cause disputes where the partners are in need for civil remedy. Arbitration agreements are also used here as they can be more effective in dealing with practical issues. An arbitration office or institute can be asked and there is a freedom for parties to choose the arbitrators who have to be from a relevant industry sector. International commercial arbitration can also be sought but to control disputes based on the limitations of the Omani law. (Mofcom,2016)

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to confirm the need for understanding different types of business entities and entrepreneurships in Oman as this can help understand the need for them, how they are formed and managed and other important issues that can help businessmen in their work or those who intend to start a business in Oman. It is important to understand how these companies are dealt with, liquidated and dissolute as well as understanding and recognizing the different articles of the law related to them. In Oman it is the commercial law that controls and decides different issues relevant to these companies as discussed above. There are four main types of entities referred at in this paper which are the general partnership, limited partnership, joint ventures and limited liabilities companies. There are two discussed in details which are the general partnerships and the joint ventures. The discussion about the two types refer to the main information about the two types of companies, why they are established and how and what law and legal advice can be used and sought in related with important issues about them. The two types of companies are presented, discussed and explained in relation to the way they are formed, liquidated and managed. There is also an overview of the way disputes, differences and legal issues are dealt with in each of the two types. For general partnerships; the formation depends on an agreement between two partners who should write an agreement and agree on management, money shares, profits and other important matters into the agreement in order to refer to it when needed. The general partnership can be managed through development upon the different partners of the general partnership unless there are certain conditions and terms involved within the agreement; this should be done based on relevant articles in the Omani commercial law. They are liquidated when there is death of each of the partners, expiry for the agreement or other different problems that may lead to disputes between the two partners. A general partnership depends on the Omani law in solving legal problems, issues of dispute and difference in addition to referring to the terms and conditions in the written agreement as it can control different legal problems. Joint ventures differ from the general partnerships as a joint venture is a business of a new entity that is established between two entities that can be very large and they are also applicable to the Omani law except for certain issues. They are formed when two or more companies agree to join and present a new venture. There should be shared vision and value between parties and management are agreed on and can be for any member of the venture unless specified. Joint ventures are liquidated when there is a fraud, a withdrawal by any of the parties or other reasons. They can ask legal advice for processing disputes and differences from the arbitration institutions that are found in Oman or those international arbitration institutions based on the limitations and legislations of the Omani law as well.