Quality of Work Life (QWL) and Its Impact on the Performance of the Banking Industry in Saudi Arabia
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
It is recommended that the "Reference List and Citations Style Guide for MDPI Journals" be respected in the "References".
This is an aspect that needs to be corrected.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 1 thank you for your comments and opinion to correct reference list and citation style. This has now been carried out. Kindly see the attached manuscript where citation style has been corrected and presented in blue text. The reference list has also been corrected please see pages 25 to 26.
I hope you would kindly accept the changes made. Should you need further corrections please let me know and I would be happy to comply with your opinion.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
The presented article is interesting in nature and also beneficial, but it has several shortcomings that need to be rectified before publication. The first chapter, which should be an introduction, is too short, it does not sufficiently explain the reason for writing this article. the second and third chapters are too short, there is also a lack of theoretical definition of individual scientific research methods used in research. The article uses very many tables and relatively little coherent text. The chapter "theoretical basis" is also absent, where the authors would state the sources on which they were based. The scope of the theoretical basis is at least 30 sentences. Horváthová, Z., & Čajková, A. (2018). Social and economic aspects of the EU 's education policy. Integration of Education, 22 (3), 412-425. doi: 10.15507 / 1991-9468.092.022.201803.412-425 - Peráček, T. (2021). Flexibility of creating and changing employment in the options of the Slovak Labor Code. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 19 (3), pp. 373-382. doi: 10.21511 / ppm.19 (3) .2021.30 Charaia, V., Chochia, A., Lashkhi, M. (2021). Promoting fintech financing for SME in S. Caucasian and baltic states, during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Business, Management and Economics Engineering, 2021, 19 (2), pp. 358–372 I recommend incorporating this source and comparing the researched issues with the situation in the countries of the European Union, which will bring higher scientific added value to the article.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 2 thank you for your comments on our research. It appears that there is some mix up and you comments do not seem to be related to our research. You have mentioned some chapters in our research. Kindly note that our research is not organized into chapters. You have mentioned three research papers which we believe are not related our research. Please see the attached file that may clarify our point of view. We would appreciate if you could kindly review your comments or accept this article which has been corrected according to reviewer 1 and 3.
Dear Reviewer 2.
It seems that your comments are not related to our research. Perhaps there are some mix ups. For example, you have asked to add three difference papers that are not related to our research and even not related to each other (First paper focus in education policy of EU, second paper focus on the employee flexibility during COVID-19, third paper focus on the impact of fintech on the SME). I present brief on the articles you have mentioned and would appreciate if you could kindly review your comments and accept our apology that your comments cannot be incorporated to our article.
1st paper: Social and Economic Aspects of the EU’s Education Policy.
Discussion and Conclusions: The attention is drawn to the socio-economic context that affects the education policy, and despite the pursuit for a kind of harmonization in the EU, the education policy remains substantially within the competence of the Member States. Our results suggest that the use of integrative mechanisms allows improving the efficiency of EU education policy and at the same time the Member States education policies. The main directions for further research in this field and questions for discussion and another positive move remain: what are the challenges facing education policies EU and Member States in the context of globalization, the expansion of the European Union and the imperative of sustainable development.
2nd paper: Flexibility of creating and changing employment in the options of the Slovak Labor Code
Abstract: Flexibility of the employer’s ability to manage human resources during the several month “lockdown” due to the COVD-19 pandemic has proven crucial to the survival of a Slovak company. However, this flexibility, unlike other contractual relationships, is strictly regulated by the Slovak Labor Code. Given the scope of the problem, the paper focuses only on issues related to the possibility of creating and changing employment in the Slovak Republic, which must be addressed by the management of all companies.
The main purpose of the study is to assess flexibility in creating and changing employment. In processing this managerial issue, analysis, synthesis, deduction, and comparison are used. It was found that the Slovak Labor Code is flexible enough and fulfills its purpose. Despite its flexibility, it also provides an employee with the necessary protection in employment relations and allows him, in agreement with an employer, to grant more rights than he himself guarantees. However, in the current information age, it does not allow for electronic conclusions of legal acts and still prefers the paper form. Another disadvantage is the finding that it does not regulate the institute of a management contract, which objectively causes problems between the employer and the manager, especially in the issue of stability of a managerial position.
3rd paper: PROMOTING FINTECH FINANCING FOR SME IN S. CAUCASIAN AND BALTIC STATES, DURING THE COVID-19 GLOBAL PANDEMIC
Purpose. The purpose is to analyze the digitalization trends in the Central Caucasian (Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia) and Baltic States with the aim of reducing a financial gap for the small and medium size Enterprises in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Research methodology – comparative analysis between Baltic and Caucasian countries are made to analyze the basic positions and farther development opportunities for Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Findings of the given paper – while SME sector crucially important contributor to employment, diversification and productivity in any country of the world and especially in developing ones, they still face significant credit constraints through traditional credit providing institutions. However, the trend is changing and modern digital technologies from the fintech area are providing new alternatives, which already had been widely used in Baltic, but still are waiting their chance in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, with different level of progress and readiness.
Originality/Value – The paper analyses three advanced European Union member state’s (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) fintech positions and perspectives as a model of development for three developing Caucasian states (Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia).
Reviewer 3 Report
Dear authors,
The authors conducted a study that aimed to test: whether there are or not Gaps exist in QWL (GQWL) by applying the WRKLFQUAL model.
2 Analyze and identify correlation between GQWL (Gaps in QWL) and Job Security and Satisfaction (JSS)
3 Analyze and identify whether JSS has a mediating impact on Individual Work Performance (IWP) in the banking sector of KSA.
Despite the positive features of the study, there are some considerations to take care before the paper is published.
The following comments will summarize my appreciation and major concerns with your paper. I hope these comments help you further improve your study.
Theoretical background
1. The literature review is scarce and should include more references.
2. Why include hypotheses in a study to test a new WRKLFQUAL model? Moreover, these hypotheses are not sustained in the literature.
Method
3. Please add more information regarding the data collection procedure. How did the participants recruited? What is the response rate?
Discussion
The discussion was short and did little more than summarise your findings.
4. Please, develop the discussion section, considering the theoretical implications.
5. What are the main practical implications of the study? And what do you add that is not tested before?
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 3, I am grateful to you for you invaluable comments. Almost all comments have been incorporated into the manuscript. Most of them are in blue text. Your comments have helped developing this article. Please ignore citation style also in blue text, these are requirements for other reviewer. Point to point replies to your comments are as follow.
Theoretical background
I. Literature review has been expanded please see section 3.1 end of paragraph 1, and end of paragraph 2.
2. Hypotheses have been removed
Method
Please see section 3.2 some more details are added to questionnaire and data collected methods. Please see end of paragraph 1 and start of paragraph 2.
Discussion
Please see section 4, changes made to the article are in blue text for your both points 1 and 2. I hope that would be acceptable to you. Should you require more changes kindly let me know.
Kind Regards
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear Authors,
of course, I respect your opinion regarding the addition of proposed and especially current sources of knowledge that you rejected.
In my opinion, the actuality of the application is the basis of a successful scientific work. However, with this opinion of mine, I do not deny the importance of older literature, but only to a limited extent, especially for the purposes of comparing development. You have a lot of older literature in your references. For example, these are the last references:
27. Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A., and Berry, L.L. 1988. Servqual: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perc.
Journal of Retailing 64; 12.
28. Petty, M.M., McGee G.W. and Cavender J.W. 1984. A Meta-Analysis of the Relationships Between Individual Job Satisfaction
and Individual performance. Academy of Management Review, 9(4); 712-721
33. Spreng, R. A., and Mackoy, R. D. 1996. An empirical examination of a model of perceived service quality and satisfaction.
Journal of Retailing, 72; 201-14
34. Walton, R. E. 1973. Quality of Work Life, What Is It? Sloan Management Review Journal, 11-21.
35. Woods, R C. 1993. Managing to meet employee expectations: Quality improvement tools narrow the gap between employees
expectations and company resources. Human Resource Planning, 16(4); 13-28
I am convinced that it is necessary to rejuvenate the list of used references, e.g. about :
Porvazník, J., Ljudvigova, I. – Čajkova, A. 2018. Holistic Competence of Leadership and Managerial Subjects. In Political science. [online]. Vol. 21, No. 2, 2018. ISSN 1335 – 2741, pp. 56-77. Available at: http://dx-1doi-1org-1gltygdso01d3.erproxy.cvtisr.sk/10.24040/politickevedy.2018.21.2.56-77
Peracek T. (2020). HUMAN RESOURCES AND THEIR REMUNERATION: MANAGERIAL AND LEGAL BACKGROUND.
13th International Scientific Conference on Reproduction of Human Capital - Mutual Links and Connection (RELIK), RELIK 2020: REPRODUCTION OF HUMAN CAPITAL - MUTUAL LINKS AND CONNECTIONS, pp.454-465, available at: https://relik.vse.cz/ 2020/download/pdf/355-Peracek-Tomas-paper.pdf
Hamulak, O., Troitiño, D.R., Chochia, A. (2018). The charter of fundamental rights of the European Union and the social rights | La carta de los derechos fundamentales de la union europea y los derechos sociales. Estudios Constitucionales, 16(1), pp. 167–186, doi: 10.4067/S0718-52002018000100167
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 2 we are grateful to you for your invaluable comments and these are very well respected. We have added three new references into at no. 14, 15, and 30 of the manuscript's reference list. We are sure that these new references pertaining to years 2016 and 2020 will improve the quality of paper. These are the latest references we could find close to our research. There are many latest references but they are either relevant to SERVQUAL or Mediation processes alone. Our study is new in the sense that the results of QWL have been combined to study the JSS’s mediating role toward IWP. It was difficult to find latest references combining QWL toward JSS mediating role therefore we have only included those, new or old, references supporting our study’s perspectives.
In many cases cited references have been used where we found there is link to our point of view and some new references have been added as mentioned above.
Methods were revised as per reviewer 3 requirements and the changes were accepted. We would appreciate if you could kindly agree to those changes.
Results and conclusions were also reviewed and kindly have a look if they satisfy you.
We believe that you would kindly accept the changes we made. Should you require any further improvements we would be pleased to comply with your comments.
Kind Regards
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
The authors did a nice job reviewing the paper. Plus, they answered and addressed all comments.
I wish them good luck with their research.
Author Response
Thank you for your acceptance of changes we made according to your comments.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 3
Reviewer 2 Report
Despite my recommendations, the authors again refused to include the proposed scientific sources in their work, but the editor will decide on the next course of action.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 2 we are pleased to re-submit manuscript after making changes to satisfy your point of view. Kindly note that we never refused to incorporate your invaluable comments we may have missed out for which we apologize.
Please note that introduction and references mentioned in this section were kept to level that justify background and the nature of this research. Our main purpose was to present the theoretical model we plan to apply. Most of the references cited are under literature review with the addition of new references. Some changes made in Introduction are in blue text.
All references cited are relevant and have been used appropriately. No reference is given which has not been cited.
Changes in research design and methodology are in blue text which we consider appropriate and would satisfy you.
Results are briefly presented in the abstract and further explained under section 4 and 4.1 to make improvements you recommended. These are in blue text in terms of clear presentation of results and conclusions supported by results.
Any further changes you suggest we will be pleased to comply with.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
