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Background: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a major cause of concern for workplace safety for healthcare workers. The prevalence of nurses with MSDs is particularly high. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence and explore the associated factors of MSDs among nurses working in a tertiary hospital in Oman.

Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive correlational study was used to examine 125 nurses using the Standardized Nordic Questionnaire.

Results: We sampled 125 nurses working in different units. We found that the main age group is between 31 and 40 years old (58.4%), mostly female (79.2%), majority are married (80.8%) and have children (76.8%). Nurses in this sample work at different departments, majority are working in the orthopedic unit (18.4%). The minimum years of experience was 1 year, and the maximum was 33 years. Upper back pain was the most reported complaint (7.2%). Out of the 125 nurses 87 had symptoms of MSDs at a prevalence of 0.696. Three factors were found to have a relationship with workplace-related MSDs: working in the same position for long periods of time ($p$ = 0.007), having lift-and-transfer- dependent patients ($p$ = 0.023), and being forced to work harder under the condition of staff shortage ($p$ = 0.062). None of the demographic and work-related characteristics were found to be related to MSDs.

Conclusion: MSDs are very prevalent among nurses in Oman. The factors of developing MSDs are work related regardless of the demographic or workplace characteristics. Healthcare institutions shall implement preventive and rehabilitative measures to help nurses have better musculoskeletal health.

In the last decade, international organisations (World Bank, OECD and OEU) and many European countries have been apprised of the urgent need to develop and enhance what is generally termed “intellectual capital” and thus the “knowledge creating organization”. The importance of this is something that is increasingly being realised. The importance of Intellectual Capital and how to analyse its important components such as human capital, structural capital and customer capital are also being recognised. In fact, these components constitute the main factors whereby institutions produce and disseminate knowledge which in turn serve as the means through which the quantity of knowledge produced within a country can be added to the national pool of knowledge. This paper deals with the importance of measuring and analysing Intellectual Capital, and furthermore, performs an extensive review of national and international practices related to IC. The paper then proposes a model for measuring the Intellectual Capital of private HEIs in Oman. Indeed, such a model as of the kind we visualise, will improve the performance of organisations, develop better understanding of the nature of IC and go on to study the construction of IC and IC reporting in developing countries. The research was done in the Sultanate of Oman and the results show that the level of measuring the IC of HEIs is still in its early stages. The technique called “the point estimate of overall performance” and “overall performance index” are proposed and implemented to differentiate between the performance of ICs of different institutions. Finally, the paper discusses the difficulties that hinder the assessment of IC in institutions.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the experiences of a number of successful Omani entrepreneurs to shed light on the type of entrepreneurship education needed in Oman. In this phenomenological study, in-depth interviews were conducted with sixteen entrepreneurs — eight male and eight female; they had diverse educational backgrounds and came from all the different provinces of Oman. Results suggest the major drivers that led participants to become entrepreneurs were their personal characteristics, family support and their prior work experience. The major difficulties were in securing project funding, developing their business skills and building their business reputation. However, after they had overcome these initial difficulties, they showed a commitment to their projects that gave them great resilience. They also noted that, during the process of becoming entrepreneurs, they had found support in their religious faith, but that their schooling had had a very limited influence on their experience. The study concludes by looking at the implications of these experiences and using them to suggest the role entrepreneurship education should play in the Omani school system in the future.

This chapter provides some useful information with regard to the evolving environment for the development of entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprises in Oman. It begins with a brief introduction to Oman and its economy followed by a description of the entrepreneurship development programs and policies in the country. A brief introduction to the evolving entrepreneurial education scenario is also presented. At the end, some comments are provided for more initiatives in entrepreneurship and SME sector development in the country.

This last chapter overviews each country in the GCC. It provides general information about the socioeconomic development of each GCC country, emphasising the economic performance of each State. It also gives readers the opportunity to get to know future perspectives of each GCC nation. Final words of the chapter describe the GCC members as the fertile soil for FDI activities, stressing the fact that the region has a favourable cross-cultural environment.

This chapter provides an understanding of the banking system development and structure in the Sultanate of Oman. It reviews existing literature and reports on the banking system in Oman between 1970 and 2020, and it provides a brief history of the Omani banking system before 1970. It also highlights the recent banking sector performance and the important role played by technology and the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This review demonstrates that the Omani banking system and sector experienced substantial developments in the regulatory and institutional framework due to which the performance of the banking sector remained stable in recent years. However, like other countries, the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn affected the performance of banks, reducing banks’ profitability and increasing non-performing loans and assets. Despite this, the Omani banking system remained resilient, and the measures and policy initiatives taken by the CBO and the application of technology helped mitigate the adverse influence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Once known for its rich maritime history where Sinbad the Sailor had infamously sailed his dhow to China, the Sultanate of Oman plays a crucial role across the Persian Gulf and in the Middle East. Oman has been a tax-haven nation for its residents and businesses but has enforced VAT from 16 April 2021 and is expected to introduce personal income tax from 2022; this will have an impact on existing and future businesses.