Relationship of Internal Audit Quality and Corporate Governance Measures of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) of Pakistan

The internal audit is a primitive element for good corporate governance. This need has been largely felt in the developing countries to enhance and promote the corporate governance mechanism. This research evaluates the implication of internal audit of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) of Pakistan on corporate governance’s quality. The outcomes of this research reveal significance of internal audit role in corporate governance of MNCs. The significance of audit committee and management in this aspect is predominant. Similarly the results also show the vitality of corporate governance in terms of quality is significant when there is independent audit department with requisite expertise of auditing. However, the reliability of internal audit is primarily determines the characteristics of management of corporate governance. Contrary to this, the implication of internal audit is insignificant on the external audit workers as well as the board of directors of MNCs in Pakistan

Monetary Policy and Industry Performance: Empirical Evidences from Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) of Pakistan

The purpose of this study is to deliberate the impact of monetary policy based on interest rates on the industry performance of Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) listed corporations of Pakistan. This study caters to estimate the effect of interest rate on industry performance using Return on Asset (ROA) from 2001-12 using three different sectors: Industrial Engineering, Oil and Gas Producers and Industrial Metals and Mining. The empirical results show that changing interest rate by the government has implications on the ROA. The expansionary monetary policy, where interest rates are relatively lower are showing relatively higher ROA as compared to that of contractionary monetary policy. The data has been taken from the secondary sources like Karachi Stock Exchange, State Bank of Pakistan, and annual reports of corporations of the given sectors. Keywords: Interest rate, Return on Asset, Karachi Stock Exchange, State Bank of Pakista

The Effective Leadership Style in Health Sector of Pakistan and Its Impact on Information Security

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the most prevalent Leadership style in health sector (i.e. Hospitals) of Pakistan and to explore the impact of leadership on Information security and their mutual relationship. Design/methodology/approach – This paper’s approach is quantitative and involved data collected from 107 respondents of 73 hospitals through a questionnaire. The respondents were administrators or doctors or both at the same time from various private and public hospitals. The questionnaire comprised 5 questions for ‘Leadership concern for Production’, 7 questions for ‘Leadership concern for people’ and 7 questions for ‘Information security’. For effective analysis the results, the data have been obtained through the following cities of Pakistan, namely; Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Hyderabad, Larkana, Khairpur, Sukkar, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Sarai Naurang, Karak and Tank. For analysis and accurate output SPSS and MS Excel are used..Findings – The analysis revealed that Team Management/Leadership is the most predominant style in health sector (i.e. hospitals) of Pakistan. Majority of the respondents replied that the aforementioned style has greater correlation with the information security practices. This study is beneficial for all those individuals who really want to have a deep insight into the exploration of leadership style and its impact on information security practices within Health sector (i.e. hospitals) of Pakistan.Research limitations/implications –This study does not show individually and independently the leadership style and its impact on information security of private as well as public hospitals.Originality/value – This study is one of the first studies to empirically demonstrate the most prevalent leadership style in health sector (i.e. hospitals) across Pakistan and to determine its impact on information security practices. Keywords: information security, leadership, privacy, confidentiality, People, Tas

An Empirical Analysis of Energy Crisis and Industry Performance of Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) Listed Corporations of Pakistan

The purpose of this study is to estimate the impact of energy crisis on industry performance of Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) listed companies of Pakistan from 2008 to 2012. This study entails nine companies chosen from three different sectors-Textile, Cement and Food of Pakistani market and uses the data for last 5 years in order to find out the impact of energy crisis with ever increasing prices of electricity on the Net income in order to find out the growth of the companies randomly chosen from the KSE. Ever increasing prices of electricity have direct negative impact on the firm’s profitability and cost of production also increases. This study finds out the impact of Energy crisis on the financial performance of the companies in Pakistan by using the Return on Asset (ROA). Data has been collected from State Bank of Pakistan, Annual reports of these companies, Karachi stock exchange, Ministry of Finance and survey of Pakistan. The data has been compiled through excel and E-views software.The results show that the ROA has been continuously declining due to energy shortfall in all the three sectors’ companies and especially in the textile sector. Keywords: Energy crisis, Return on Asset, Textile, cement, Food, KSE

Common Medicinal Folk Recipes of District Buner, NWFP, Pakistan

An ethnobotanical project was carried out in the remote mountainous region of District Buner. Locals rely on medicinal plants for curing different ailments since time immemorial. However, recent and ever increasing dependency of locals on allopathic drugs along with industrialization, urbanization and globalization trends slowly but surely are modifying indigenous values and culture. The existing ethnobotanical knowledge of the area will not remain intact for long. In present study an effort was made to document common folk recipes of the area. Thus folk recipes used for curing 30 common diseases in the area were documented

Common Medicinal Folk Recipes of District Buner, NWFP, Pakistan

An ethnobotanical project was carried out in the remote mountainous region of District Buner. Locals rely on medicinal plants for curing different ailments since time immemorial. However, recent and ever increasing dependency of locals on allopathic drugs along with industrialization, urbanization and globalization trends slowly but surely are modifying indigenous values and culture. The existing ethnobotanical knowledge of the area will not remain intact for long. In present study an effort was made to document common folk recipes of the area. Thus folk recipes used for curing 30 common diseases in the area were documented

Studies on Collection and Marketing of Morchella (Morels) of Utror-Gabral Valleys, District Swat, Pakistan

This paper is based on a research project carried out to study the collection and marketing status of morels in the remote HinduKush-Himalayan regions of Utror and Gabral, Pakistan. Eight species of morels were found to be collected in the project area during the months of March to July. Morchella conica and Morchella esculenta were the major species collected in the area. These morels are sold in the local markets of Madyan and Mingora, from where they are exported to France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Morels thus provide a vital source of income to the poor population of Utror and Gabral. Morel collectors include 38.0% women, 37.0% men and 25.0% children. Huge quantities of morels are lost each year due to improper storage and collection techniques

Interlocking directorships and firm performance: the role of board diversity

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of interlocking directorships on firm performance in Turkey, with a specific focus on the moderating role of board diversity. Design/methodology/approach Using a panel dataset comprising the top 100 firms listed on Borsa Istanbul from 2014 to 2018, this study employs regression analysis to investigate the relationship between interlocking directorships, board diversity, and firm performance. It firm-level financial data and directorship information to assess the effects of interlocking directorships on firm performance while also considering the moderating influence of board diversity. Findings The findings of this study reveal several important insights. First, the results confirm the “busyness hypothesis” as an increase in the number of interlocks per director negatively impacts firm performance, indicating reduced monitoring effectiveness. However, the study also demonstrates that board diversity plays a significant moderating role. Specifically, board diversity positively influences the relationship between interlocking directorships and firm performance, suggesting that a diverse board can mitigate the negative effects of interlocks and enhance overall firm performance. Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing literature in several ways. First, this study extends our understanding of the relationship between interlocking directorships and firm performance, considering contingency factors in the Turkish market. Second, our findings imply that board diversity mitigates the negative impact of busy interlocking directorates and improves firm performance, which provides invaluable directions to firms in setting their boards. Moreover, this research enhances corporate governance practices in Turkey and beyond in other emerging markets with similar corporate governance mechanisms by identifying the importance of board diversity and its moderating influence

Studies on Collection and Marketing of \u3cem\u3eMorchella\u3c/em\u3e (Morels) of Utror-Gabral Valleys, District Swat, Pakistan

This paper is based on a research project carried out to study the collection and marketing status of morels in the remote HinduKush-Himalayan regions of Utror and Gabral, Pakistan. Eight species of morels were found to be collected in the project area during the months of March to July. Morchella conica and Morchella esculenta were the major species collected in the area. These morels are sold in the local markets of Madyan and Mingora, from where they are exported to France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Morels thus provide a vital source of income to the poor population of Utror and Gabral. Morel collectors include 38.0% women, 37.0% men and 25.0% children. Huge quantities of morels are lost each year due to improper storage and collection techniques

Model-based Simulation of VoIP Network Reconfigurations using Graph Transformation Systems

We address the modelling and validation of P2P networks with special attention for problems related to VoIP services, focusing particularly on Skype. We use generalised stochastic graph transformation systems and associated stochastic simulation techniques based on generalised semi- Markov processes