The Relationship of Corporate Governance and Firm Performance

This survey based research administered 300 questionnaires to the middle and top level managers of 130 Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) listed firms. The questionnaire used in this study was designed to study the relationship between corporate governance structure and firm performance. The findings of this research shows that among corporate governance dimensions, “commitment to corporate governance” ,  “transparency and disclosure” and “Structure and function of Board” have the highest middle and lowest mean values respectively assigned by the sample studied. Further regression analysis showed that “commitment to corporate governance” ,  “transparency and disclosure” have significant positive relationship with firm performance. Finally study find that “Structure and function of Board” has positive with firm performance that is not statistically significant. Keyword: corporate governance, firm performance, commitment to corporate governance and transparency and disclosur

Corporate governance, related party transactions and firm performance among family owned firms in Pakistan / Fazli Azim

Ownership concentration is one of the major issues in Pakistani family-owned firms. The controlling shareholders expropriate funds through related party transactions (RPTs) and exploit the interest of minority shareholders, despite the introduction of corporate governance code in 2002. This motivates the study to examine the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance with moderation role of RPTs. Using panel data of 150 family-owned firms listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange from 2004 to 2014, the study examines three CG factors - independence of non-executive director, family directorship and family ownership as independent variables and firm performance as the dependent variable. RPTs are used as a moderating variable between CG and firm performance. It has categorized all RPTs in three types i.e. RPTs Benefit-based, RPTs Expense-based and RPTs Other-based. This categorization of RPTs has empirically examined. RPTs Benefit-based include bonus, convertible, and right issue shares. RPTs benefit-based transactions have positive effect on the family-owned firm performance. RPTs Expense-based includes organizational expenditure, insurance, royalty payments, and other expenses. RPTs Other- based includes ordinary shares, dividends, donations, interests, investments, purchase of assets, sale of assets, employee benefits, lease, loans, and advance payments. RPTs other based transactions have negative effect on firm performance. The study has also developed index of independence non-executive directors comprising three dimensions, namely, board composition, financial expertise, and tenure of the independent non-executive director. The result shows that 90% of family-owned firms in Pakistan scored low for independent non-executive director’s index. The study also found that independence directors has significant positive effect on firm performance while RPTs, family directorship and family ownership have negative effect on firm performance. It was also found that RPTs positively moderate the relationship between independent non-executive directors and firm performance. Similarly, RPTs negatively moderate the relationship between family ownership and firm performance. However, there is no moderation of RPTs on the relationship between family directorship and firm performance. The result implies that the introduction of corporate governance has less impact on firm performance due to the RPTs being exercised by family firms in Pakistan. Findings of the study should help the regulatory authority body such as the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to further enhance significant disclosure and enforce the code of corporate governance about role of the independent non-executive director and family directorshi

Impact of corporate governance on related party transactions in family-owned firms in Pakistan

This is an empirical study to examine the impact of corporate governance (CG) variables, namely independent directors index (IDI), family directorship (FD), and family ownership (FO), on the types of related party transactions (RPTs) that prevail in family-owned firms in developing countries. The focus of this study is on Pakistan whereby it was found major shareholders of Pakistani family-owned firms expropriate resources through RPTs. This study analysed panel data of 108 firms of family-owned firms listed on the Karachi stock exchange from 2004 to 2014 after the introduction of CG codes in 2002. The study contributes to literature by categorising all RPTs into three types - RPTb, RPTe, and RPTo. It also develops an index of independence directors comprising three dimensions, namely board composition, financial expertise, and tenure of the independent non-executive director. Different panel least squares models for different RPTs have been employed to examine the relationship between RPTs and CG variables. This study found that 90% of family-owned firms in Pakistan scored low for independent director’s index. Hence, CG is weaker in Pakistani family-owned firms where major shareholders expropriate resources through RPTb and RPTe. Further, CG variables, namely IDI and FD are negatively related to RPTs and the concentration of family ownership of firms has a negative relationship with RPTs, and this has a negative tendency for the resource expropriation of family-owned firms. The study concludes the negative relationship of corporate governance and concentration of major shareholder exploit the interest of minority shareholders in Pakistani family-owned firms

A STUDY TO INVESTIGATE THE ROLE OF PELVIC FLOOR MUSCLE IN CHRONIC NONRESPONSIVE BACK ACHE IN FEMALES

Background: Chronic low back pain remains a major health problem. Unfortunately, the majority of treatments for this condition produce small effects because not all patients respond to each treatment. It appears that only 25–50% of patients respond to exercise. At present, however, there are no guidelines regarding the best treatment to help clinicians. As a result, time and money are wasted on treatment which ultimately fail to help the patient. A backache is described as annoying and gripping pain. It can be caused by poor posture, lack of manual handling skills, change in the center of gravity due to expanding abdomen, lack of exercise, or the weight of the baby and the stretching ligaments. Pelvic floor muscle weakness is one of the major cause of chronic backache. Weakness in the pelvic floor muscles is common in females which can lead to debilitating urinary symptoms, affect sexual function and cause chronic backache. Methods: In 3 months, 31 female subjects with mean age of 28 who had taken treatment for their chronic backache, were improvised with pelvic floor strength at our setup, with dramatically good results. 31 subjects with non-responsive chronic back pain who had taken conventional physiotherapy were included in the study. Both married and unmarried were included. Any sign of radiculopathy or inflammation were excluded. After assessing pain using Visual Analogue Scale, the Dr Glazer’s program and Kegel’s contractions were taught. Results: There was significant improvement by 50% on reassessment after 7 days. Then exercises for transverse abdominals were included to get a better response. On completion of the treatment sessions, reduction in pain was 92% on VAS and functional abilities increased by 89%. There was a significant improvement in the quality of life and in pelvic-floor muscle strength. Conclusion: Non-responsive chronic back pain in females when treated with pelvic floor muscle strengthening program showed 40% improvement. This can be implemented in routine practice for the benefit of the patients

A STUDY TO EXPLORE PREFERRED METHOD OF TREATMENT AMONG PHYSIOTHERAPISTS FOR MECHANICAL LOW BACK PAIN

Background: Conservative treatment remains the standard of care for treating nonspecific mechanical low back pain which is very common problem all around the world. In Pakistan, physiotherapists encounter this problem frequently in clinical practice. Despite a wide variety of treatments, 100 percent results have been unachievable. The purpose of this study was to establish a Standard and Uniform Physiotherapy Protocol for mechanical low back pain. Methods: To achieve the objective of this study, a questionnaire with structured and open ended questions were designed and distributed to hospitals and private clinics. 139 questionnaires were distributed from 1st March 2009 to 30th May 2009. By the end of July 5, 2009, 101 were filled and returned. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Results have shown that McKenzie (25%), combination of McKenzie and Maitland (9%) were among the preferred techniques. However, 14% did not use a specific technique. The preferred physical agents were hot packs (22%), combination of hot packs, ultrasound, TENS (22%). However, 4% did not prefer any physical agent. Out of 101 subjects per week, 20 subjects were treated for 7 days, 11 were treated for 5 days, 53 were treated for 3 days, 6 were treated for 2 days and 11 were treated for 1 day. The recurrence rate was 32.14% for those who were treated for six days, 34.75% for those treated for 5 days, 33.55% for those who were treated for 3 days, 31.25% for those who were treated for 2 days, and 37.55% for those who were treated for one day. 39% did not consider ergonomical issues while 27% did not advice regarding the patient nutritional facts. Average depression among patients was 24.7%. Conclusion: This study shows that the results for mechanical low back pain were not as effective with combination of techniques and modalities. If the physiotherapists had taken the psychological factors, ergonomical approach and nutrition into consideration, the results would have improved to a significant level

THE PREVALENCE OF MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS AMONG MADRASSA TEACHERS AND STUDENTS A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Introduction: Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) are the disorders that have been developed due to disadvantageous work settings and work related issues. It may involve different regions of body like upper extremity, lower extremity, cervical, back regions etc. The onset of these problems need to be known where as it is a common belief that it is caused by overuse. Madrassa simply means the school does in the English language where students gathered to learn and acquire knowledge whether Muslim, non-Muslim, or secular. Usually teachers in madrassa adopted to sit in some positions in which musculoskeletal system is placed under load. The objective of the study is to determine “The Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders among Madrassa Teachers.” Methods: It was a cross sectional study. 109 madrassa teachers participated in the study; the study was conducted in Karachi. Self-assessment questionnaire was use to collect data. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: A total of 109 madrassa teachers taken part in this research study almost all participants were male. There were two types of madrassa teachers; one is full time teachers (73.4%) and part time (26.6%). (58.7%) madrassa teachers were suffering from discomfort during teaching and 41.3 didn’t feel any discomfort, coming to pain regions 37 said they had back pain (33.9%), 35 said they had shoulder pain (35%), 37 said they had knee pain (24.8%) and four said they had heel pain (3.7%). Conclusion: The result showed that the madrassa teachers have high prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders. This comprises different regions of body like shoulder, back, knee and heel. This leads to the conclusion that these teachers are not at all aware of the consequences of MSD nor they are aware of the causes of these disorders. Also this was found that the facilities provided to these teachers were not up to the mark. When it comes to the working environment the technology of ergonomics has proved a lot, in minimizing the development of MSD. There is a need to provide education on ergonomics for madrassa teachers

Integrated effect of allelochemicals and herbicides on weed suppression and soil microbial activity in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

To evaluate the allelopathic effects of major crops and weeds, studies were conducted during 2011–12 and 2012–13 by utilizing water extracts of allelopathic plants namely rice (Oryza sativa L.), Parthenium hysterophorus L., Phragmites australis Cav., and Datura alba L. with reduced rates of fenoxaprop-p-ethyl and bromoxynil plus MCPA to control weeds. Application of Phragmites australis and Parthenium hysterophorus along with lower rates of fenoxaprop-p-ethyl and bromoxynil plus MCPA showed promising results by controlling weeds and improving yield. Parthenium hysterophorus extract with half of the recommended dose of fenoxaprop-p-ethyl and bromoxynil plus MCPA reduced weed density by 51 and 50% during year 1 and year 2, respectively, compared with the control. Phragmites australis extract with half of the recommended dose of fenoxaprop-p-ethyl produced grain yield (5.7 and 6.1\ua0t\ua0ha during year 1 and 2, respectively) in wheat. However, these results were also at par with Parthenium hysterophorus and Datura alba extracts in combinations with half the recommended doses of the above mentioned herbicides. The study of microbial activity showed higher amount of mineralizable carbon in D. alba with half the recommended dose of fenoxaprop-p-ethyl treated plots (0.073\ua0g during both the years). The lowest amount of mineralizable carbon (0.035 and 0.030\ua0g during year 1 and 2, respectively) was observed in the control plots. The presence of allelopathic plants in field crops and subsequent mixing in soil by tillage may create problems in crop production. Therefore, further studies are suggested to fully explore all the possible interactions among allelochemicals and herbicides