Cargo cult agile: Use of information technology by senior executives for decision making activities

Cargo cult agile is a metaphorical notion for senior executives (SEs’) who have latest and costly information tools at workplace but their use for decision making is very limited. The study initiated to measure the use of information technology (IT) by senior executives for decision making activities. For this very purpose, territory of Islamabad, Pakistan were chosen for survey. Target population were top ranked officers or executives from the public organizations. Access to these executives were a big challenge, so the snowball sampling was the only technique which were employed in this study.  A semi structured interview technique was used for data collection. This semi structured interview was divided into four portions. In first portion, simple and direct questions were asked about the routine tasks performed by senior executives while using their personal computers or laptops. Second portion consisted of questions related to hardware knowledge while the third portion have the questions about use of web, emails or blogs. The fourth and utmost important portion of this semi structured interview consisted of questions related to decision making activities. All responses were recorded on piece of papers in hard form and later transformed into percentages. It was found that most of the senior executives use their personal computers or laptops for drafting or for instant communication using internet. The real essence or tasks of these executives are impugned in decision making activities as per the title or resources they availed. But unfortunately, they have been stuck in minion jobs of IT which can be easily performed by their subordinates. The study highlighted and identified the cult of this modern era and urged the senior executives to effectively utilize the IT for decision making activities

Disaggregated Import Demand Function: A Case Study of Pakistan

This study investigates the income and price elasticities of disaggregated import demand function in case of Pakistan. This paper applies the ARDL bound testing approach to co-integration over the time span of 1972-2009. Our empirical findings show that there exists a long run relationship among the variables. The impact on real GDP on import demand of food items is positive. The impact on real GDP on import demand of raw material is positive. The effect of real GDP on import demand of fuel lightening and the lubricants items group is positive. The impact of relative price on import demand of fuel lightening and the lubricants items group is negative. The effect of real GDP on import demand of manufactured items group is positive, but the impact of relative price is negative. Fuel lightening and lubricants items and manufactured items are highly price elastic, while food items and raw material items are price inelastic. The overall results of all the four models indicate that fuel lightening and lubricants items group is more income elastic as compared to the other commodity groups, and the manufactured items group is more price elastic as compared to the other commodity groups. This study also confirms that import demand of all the commodity groups is highly sensitive to changes in real GDP. The government should try to invest in high-tech industry so that in long run imported goods demand may be controlled

Factors Affecting job satisfaction of employees in Pakistani banking sector

The job satisfaction has got tremendous attention in organizational research. The focus of this study is to determine the impact of various human resource management practices like job autonomy, team work environment and leadership behavior on job satisfaction. It also investigates the major determinants of job satisfaction in Pakistani banking sector. This study further evaluates the level of difference in job satisfaction among male and female employees. The sample of the study consisted of 450 employees working in different banks of Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Lahore through the questionnaire, of which 295 were returned and processed. SPSS was used to analyze the data, using Independent Sample T Test, Correlation and regression analysis. There is a positive and significant link between job satisfaction and human recourse management practices like team work environment, job autonomy and behavior of leadership. From the findings of the study, it is also inferred that male and female workers have significantly different level of job satisfaction.Human resource management practices, job satisfaction, employees, banking sector

Gender pay gap: A mediating agent of compassion, self-esteem, mindfulness, personal sense of uniqueness and racial socialization for psychological well being

The study measures the impact of compassion on psychological well-being of employees in educational institute of the southern Punjab, Pakistan with mediating role of gender pay gap. The objective of this study is to find out the relationship of compassion, self-esteem, mindfulness, personal sense of uniqueness and racial socialization with psychological well-being of employee and to find indirect relationship using gender pay gap as mediator. A sample of 400 teachers was utilized to find out results of study through Likert scale. Structural Equation Modelling and Multiple Regression analysis have been applied using Smart PLS3. Results found that compassion, mindfulness and racial socialization have significant impact on psychological wellbeing of employee. Mediation effect of gender pay gap has been identified between compassion, self-esteem, personal sense of uniqueness and racial socialization with psychological well-being. This study contributes well to the existing literature by highlighting the influence of the relationship between gender pay gap and psychological wellbeing. According to the findings of this study, it is important to increase compassion, mindfulness, self-esteem, personal sense of uniqueness to improve the welfare of employees, enable them to better deal with gender pay gap and make them psychological well

Disaggregated Import Demand Function: A Case Study of Pakistan

This study investigates the income and price elasticities of disaggregated import demand function in case of Pakistan. This paper applies the ARDL bound testing approach to co-integration over the time span of 1972-2009. Our empirical findings show that there exists a long run relationship among the variables. The impact on real GDP on import demand of food items is positive. The impact on real GDP on import demand of raw material is positive. The effect of real GDP on import demand of fuel lightening and the lubricants items group is positive. The impact of relative price on import demand of fuel lightening and the lubricants items group is negative. The effect of real GDP on import demand of manufactured items group is positive, but the impact of relative price is negative. Fuel lightening and lubricants items and manufactured items are highly price elastic, while food items and raw material items are price inelastic. The overall results of all the four models indicate that fuel lightening and lubricants items group is more income elastic as compared to the other commodity groups, and the manufactured items group is more price elastic as compared to the other commodity groups. This study also confirms that import demand of all the commodity groups is highly sensitive to changes in real GDP. The government should try to invest in high-tech industry so that in long run imported goods demand may be controlled

An analysis of different approaches to women empowerment: a case study of Pakistan

Women empowerment has attracted the attention of researchers as an active area of research since 1980s. It can be viewed as an ultimate end as well as a mean to achieve other development goals. The present study is an attempt to investigate how consciousness /sensitization of women about their rights, economic empowerment of women and women’s overall development can be helpful in achieving the goal of women’s empowerment. The study uses data for the period of 1996 to 2009 for Pakistan. Empirical results reveal that consciousness of women about their rights, economic empowerment of women and women’s overall development have positive and significant effect on women’s empowerment as measured by Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) index. Granger Causality Test confirms the existence of bi-directional causality between women’s overall development and women’s empowerment. A unidirectional causality exists between sensitization of women and women’s empowerment

Local combats global: simulação de personalidade de marca para marcas de té

Brand Personality is the simulacrum of human traits used to describe the personality of brands. In the arena of marketing, firms are struggling hard to impinge their brand image as a person in the minds of its customers. The idea behind is that when a customer perceives its favorite brand as a personality, it will develop certain associations and belongingness for that brand. Customers more affinity to personality of brand leads towards more loyalty and ultimately fruitful for the generic firm who introduced the brand and brand personality for its product. The study empirically assesses the impact of brand personality in the mind of customers for two famous tea brands of Pakistan. Both brands have nearly equal share in the market but one is local and other is global. The data was collected from the territory of Islamabad, Pakistan by taking the sample of 436 in total. By employing the area sampling, data was equally divided into two equal halves of 218 samples respectively. First half of the respondents were the user of local tea brand while the second half of the respondents were the user of global tea brand. Aaker scale of brand personality was employed to measure the personality of tea brands. An independent sample t test was utilized to check the customers differentiation. It was observed that customers perceived the both brands as more rugged and sincere. These characteristics are important and relevant for any tea brand to be successful in the market. That why, both brands are sharing almost equal share in the market. However, global tea brand is perceived more sophisticated, competent and with full of excitement as compared to local brand. At the moment, the disparity of these personality characteristics are not affecting the market share of local brand but it is urged that for long lasting and sustainability competition, the local brand should also focus on the dimensions of brand personality of sophistication, competence and excitement.La personalidad de la marca es el simulacro de los rasgos humanos utilizados para describir la personalidad de las marcas. En el ámbito del marketing, las empresas están luchando mucho para afectar su imagen de marca como persona en la mente de sus clientes. La idea detrás es que cuando un cliente perciba su marca favorita como una personalidad, desarrollará ciertas asociaciones y pertenencias para esa marca. La afinidad de los clientes con la personalidad de la marca conduce a una mayor lealtad y, en última instancia, fructífera para la empresa genérica que introdujo la marca y la personalidad de la marca para su producto. El estudio evalúa empíricamente el impacto de la personalidad de la marca en la mente de los clientes de dos famosas marcas de té de Pakistán. Ambas marcas tienen una participación casi igual en el mercado, pero una es local y la otra es global. Los datos se obtuvieron del territorio de Islamabad, Pakistán, tomando la muestra de 436 en total. Al emplear el muestreo de área, los datos se dividieron por igual en dos mitades iguales de 218 muestras respectivamente. La primera mitad de los encuestados eran usuarios de la marca local de té, mientras que la segunda mitad de los encuestados eran usuarios de la marca global de té. Se utilizó la escala Aaker de la personalidad de la marca para medir la personalidad de las marcas de té. Se utilizó una prueba t de muestra independiente para verificar la diferenciación de los clientes. Se observó que los clientes percibían las dos marcas como más resistentes y sinceras. Estas características son importantes y relevantes para que cualquier marca de té tenga éxito en el mercado. Por eso, ambas marcas comparten una participación casi igual en el mercado. Sin embargo, la marca global de té se percibe más sofisticada, competente y llena de emoción en comparación con la marca local. Por el momento, la disparidad de estas características de personalidad no está afectando la cuota de mercado de la marca local, pero se recomienda que para una competencia duradera y sostenible, la marca local también debe centrarse en las dimensiones de la personalidad de la marca de sofisticación, competencia y entusiasmo.Personalidade da marca é o simulacro das características humanas usadas para descrever a personalidade das marcas. Na arena do marketing, as empresas estão se esforçando bastante para impingir sua imagem de marca como uma pessoa nas mentes de seus clientes. A idéia por trás disso é que, quando um cliente percebe sua marca favorita como uma personalidade, ele desenvolve certas associações e pertencimento a essa marca. Os clientes, mais afinidade com a personalidade da marca, levam a mais lealdade e, finalmente, frutíferos para a empresa genérica que introduziu a marca e a personalidade da marca em seu produto. O estudo avalia empiricamente o impacto da personalidade da marca na mente dos clientes para duas famosas marcas de chá do Paquistão. Ambas as marcas têm participação quase igual no mercado, mas uma é local e a outra é global. Os dados foram coletados no território de Islamabad, Paquistão, levando a amostra de 436 no total. Empregando a amostragem de área, os dados foram igualmente divididos em duas metades iguais de 218 amostras, respectivamente. A primeira metade dos entrevistados era usuário da marca local de chá, enquanto a segunda metade dos respondentes era usuário da marca global de chá. Uma escala de personalidade da marca Aaker foi empregada para medir a personalidade das marcas de chá. Um teste t de amostra independente foi utilizado para verificar a diferenciação dos clientes. Observou-se que os clientes percebiam as duas marcas como mais robustas e sinceras. Essas características são importantes e relevantes para que qualquer marca de chá seja bem-sucedida no mercado. Por isso, ambas as marcas estão compartilhando uma participação quase igual no mercado. No entanto, a marca global de chá é percebida como mais sofisticada, competente e cheia de emoção em comparação com a marca local. No momento, a disparidade dessas características de personalidade não afeta a participação de mercado da marca local, mas é recomendável que, para uma competição duradoura e de sustentabilidade, a marca local também se concentre nas dimensões da personalidade da marca, como sofisticação, competência e entusiasmo

Determinants of Money Demand in Pakistan: Disaggregated Expenditure Approach

The main focus of the study is to find the determinants of money demand in Pakistan. We used disaggregated expenditures approach in this regard. To find the co-integration among the variables of the model, Johansen co-integration approach is utilized. The results of the study show that the co-integration exists among the variables of the model. The long run elasticities of the study reveal that money demand is positively and more elastic to investment expenditures, household expenditures and government expenditures respectively. It is less elastic to expenditures on exports and price level in Pakistan. Time trend plays a very significant role in determining the money demand in case of Pakistan. In the short run only one period lagged money demand, investment expenditures and prices are significantly elastic to demand for money. The results of the short run also show the convergence in the long run

Poverty, inflation and economic growth: empirical evidence from Pakistan

This study aims to investigate the role of economic growth and inflation in explaining the prevalence of poverty in Pakistan. ARDL bound testing approach to co-integration confirms the existence of long run relationship among the variables of poverty, economic growth, inflation, investment and trade openness over the period of 1972-2008. Empirical results show that economic growth and investment have negative and inflation has positive impact on poverty. The effect of trade openness on poverty is insignificant in this study. The short run analysis reveals that economic growth has negative and inflation has positive impact on poverty whereas the role of investment and trade openness in poverty reduction in short run is not significant.Poverty, Inflation, Economic Grovvth, Pakistan, Macroeconomic Policy, Welfare, Trade Openness

Human capital formation and economic development in Pakistan: an empirical analysis

There is widely accepted concept in economic theory that human capital plays positive role in determining national income. Formation or accumulation of human capital and economic development for human welfare are the major targets of economic policy of each country. This study investigates the casual relationship between economic development and formation of human capital in Pakistan. Based on endogenous growth theory, this study empirically test the standard growth model consisting of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita as a dependent variable and human capital formation, investment in physical capital and labor force as independent variables. Auto Regressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) bound testing approach to co-integration is used to check the long run equilibrium relationship between the variables included in the model. For checking the causal relationship between economic development and human capital formation, Pair-wise Granger Causality test is utilized using the time series data ranging from 1972 to 2009. The results of the co-integration show that the variables are co-integrated. They have long run stable equilibrium relationship. The results of the causality test show that there is bidirectional causal relationship between economic development and human capital formation