Impact of universities’ partnerships on students’ sustainable entrepreneurship intentions: A comparative study

This study investigated the impact of entrepreneurial attitude, perceived desirability, and perceived feasibility on sustainable entrepreneurship intentions under the moderating impact of entrepreneurial passion among undergraduate students of Malaysia. It was a quantitative study that compared two groups of students, i.e., Group A, comprised of students who have studied entrepreneurship modules and whose programmes did not offer any dual/triple award degrees and Group B, made up of students who have studied entrepreneurship modules and whose programmes offered dual/triple award degrees. Data were collected from 542 undergraduate students of universities located in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor through survey questionnaire. WarpPLS Software version 7.0 was used to analyse the data. The findings of this study revealed that Group B students’ entrepreneurial attitude, perceived desirability, and perceived feasibility positively and significantly impacted the sustainable entrepreneurship intentions under the moderating impact of entrepreneurial passion. However, the impact of entrepreneurial attitude was found positive and significant on sustainable entrepreneurship intentions among students of Group A and entrepreneurial passion was found to be significant moderator to improve the impact of only entrepreneurial attitude and perceived desirability on sustainable entrepreneurship intentions but not for the impact of perceived feasibility on sustainable entrepreneurship intentions among these students. Moreover, the direct impacts of perceived desirability and perceived feasibility were also found non-significant on sustainable entrepreneurship intentions among Group A students. The findings reveal that universities having partnership with other overseas’ universities may offer high quality entrepreneurship modules due to which their students have high entrepreneurial passion and develop more entrepreneurial attitudes, and are more willing and capable to start their own businesses as compared to students of other local universities who have no partnership with overseas’ universities

Impact of green training on environmental performance through mediating role of competencies and motivation

This work aims to examine the impact of green training on green environmental performance through the mediating role of green competencies and motivation on the adoption of green human resource management. The convenience sampling technique was employed to collect data through an online survey undertaken at public and private universities in Malaysia. The analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) v.25 and Smart PLS v.3 software, with the aim of testing the predefined hypotheses. It was revealed that green training has a significant impact on green environmental performance, and all six dimensions of green competencies, namely, skills, abilities, knowledge, behavior, attitude and awareness, were also green motivations. Both green competencies and motivations positively and significantly mediated the relationship between green training and environmental performance

Impact of green training on environmental performance through mediating role of competencies and motivation

This work aims to examine the impact of green training on green environmental performance through the mediating role of green competencies and motivation on the adoption of green human resource management. The convenience sampling technique was employed to collect data through an online survey undertaken at public and private universities in Malaysia. The analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) v.25 and Smart PLS v.3 software, with the aim of testing the predefined hypotheses. It was revealed that green training has a significant impact on green environmental performance, and all six dimensions of green competencies, namely, skills, abilities, knowledge, behavior, attitude and awareness, were also green motivations. Both green competencies and motivations positively and significantly mediated the relationship between green training and environmental performance

The impact of responsible leadership on knowledge sharing behavior through the mediating role of person−organization fit and moderating role of higher educational institute culture

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of responsible leadership on knowledge sharing behavior. Furthermore, we investigated the mediating role of person-organization fit in the relationship between responsible leadership and knowledge sharing behavior. Moreover, higher educational institute culture moderates the relationship between responsible leadership and person-organization fit. The data collected from 295 respondents (teachers, head of department and management staff) from universities located in different cities of China. The data were gathered at one time, and therefore, the study is cross-sectional. Because of COVID-19, there have been a few universities closed; therefore, data were also collected online. The data were analyzed quantitatively using the partial least squares (PLS)−structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. The result indicated that responsible leadership is positively and significantly influential on knowledge sharing behavior directly, and also indirectly through mediator person-organization fit. Also, the higher educational institute culture positively and significantly moderates the relationship between responsible leadership and person-organization fit

The impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on the education sector

The COVID-19 outbreak has prevented students from contributing towards the economic growth of Pakistan. It first disrupted the education system in China and later entered Pakistan to close all levels of educational institutions/sectors since the middle of March 2020. This study aims to highlight the COVID-19 outbreak’s effects on educational sector in Pakistan. Pakistan’s overall public sector expenditure as a percentage of GDP before the pandemic was already low as compared to regional level, but due to the pandemic, it has dropped down significantly. This study seeks to answer two important questions: (1) What are the impacts of COVID-19 outbreak on Pakistan? (2) Will the closure of educational institutions impact the economic growth of Pakistan? According to empirical and theoretical findings, the results show that the lack of school education for a long period of time will contribute towards unskilled human capital. The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted student learning activities, which may increase the dropout rates, loss of mental health, and consequently, may impact the economic growth of Pakistan later

Sustainability Orientation and Sustainable Entrepreneurship Intention: The Mediating Role of Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition

The purpose of this research is twofold. First, to examine the influence of four dimensions of sustainability orientation which are sustainability knowledge, sustainability culture, sustainability practices and commitment to environmental sustainability on the sustainable entrepreneurship intention of business schools’ students in Malaysia; and the second is to explore the mediating role of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition among these variables. The data for this study were collected from business school students in Malaysia through a standard self-administered online structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed through the PLS-SEM approach. The findings have revealed the direct effect of commitment to environmental sustainability on sustainable entrepreneurship intention. However, sustainability culture, sustainability knowledge and sustainability practices have been found to have no significant direct effect on sustainable entrepreneurship intention. Entrepreneurial opportunity recognition has successfully mediated the relationship between sustainability culture and commitment to environmental sustainability with sustainable entrepreneurship intention. Nonetheless, it has failed to mediate the relationship between sustainability knowledge and sustainability practices with sustainable entrepreneurship intention. The existence of the mediation of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition between sustainability culture and commitment to environmental sustainability with sustainable entrepreneurship intention has contributed knowledge to the sustainable entrepreneurship and sustainability orientation literature

Perceptions about the cause of schizophrenia and the subsequent help seeking behavior in a Pakistani population – results of a cross-sectional survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is a cultural variability around the perception of what causes the syndrome of schizophrenia. Generally patients with schizophrenia are considered dangerous. They are isolated and treatment is delayed. Studies have shown favorable prognosis with good family and social support, early diagnosis and management. Duration of untreated psychosis is a bad prognostic indicator. We aimed to determine the perceptions regarding the etiology of schizophrenia and the subsequent help seeking behavior.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 404 people at the out patient departments of Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi. Data was collected via a self-administered questionnaire. Questions were related to a vignette of a young man displaying schizophrenic behavior. Data was analyzed on SPSS v 14.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean age of the participants was 31.4 years (range = 18–72) and 77% of them were males. The majorities were graduates (61.9%) and employed (50%). Only 30% of the participants attributed 'mental illness' as the main cause of psychotic symptoms while a large number thought of 'God's will' (32.3%), 'superstitious ideas' (33.1%), 'loneliness' (24.8%) and 'unemployment' (19.3%) as the main cause. Mental illness as the single most important cause was reported by only 22%. As far as management is concerned, only 40% reported psychiatric consultation to be the single most important management step. Other responses included spiritual healing (19.5%) and Sociachanges (10.6) while 14.8% of respondents said that they would do nothing. Gender, age, family system and education level were significantly associated with the beliefs about the cause of schizophrenia (p < 0.05). While these variables plus 'religious inclination' and 'beliefs about cause' were significantly associated with the help seeking behavior of the participants.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Despite majority of the study population being well educated, only a few recognized schizophrenia as a mental illness and many held superstitious beliefs. A vast majority of Pakistanis have non-biomedical beliefs about the cause of schizophrenia. Their help seeking behavior in this regard is inappropriate and detrimental to the health of schizophrenic patients. Areas for future research have been identified.</p

A literature review on agility- is there a need to develop a new instrument?

The current research provides a review of the literature while contributing to the academic understanding of agility concepts and their backgrounds. The study identified 73 peer reviewed articles on a systematic review process, based on a three-phase purification process. Data reduction processes use combinations, sentence strings, and keyword updates, title, abstract, and conclusion used in the search. The papers identified focused on agility subdomains business, organizational, strategic, and operational agility. The acknowledged gaps in understanding and developing the art and sub-domains have been identified and categorized according to the conceptual, contextual, and practical areas. Apart from that, the findings show that there is a need to develop separate scales for agility sub-domains to achieve, to get better results without having their scale researcher struggle to get the desired results using a simple agility scale. The paper concludes by highlighting the implications for managers, researchers and suggests a number of future research areas

Does governance in information technology matter when it comes to organizational performance in Pakistani public sector organizations? Mediating effect of innovation

Information technology governance (ITG) is recognized as a vital organizational ability to exploit opportunities for innovation and enhance organizational performance. However, the potential of ITG for public sector innovation and performance has not been fully grasped in Pakistani public sector organizations (PakPSOs). This study has presented an explanatory model to investigate the mediating effect of innovation in the relationship between ITG and organizational performance in PakPSOs. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM)–based hierarchical component modeling approach has applied to analyze the model by taking sample data from 97 PakPSOs. The results revealed that ITG positively affected innovation and organizational performance. Innovation positively affected organizational performance. Innovation partially mediated the relationship between ITG and organizational performance. The study corroborates the strategic use of information technology (IT) to enhance innovation and organizational performance in this context. The study contributes to the existing knowledge base through a new theoretical model and promotes academic rigor. The results are also significant for the practice as they can help to achieve organizational performance in terms of operational efficiency, transparency in costs and results, planning and decision making, performance monitoring and control, and collaboration and synergy. The other countries operating in a similar environment can also take the benefit of this study