INTERNAL AUDITING PRACTICES AND INTERNAL CONTROL QUALITY IN STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES: EVIDENCE FROM PAKISTAN

This study examines the role of internal auditing practices compliance with the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (ISPPIA) in enhancing internal control quality in Pakistani State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). Data was collected through an online survey of Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) of SOEs from various sectors. An ordinal logistic regression model was used to test the influence of compliance with international best practice guidelines of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) related to independence of the internal audit function, competence of the internal audit function, quality assurance and improvement programmes, and audit committee characteristics over seventeen principles of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) of the Treadway Commission Internal Control Framework. The results indicate that the independence of the internal audit function (IAF) and the characteristics of the audit committee have a statistically significant positive impact on the internal control system. However, findings related to quality assurance and improvement programs, and competence of the IAF, were deemed insignificant. The study is expected to contributes to accountability theory by highlighting that how quality internal audit practices can enhance internal control and thereby strengthen the accountability mechanism in public sector. The results are also expected to have important practical implication, both locally and globally

Validity of capital asset pricing model: evidence from Karachi stock exchange

This study investigates the validity of Capital Asset Pricing (CAP) Model in Karachi stock exchange (KSE). The data of 387 companies of 30 different sectors on monthly, quarterly and semiannual basis are used. The Paired sample t- test is applied to find the difference between actual and expected returns. Results show that capital asset pricing model (CAPM) predict more accurately the expected return on a short term investment as compare to long term investment. It is recommended that the investors should more focus on CAPM results for short term as compare to long term investments in KSE.Portfolio choice, Investment Decisions, Capital Assets Pricing Model, Risk

Emotional Intelligence and Teaching Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Emotional Labor Strategies

The study examines the direct effect of four “emotional intelligence” attributes on teachers’ job satisfaction in Karachi’s private teaching institutions. The study also investigates the mediating effects of “emotional labor strategies” on teachers’ job satisfaction. We have used the questionnaire adopted from earlier studies. We distributed 550 questionnaires to respondents, of which we received 499 useable responses. The study has used Smart PLS version 3.3 for data analysis. Our results support only six hypotheses, including two direct and our indirect. This study has contributed to the body of knowledge in the following ways. First, it has measured the effects of the four attributes of emotional intelligence on job satisfaction. Second, most studies have examined the mediating effect of emotional labor strategies on emotional intelligence and other job satisfaction antecedents. Perhaps this is the first study that has examined the direct impact of the sub-factor of emotional intelligence on teachers’ job satisfaction. Additionally, it also looks at the mediating effect of emotional labor strategies on teachers’ satisfaction. There are several implications for managers. For example, the teaching institutes should provide counseling and training to teachers for enhancing their emotional intelligence. Emotional labor strategies help individuals control and monitor their emotions; therefore, educational institutions may also encourage their teachers to adopt these strategies

External Resources and Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis of South Asian Countries

This study aims to investigate the role of three important external resources on the economic growth of leading South Asian countries. A sample of four countries is studied from 1983 to 2014. Empirical analyses are carried out in two phases. First, we have checked the combined effect using CD test, CIPS, Pedroni, and Westerlund panel cointegration, pooled mean group (PMG) framework and Heterogeneous non-causality test. In the second phase, we compared the regional and country-wise estimations using ARDL bound testing, stability test, and Granger causality. Results suggest that remittances play a vital role in the economic growth of selected South Asian countries, whereas, imports and foreign direct investment found to be insignificant. Also, while evaluating the same model for the individual countries using the ARDL estimations also reveal that remittances significantly contribute to the economies of Pakistan and Sri Lanka and imports found to be negatively related with economic growth in the same economies. However, imports showed a strong relationship with the economic growth of Bangladesh. Thus, this paper has drawn some insights for the policymakers

A review of arthritis diagnosis techniques in artificial intelligence era: Current trends and research challenges

Deep learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, has achieved unprecedented performance in several domains including medicine to assist with efficient diagnosis of diseases, prediction of disease progression and pre-screening step for physicians. Due to its significant breakthroughs, deep learning is now being used for the diagnosis of arthritis, which is a chronic disease affecting young to aged population. This paper provides a survey of recent and the most representative deep learning techniques (published between 2018 to 2020) for the diagnosis of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. The paper also reviews traditional machine learning methods (published 2015 onward) and their application for the diagnosis of these diseases. The paper identifies open problems and research gaps. We believe that deep learning can assist general practitioners and consultants to predict the course of the disease, make treatment propositions and appraise their potential benefits

The Experimental Study On the Effectiveness of Social Media Ad Campaign: Like, Comment, Share

The popularity of social media outlets has forced us to inquire about marketing effectiveness in any area of the industry. Social media has rapidly risen in popularity as a new advertising platform that allows users to connect with one another and engage with brands.  This research has attempted to explore the attitude of people over the advertisements in what formats most people prefer to like, comment or share. We focus top trended social media sites Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to demonstrate the consumer engagement on advertisements placed on these sites. This research has identified the factors which influence the users to keep an eye out on advertisements that make them want to continue watching it as they spend their daily time on these social media websites and apps. To determine what makes Ads and online marketing campaigns successful we used variables such as Vividness, Content of Posts, Position of Posts, Scheduling and Call to Action.  It was conducted on 300 respondents. We used the questionnaire to collect the data and used a semantic differential scale. We questioned about the ads to respondents which were based on our variables. Results showed that our research is decisive but the variable call to action has an insignificant effect and other variables such as vividness, the position of post, the content of the post, schedule have a significant relation with customer engagement

Attitude of overseas Pakistani students towards modular examination.

oai:mmcedupk_jmmcfinal.jmmc.mmc.edu.pk:article/8Introduction: Modularization an innovative initiative taken by educational institutes around the globe to increase the student’s productivity and efficiency.   Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge and attitude regarding modularization in overseas Pakistani students. Methodology: A cross sectional survey was conducted at the International Medical College of one of the public sector university during December 2012 till February 2014. A total of 425 undergraduate students were approached through non-probability convenience sampling technique and requested to fill a semi structured questionnaire after taking written consent. Result: According to the outset of this paper a total of 425 students were questioned. Among the total 189 students were male (44.47%) and 236 were female (55.52%) out of which the majority belonged from North America/Canada (79.06%). A vast percentage (48.94) invested of about 2 hours of study daily. 63.06% of students believed modular examination to be a fair system and 32.94% of students thought it to be a failure to affect any educational standards. 36% of students blame stress/load for their poor result and 31.06% agrees with the lengthy syllabus being responsible for their down showing GPA’s. 43.06% of students face hardships because of irregular attendance. The major complaint of students (39%) was their teaching style. 46.12% of students prefer to study from lecture notes. Thus, this study completely clears all the aspects of student’s performance in modular system of examinations and its flow and shortcomings. It is important that more effort should be put into cater to student’s stress, loads and make it an effective system to improve a student’s capability and efficiency.  Conclusion: The findings of this study can guide us to revise and reshape the assessment system practiced at various medical colleges in Karachi

Validity of capital asset pricing model: evidence from Karachi stock exchange

This study investigates the validity of Capital Asset Pricing (CAP) Model in Karachi stock exchange (KSE). The data of 387 companies of 30 different sectors on monthly, quarterly and semiannual basis are used. The Paired sample t- test is applied to find the difference between actual and expected returns. Results show that capital asset pricing model (CAPM) predict more accurately the expected return on a short term investment as compare to long term investment. It is recommended that the investors should more focus on CAPM results for short term as compare to long term investments in KSE

Validity of capital asset pricing model: evidence from Karachi stock exchange

This study investigates the validity of Capital Asset Pricing (CAP) Model in Karachi stock exchange (KSE). The data of 387 companies of 30 different sectors on monthly, quarterly and semiannual basis are used. The Paired sample t- test is applied to find the difference between actual and expected returns. Results show that capital asset pricing model (CAPM) predict more accurately the expected return on a short term investment as compare to long term investment. It is recommended that the investors should more focus on CAPM results for short term as compare to long term investments in KSE