The Knowledge-based Economy: Trends and Implications for Pakistan

Economic history has witnessed transformation from Agriculture based to Manufacturing based economies over the time. This transformation had its effects on social structure of the communities, as new types of jobs were created in the manufacturing industries, and new life styles of metropolitan culture evolved. A similar transformation is now taking place as; business has grown global over the last years, making the present business atmosphere further competitive, fast and fluid. Technological and political events taking place across the world affect us as strongly as something happening in our neighbourhood. The two most recent and prominent developments of present times that have changed our economic activities are: (1) Globalisation; (2) Increase in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Globalisation is most obvious, as the volume of global trade and products has expanded manyfold. The world economies are opening up to new world horizons. Developments in Information Technology has increased the pace of the events, bringing new products to markets from all over the world, increasing the global watch and reach of the organisations. As a result of this, the companies are forced to reduce the costs and product development time of their products. Second prominent development taking place during this time is the increase in ICT. These ICTs (particularly Intranets/Internet) have provided new channels and means of acquiring knowledge and opened new doors of promising opportunities like e-business. Sharp decrease in cost of computer hardware and software, plus improvement in software development has been responsible for increasing number of firms using computers in their business processes. Computer has proved itself to be a revolutionary tool for management, its data and information processing capabilities has improved management in all domains.

Strategic Directions for Developing an Islamic Banking System

It is proposed that Islamic banking does not merely imply the interest-free banking system; rather, it is the banking in consonance with the ethos and value system of Islam and governed by the principles and rules laid down by Islamic Shariah. The question arises as to why the Islamic financing system has not been fully realised in Pakistan. And what directions should the Government take for establishing a sustainable Islamic banking system? The study is conducted according to the strategic management approach, exploring a practical route for developing growth-oriented Islamic banking system in Pakistan. Critical questions are raised to analyse the dynamics of Islamic banks in Pakistan. Then using a questionnaire, senior bankers are interviewed to add their insight. The study finally recommends strategic directions for developing a growth-oriented Islamic banking system in the country.

Strategic Directions for Developing an Islamic Banking System

Islamic banking generally referred to as interest free banking has been gaining popularity in the recent past. The main pillar of Islamic finance is prohibition of interest. Unlike conventional banking where interest is an integral part of the banking system, Islamic banking avoids interest in all bank transactions [Samad and Hassan (1999)]. The banking system in Pakistan is undergoing a transition from conventional model of banking to the new concept of Islamic banking, based on principles of Islamic economics. The new system should not only eliminate interestbased transactions but also introduce the concept of “Zakah” a contribution to the poor [Molla, et al. (1988)]. The prohibition of Riba is based on the arguments of social justice and equality

A Strategic Tool for Managing Intellectual Capital of Pakistan

In the post-industrial world, the Intellectual Capital (IC) of nations has become critical for wealth and value creation. In this era of knowledge-based economy, one real challenge that a nation faces is maintenance of its economic growth and its competitiveness in the international market. Policy-makers presently need to have a strategic management tool to measure and develop IC assets of a country. The paper extends the framework of Skandia Navigator [Edvinsson and Malone (1997)] from the corporate to the national level and develops a tool on the extended framework to visualise the intellectual capital of Pakistan. The Intellectual Capital of a country is indirectly visualised through various indices. These indices change from year to year, not necessarily in a consistent manner, so that having a general view would be baffling. To overcome this limitation, this paper proposes three methods of measuring the change in IC based on Financial Index (FI), Human Index (HI), Process Index (PI), Market Index (MI) and Research Index (RI). These tools produce composite IC indices for Pakistan (2005-2010) that can be useful for the development of national policies. Keywords: Intellectual Capital Measurement, Knowledge Management, Strategic Management, Pakistan Econom

Exploring organizational consciousness: A critical approach towards organizational behavior

Maintaining a higher level of organizational performance would always remain an active research focus. Increased complexity in business environment requires organizations to continuously revisit their human resources for augmented output. Organizational consciousness is a relatively new paradigm for analyzing organizational behavior that views organizations as self-consciousness entities. The analytical approach provided by organizational consciousness benefits OD practitioners and researchers to transform or bring about permanent changes in organizations. The purpose of the present article is to critically evaluate the literature available on organizational consciousness and set forth avenues for research in the domain. The article develops a conceptual foundation for researchers to explore new themes in the area

Dynamics of voluntary knowledge sharing in organizations

Knowledge has become prime source of economic production in modern enterprises; conceptualized by many researchers as the only source of sustainable competitive advantage. Therefore many organizations are restructuring themselves to gain maximum value from their knowledge sources. The paper investigates the influence of management policies on voluntary knowledge sharing behaviors at individual and group level and presents a model to understand the dynamics of voluntary knowledge sharing by employees in an organization. The problem is approached with a tacit view of knowledge, considering that true knowledge is located only in the minds of the professionals working in the organization

Spatial, social cognition and team performance

The team members' interaction with the environment and with the members helps shape their spatial, social cognitions respectively. These cognitions help in formulating an understanding of mental models necessary for team performance. At the theoretical level, the relation between spatial, social cognitions and team performance is becoming an exciting field, as it allows not only the investigation of important aspects of spatial and social cognition, but also its relation to team performance. At the empirical level, this line of research covers a vast and varied range of tasks, measures, and effects, as properly demonstrated by this contribution, through experimental research design. The results show that Spatial and Social Cognitions have individually and collectively positive significant impact on team performance

Consumer reaction: linking consumer associations and cultural values

Brand is one of the most important resources of the company. It contains worth not only for the company but also for the consumers. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of brand associations on consumer reaction, brand associations are separated into personal and social association, further how the cultural values of the consumers affect the associations and consumer response relationship. Mix method research is used in this research, starting with the qualitative research for theory (framework) development and then followed by quantitative research for testing theory for the purpose of enhancing generalizability of the framework. The transportation sector is considered for testing the conceptual framework. Data is collected from passengers through survey method. The result of this research shows that both personal and social associations have positive impact on consumer reaction and cultural values play moderating role in this relationship. Specifically, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance play moderating role between social associations and consumer response relationship while collectivism plays moderating role between the personal associations and consumer response relationship. This study will help the brand managers to identify how cultural values influence the consumer reaction, which associations are contributing towards desired consumer reaction and which associations need to be reinforced