NAVIGATING WORKPLACE DYNAMICS: EXPLORING THE INTERPLAY OF OSTRACISM, INTERPERSONAL DEVIANCE, AND THE MEDIATING INFLUENCE OF EMPLOYEE SILENCE, EMOTIONAL EXHAUSTION WITH MODERATOR INGRATIATION AS A MITIGATING FACTOR

This study investigates the intricate interplay of workplace dynamics, focusing on the relationships between ostracism, interpersonal deviance, and the arbitrating influences of employee silence and emotional exhaustion. Additionally, the moderating role of ingratiating behavior is explored as a potential mitigating factor. Data for this research was collected using cross-sectional survey design with a sample size of 236 academic staff from public sector universities in Quetta. To assess the association Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted in AMOS and Andrew Hays Process in SPSS was employed. Results indicate a significant association between ostracism and interpersonal deviance, shedding light on the negative consequences for employees and organizational dynamics. Furthermore, the study reveals that employee silence and emotional exhaustion serve as critical mediating mechanisms, elucidating the psychological pathways through which workplace challenges impact individuals. Notably, the inclusion of ingratiating behavior as a moderator introduces a novel perspective, suggesting that certain employee behaviors may alleviate or exacerbate the observed effects. The implications of this research are multifaceted. Practically, organizations can use these insights to inform interventions that address workplace challenges and foster a positive organizational culture. Recommendations include targeted training programs, leadership development initiatives, and continuous monitoring systems to create a supportive work environment. Findings offer practical guidance for organizations seeking to enhance employee well-being and optimize organizational performance in the face of challenging interpersonal dynamics

Do Legal and Institutional Reforms in Punjab, Pakistan Protect Women’s Inherited Land Rights?

Economic marginalization is a key feature of gender inequality globally. In Pakistan, which ranks 153 out of 156 countries on the Global Gender Gap Index Report 2020, economic marginalization has significantly hampered efforts towards inclusivity. In comparison to dismal levels of female literacy and formal occupation (traditional measures of development), inheritance is an interesting category—a right enshrined both in Islam (the official state religion) and the country’s constitution. Given Pakistan’s agrarian and otherwise rent-seeking economic orientation, land inheritance plays a pivotal role in financial wellbeing regardless of gender. However, a pervasive denial of women’s inheritance rights has been the norm. Considering the data and impelled by its international obligations, the Government criminalized denial of inheritance in 2011, followed by a series of legal and institutional reforms in the province of Punjab. These reforms include provisions for help desks dedicated to women at key offices, digitization of land records, and clamping down on anti-women practices that aid denial of inheritance. It is alarming to note that not much has changed in terms of women’s land inheritance since 2011. To understand what is impeding the amendment’s efficacy, the study frames these developments from a socialist feminist perspective and captures the opinions of experts engaged with the cause in various capacities. We selected Punjab as a case study and recruited twelve legal, revenue, Islamic, and women’s right experts through purposive sampling. In-depth interviews were conducted, and the findings were thematically organized. Experts largely agreed that cultural change is a long-term process and that there has been a patriarchal monopoly of Islamic interpretation. On a more practical end, issues plaguing developing economies were highlighted in addition to institutionalized patriarchy, female mobility, patriarchal control of citizenship and land documents, and bureaucratic hurdles. We recommend the recruitment of more female staff in all relevant offices, adoption of better data management practices catering to institutional harmony, and that district inheritance committees be operationalized, among other measures

UNLOCKING INNOVATION POTENTIALS: THE ROLE OF VALUE CO-CREATION AND ABSORPTION CAPACITY

In today's rapidly changing world, there is a growing demand for organizations to innovate and establish initiative-driven resources. The current study is a cross-sectional study grounded in epistemological positivism, involving a sample of 200 participants drawn from the service industry, specifically hotels and restaurants in Quetta City. Sampling techniques included both stratified and cluster sampling. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 27 and Hayes Process Macro Model, which encompassed correlation, multiple regression, and reliability testing. Results showed a positive and significant correlation among all variables. Moreover, the analysis demonstrated that absorption capacity significantly moderates the relationship between value co-creation and innovation capabilities, confirming the hypotheses and proposed model. These findings emphasize the importance of fostering innovation capabilities, promoting value co-creation, and developing absorption capacity practices within organizations, thus highlighting avenues for future research

Role of work motivation as moderator between breach of psychological contract and workplace deviant behaviour among employees

The present study examined the effect of psychological contract breach on workplace deviant behavior with the help of social exchange theory. Furthermore, the current study also investigated the buffering effect of work motivation between the relationship of psychological contract breach and workplace deviant behavior. The current study was quantitative and cross-sectional survey was designed to collect data. Data was gathered using structured questionnaire. Stratified sampling method used to select sample and final sample comprised of 306 employees working in banks of Gujrat, Pakistan. Proposed model was analyzed by using reliability, correlation and hierarchal regressions with the help of IBM SPSS (20.0). Findings revealed a positive association between psychological contract breach and workplace deviant behavior. Moreover, results showed that work motivation significantly moderated the relationship of psychological contract breach and workplace deviant behavior

Impact of breach of psychological contract on workplace deviant behaviour moderating role of procedural justice among employees of Pakistan

Psychological contract breach may provoke negative attitudes among employees that cause further harmful behaviors. With the help of Social Exchange Theory (SET) the study was conducted to explore the moderating effect of procedural justice between the relationship of psychological contract breach and workplace deviant behaviour. The study was quantitative and cross-sectional survey designed to collect data. Data for the research gathered using a structured questionnaire. The stratified sampling method used to select the sample and final sample comprised of 306 employees working in public sector banks of Gujrat district, Pakistan. Descriptive, correlation, reliability and hierarchal regressions used for testing the hypothesized model for this study. Data were analysed by using IBM SPSS (20.0). A positive relationship found between psychological contract breach and workplace deviant behaviour. Moreover, results showed that procedural justice significantly moderated the relationship of psychological contract breach and workplace deviant behavior. Study limitations and future research directions are discussed

The health seeking behaviour of elderly population in a poor-urban community of Karachi, Pakistan

OBJECTIVES: To presents socio-demographic characteristics and health seeking behaviour of elderly and to determine frequency of Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension in elderly population of a poor peri-urban community in Karachi, Pakistan. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted, targeting population aged 65 or above. A total of 438 respondents were interviewed after taking informed consent, between November 2005 and December 2005. Frequencies and Chi square values were calculated for different variables using SPSS 13.0. RESULTS: Total population surveyed comprised of 438 elderly, 158 (36%) women and 280 (63.9%) men. Mean age for the population was 71.44 +/- 7.74. A total of 238 (54.3%) elderly were found to be economically active. More than half (n = 269, 61.4%) of the elderly were found to be illiterate. Only 72 (16.4%) of the elderly population were Diabetic and 132 (30.1%) were Hypertensive. Common symptoms that prompted elderly of Azam Basti to seek health care were fever (61.2%), generalized body aches (43.4%) and cough (40.4%). Over half of the (n = 269, 61.4%) responders reported factors which deterred them from seeking health care, out of which 62% reported financial constraint as the commonest factor. Deterrence from seeking health care was associated with illiteracy (p = 0.001) and living alone (p = 0.06). CONCLUSION: The elderly population of this peri-urban community has financial constraints in seeking health care. Hypertension was found to be more prevalent among women as compared to men, ratio being 1:2. Less number of people knew they were diabetics; this might be attributed to ignorance and non-availability of investigations and screening

Determination of expression profile of p53 gene in different grades of breast cancer tissues by real time PCR

Background: Pakistan has a high incidence of breast cancer in Asia, where annually 16,232 deaths are reported. There are many exogenous and endogenous risk factors that affect the tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes. The p53 gene is a tumor suppressor gene and it has a role to protect the whole genome from external and internal stresses, which causes damages to the genome. Objective: The aim of the current study was to investigate the p53 gene expression by using the real-time PCR technique in different grades of breast cancer as compared to the normal tissue. Methods: Fresh Modified Radical Mastectomy (MRM) samples (grade1-grade3) were collected from different hospitals of the Lahore. The project was approved by an ethical review committee of Jinnah Hospital, Lahore. And before sampling an informed consent was obtained from patients and clinicians. RNA from fresh biopsies was extracted by Qiagen extraction kit and cDNA was formed. Real time PCR performed by using SYBR green master mix (ABI) and the data was evaluated by using Livak method. Statistical analysis was done by using Microsoft Excel. Results: There was an abnormal gene expression of p53 in all grades of the breast tumors. Non-significant (p>0.05) difference of down and up regulation of p53 in different grades of breast tumor was found. However, as a whole up-regulation was more than down-regulation with significant difference (p<0.0011). Conclusion: The abnormal expression of p53 shows that there are some genetic and epigenetic factors which are the primal cause of an abnormal gene expression. It is recommended that perform next generation sequencing (NGS) of the gene to find out the mutations causing the abnormal behavior of p53 gene

Impact of Psychological Empowerment on Job Performance of Teachers: Mediating Role of Psychological Well-being

This study was carried out to investigate the impact of psychological empowerment and psychological well-being on the performance of teachers and to explore the effect of psychological well-being as a mediator between psychological empowerment and performance. Convenience sampling was used to collect data from 261 secondary school teachers through a survey questionnaire in this cross-sectional study. The collected data was statistically analyzed by using SPSS software 23. Coefficient correlation, multiple regression and mediation analyses were carried out in pursuance of study objectives. It was found that psychological empowerment and well-being were significantly and positively related to job performance of teachers. Moreover, results showed that psychological well-being partially mediated the relationship between psychological empowerment and well-being. When teachers perceive higher level of psychological factors (viz. psychological empowerment & well-being), they perform better. Therefore, it is essential for administrators and executives to attend to psychological factors of teachers in order to increase their performance

Is Ambidexterity A Myth? An Empirical Study Investigating the Impact of Ambidextrous Leadership as The Effect of Innovation Climate on Employee Innovation Performance.

This research investigates to elaborate the relationship between ambidextrous leadership styles, innovation climate, and employee innovation performance in the banking sector, with a specific focus on Quetta, Balochistan. Grounded in a deductive reasoning approach and epistemological-positivism research philosophy, the study aims to explain the causal relationships among ambidextrous leadership behaviors, innovation climate, and employee innovation performance. Employing quantitative research techniques, data were gathered through structured questionnaires administered to employees of banks in the region, including the State Bank of Pakistan and various commercial banks, using a convenience sampling method. The sample, drawn from different departments, ensures the representation of the banking industry workforce in Quetta. Questionnaires encompassed demographic information and modified scales to measure ambidextrous leadership, leader open and close behaviors, innovation climate, and employee innovation performance. Analysis of the gathered data involved correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis using SPSS statistical software (version 27). Results revealed the significant positive correlations between leader open behavior, leader close behavior, innovation climate, and employee innovation performance. Furthermore, hierarchical regression analysis confirms the hypotheses, indicating that both ambidextrous leadership behaviors and innovation climate significantly influence employee innovation performance. Particularly, innovation climate moderates the relationship between ambidextrous leadership behaviors and employee innovation performance, amplifying their effects. This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of leadership and innovation within organizational contexts, providing valuable insights for practitioners seeking to enhance innovation and performance in the banking sector

Establishing normal range of fetal renal artery RI and PI values in singleton pregnancies during 18-38 weeks of gestation

INTRODUCTION: Human kidney constitutes an integral organ during the period of embryogenesis. The use of regular ultrasound during antenatal follow ups not only assesses structural aspects of fetal body but can also evaluate functional integrity of developing organs to some extent. Unfortunately, fetal renal hemodynamics has been studied more in western population which have better socio-economic status as well as good antenatal care. Our study aims at establishing a normal reference range for fetal renal artery indices in healthy Pakistani pregnant population which has not been done before. METHODOLOGY: This is a nonprobability convenient study investigating 130 healthy pregnant women during 18-38weeks of gestation. Resistivity and pulsatility indices (RI and PI) of the fetal renal arteries were evaluated dividing the patients in four groups as per their gestational age. Normal reference ranges of RI and PI values were established. P values for RI and PI were also being calculated. RESULTS: Mean values of the RI and PI of the fetal renal arteries were calculated. P value for RI is 0.05 and PI is 0.69. Hence the values remain unaltered with advancing gestational age. CONCLUSIONS: These reference ranges demonstrate the minimal change of the fetal renal hemodynamics during healthy pregnancies pertinent to our reference population. These may be applicable in antenatal practice to identify deviations from these reference ranges and will be beneficial in further studies related to prediction of fetal renal function.