Organisational reward strategies and performance of front line managers: analysis of Pakistani textile industry

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyThe current study seeks to contribute specifically to the literature on reward management and managerial performance. In doing so, it aims to address certain gaps in the existing literature; particularly a noticeable lack of research in rewards and individual performance relationships in a developing country, Pakistan. This study has sought to examine the relationship of extrinsic rewards comprising of pay, bonuses, opportunities for promotion and intrinsic rewards such as sense of recognition, job characteristics with individual performance measured as task and contextual performance including citizenship behaviour. Furthermore, the study has sought to examine the mediation role of organisational justice elements such as procedural and distributive justice in reward performance relationships. The study aims at identifying different rewards being offered in textile organisations and their relationships with performance of front line managers in textile sector organisations. The study focuses primarily on key research questions: 1. What is the relationship between extrinsic rewards such as pay and bonus based incentives with the performance of front line managers? 2. How do opportunities for promotion relate with performance of front line managers in textile industry? 3. What is the relationship of intrinsic rewards such as sense of recognition and job characteristics with the performance of front line managers? 4. How does procedural and distributive justice influence the reward performance relationships for front line managers in textile industry? Being deductive in nature, the current study revolves around the premises of positivist philosophy. Being cross section in nature, a survey based design is selected and a quantitative strategy is used in this study for data collection and analysis. The study is facilitated by random stratified sampling for data collection and structural equation modelling technique to draw results of direct and mediation effects of study constructs. The results portray significant relationships of rewards and individual performance with relatively strong emphasis on task performance in comparison to contextual performance. The results further highlight the mediation of procedural and distributive justice particularly in extrinsic rewards and task performance relationships for front line managers. The study seeks to contribute to existing theoretical knowledge and practices in developing economies and is pioneering in its examination of rewards-individual performance relationships in Pakistan. In examining organisational rewards with task and contextual performance for front line managers in private manufacturing sector, the study tends to address the gap in existing literature on reward and performance management. Moreover, the current study further seeks to examine the mediation effects of procedural and distributive justice in reward performance relationships discovering this field of theoretical knowledge as existing literature does not reflect upon this gap. The study intends to offer help and support to concerned stakeholders in better understanding, developing and modifying rewards-performance relationships particularly for textile industry in Pakistan

Growth Prospects and Customer Expectations in Islamic Banking

Islamic Banking has gained enormous popularity in Pakistan in a short span of time and still has a huge potential to grow in the market. Many Conventional Banks having Islamic Banking windows and a few full-fledged Islamic banks are striving hard to remain alive in the stiff competition for market share, resulting in more banking choices for the customers. Still there is lot to be achieved and the whole banking system has to get rid of the curse in the form of Riba, which has strongly been denounced and prohibited in the Holy Quran. Islamic Banks at the moment hold merely 9.4% of the whole banking Market which is far below than desired. In this study, an attempt will be made to analyze the growth trends in the Islamic banking and its implications for the society and the economy in particular. Customers’ perceptions & expectations and certain myths regarding Islamic banking will also be captured during the study. This will not only help us in understanding the potential and opportunities available in the industry but also give an idea that what the customers want and expect from Islamic banking. Moreover, the study will also add to the latest pool of knowledge on the subject. There seems a dearth of updated quality research on the matter and this will serve as an important reference and latest work on Islamic Banking in Pakistan

‘Violating my home boundaries makes me dislike my job’: a multiple mediation model

The purpose of this study is to understand negative outcomes of boundary violation events or interruptions at home in which the work life crosses the home boundaries. In the line of boundary theory and affective events theory, the aim of this study is to analyze the effect of daily events of boundary violations at home on work interference with family (WIF). Moreover, incorporating the ego depletion theory, we study the impact of WIF on an individual’s emotional state (i.e., emotional exhaustion), and the impact of emotional exhaustion on job satisfaction. The data were collected through questionnaires (daily diary method for boundary violations and at one point in time for other variables) from the manufacturing (textile) sector of Pakistan. The results indicate a direct negative effect of average boundary violations at home on job satisfaction and an indirect negative impact through the sequential mediation of WIF and emotional exhaustion. Theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed

THE PREDICTORS OF SUBOPTIMAL FOOD PURCHASE INTENTION: A DEVELOPING COUNTRY CONTEXT

It is essential to prevent food waste by successfully promoting the consumption of suboptimal food. Therefore, the undertaking research examines the impact of environmental concern, quality inferior, and individuals’ attitude on their suboptimal food purchase intention in Pakistan. The study uses the “Theory of planned behavior (TPB)” as underpinning foundations to find the consumers’ attitudes towards suboptimal food purchase intention. Additionally, individuals’ attitude, which is the dimension of TPB has a mediating role among the environmental concern, quality inferior, and purchase intention. The data was collected through a questionnaire survey (paper-based and online) from grocery consumers. In total, 450 respondents were from metropolitan cities in Pakistan.  Data analysis was done through SPSS 22, and the “Barron and Kenny test” was used for the mediation analysis. The result revealed that environmental concern (EC) has a positive impact on attitude (ATT) and purchase intention (PI). Consistently, quality inferior (QI) negatively influenced attitude (ATT) and purchase intention (PI). The finding of this study also revealed that attitude (ATT) mediates the relationship among environmental concern, quality inferior, and purchase intention (PI).  The findings add to the rising literature on suboptimal food purchase intention, particularly in developing countries such as Pakistan. The findings also have both theoretical and practical implications for marketers. Keywords: Suboptimal Food; Attitude; Purchase Intention; Theory of Planned Behavior; Environmental Concern; Inferior Qualit

The Impact of Harmonious Passion on Intention to Leave through Work Engagement in Banking Sector of Lahore, Pakistan

The primary purpose of this study is to explore the impact of Harmonious Passion on Intention to leave through work engagement in Banking Sector of Lahore, Pakistan. This research is significant for the employees of banking sector as it will help the top management to implement new strategies to enhance the overall passion of employees by engaging them in work so that they remain loyal to organization and don’t quit. This study is quantitative in nature as data were collected with the help of self-administered Questionnaires using simple random sampling technique through the employees working in banking sector. The accumulated data were analyzed by SPSS 22 and AMOS 22 by testing reliability, correlation analysis, regression analysis by running confirmatory factor analysis and implementing Structural Equation Modelling, mediation was tested through Barron and Kenny test to check whether it is partial or full. Results demonstrated that Harmonious Passion has a significant negative impact on intention to leave and this relationship got mediated when employees remain themselves engaged in work. When employees have the passion to work well on the job then they remain engaged in performing their duties and stay within the organization and work for its wellbeing. This study focused on the least studies area of Human resource Management in the circumstances in which it was carried out. All the concepts are interlinked in it to reduce the employee’s intention to leave the organization

The Effect of Job Crafting on Job Creativity through Job Engagement: A Case of Banking Sector of Vehari, Pakistan

This research was conducted to investigate the effect of job crafting upon job creativity and how job engagement intervenes this relationship. In this study, data were collected through self-administered questionnaires on LIKERT type scale from banking sector employees at district Vehari, Pakistan. In all, 300 survey questionnaires were circulated among which 271 were returned back yielding a useable response rate of 90%. The analysis of the data revealed that job crafting has significant positive impact on job creativity of employees working in banking sector of Vehari, Pakistan but this relationship is not only direct and job engagement plays the role of a mediator. Considering the importance of appreciations received by bankers management, policy makers should take necessary steps for improving the job engagement system and job crafting which will increase the job creativity of employees because their motivation to their profession will increase. Limitations and future guidelines have been discussed.

The Effect of Job Crafting on Job Creativity through Job Engagement: A Case of Banking Sector of Vehari, Pakistan

This research was conducted to investigate the effect of job crafting upon job creativity and how job engagement intervenes this relationship. In this study, data were collected through self-administered questionnaires on LIKERT type scale from banking sector employees at district Vehari, Pakistan. In all, 300 survey questionnaires were circulated among which 271 were returned back yielding a useable response rate of 90%. The analysis of the data revealed that job crafting has significant positive impact on job creativity of employees working in banking sector of Vehari, Pakistan but this relationship is not only direct and job engagement plays the role of a mediator. Considering the importance of appreciations received by bankers management, policy makers should take necessary steps for improving the job engagement system and job crafting which will increase the job creativity of employees because their motivation to their profession will increase. Limitations and future guidelines have been discussed.

Exogenous Melatonin Improves Cold Tolerance of Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) through Modulation of DREB/CBF-COR Pathway and Antioxidant Defense System

The strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) is an important fruit crop cultivated worldwide for its unique taste and nutritional properties. One of the major risks associated with strawberry production is cold damage. Recently, melatonin has emerged as a multifunctional signaling molecule that influences plant growth and development and reduces adverse consequences of cold stress. The present study was conducted to investigate the defensive role of melatonin and its potential interrelation with abscisic acid (ABA) in strawberry plants under cold stress. The results demonstrate that melatonin application conferred improved cold tolerance on strawberry seedlings by reducing malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide contents under cold stress. Conversely, pretreatment of strawberry plants with 100 μM melatonin increased soluble sugar contents and different antioxidant enzyme activities (ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, and peroxidase) and non-enzymatic antioxidant (ascorbate and glutathione) activities under cold stress. Furthermore, exogenous melatonin treatment stimulated the expression of the DREB/CBF—COR pathways’ downstream genes. Interestingly, ABA treatment did not change the expression of the DREB/CBF—COR pathway. These findings imply that the DREB/CBF-COR pathway confers cold tolerance on strawberry seedlings through exogenous melatonin application. Taken together, our results reveal that melatonin (100 μM) pretreatment protects strawberry plants from the damages induced by cold stress through enhanced antioxidant defense potential and modulating the DREB/CBF—COR pathway. View Full-Tex

Modelling and development of sustainable energy systems

Due to the recent climate change, organizations all over the globe are developing plans for reducing carbon emissions by developing clean energy technologies and energy efficient devices. However, the path for transition to green energy system is still unclear and in general, the representation of green energy supply for transition pathways is limited. Therefore, this study outlines a plan for getting Swedish energy sector completely carbon neutral by 2050. The approach can also be applicable to the majority of nations worldwide. Computer based simulations are performed on Energy PLAN software for making clean, green and sustainable energy system that can balance every component of entire energy system during the study period 2022 to 2050. This study takes into account the sustainable use of renewable sources for all economic sectors as well as the interchange of energy with nearby nations under the two scenarios. Additionally, the energy system works in tandem with other industries to create a fully carbon-free environment. The results revealed that, 50% de-carbonization is possible till 2035 and 100% de-carbonization is possible till 2050. This enables a discussion of how ambitious 10-year goals might serve as a first step toward the mid-century elimination of fossil fuels from the energy sector

The role of techno-economic factors for net zero carbon emissions in Pakistan

The Government of Pakistan has established clean energy transition goals in the national Alternative and Renewable Energy (ARE) Policy. The goal of this policy is to increase the 30% capacity of green energy in total energy mix by 2030. In this regard, the aim of this study is to develop a de-carbonization plan for achieving net zero emissions through the deployment of a green energy system for the period 2021 to 2040 by incorporating the ARE policy targets. The Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP®) software is used for finding the unidirectional causality among gross domestic product, population within the country, energy demand, renewable energy production and CO2 emissions for Pakistan. The results revealed that energy production of 564.16 TWh is enough to meet the energy demand of 480.10 TWh with CO2 emissions of 22.19 million metric tons, having a population of 242.1 million people and GDP growth rate of 5.8%, in the year 2040 in Pakistan. The share of green energy production is 535.07 TWh, which can be utilized fully for meeting energy demand in the country, and almost zero emissions will produce till 2040. CO2 emissions produced by burning natural gas were 20.64 million metric tons in 2020, which then reduced to 3.25 million metric tons in 2040. CO2 emissions produced by burning furnace oil are also reduced from 4.19 million metric tons in 2020 to 2.06 million metric tons in 2040. CO2 emissions produced by burning coal were 24.85 million metric tons in 2020, which then reduced to 16.88 million metric tons in 2040. Energy demand is directly related to the population and GDP of the country, while renewable utilization is inversely proportional to carbon emissions. The declining trend of carbon emissions in Pakistan would help to achieve net zero emissions targets by mid-century. This technique would bring prosperity in the development of a clean, green and sustainable environment