CONSUMERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS NON-LOCAL PRODUCTS: A CASE OF PAKISTAN

This study investigated the attitudes of Pakistani consumers towards non local (imported) products. Country of Origin (COO) effect was the main thing to find out. A survey questionnaire was distributed among 200 respondents in the twin cities Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The questionnaire contained the measure of, quality of the products, social status, and unavailability of local substitutes; admiration for EDCs life style, consumers’ ethnocentrism and attitudes towards non local products. Nine hypotheses were designed and tested by Pearson correlation and simple regression analysis by using SPSS 15 version. Analysis of the data showed that consumers in the developing countries like Pakistan considered the imported products as of high value and they feel a pride when having the products of the developed countries. The moderating impact of admiration for EDCs life style and consumers’ ethnocentrism was also confirmed by this study. The research findings suggest for the MNCs to go for a joint venture with a local firm or set up a foreign subsidiary to control the effect of ethnocentricity which is extremely important to cope with. Local producers and marketers should focus on the quality of their products to compete with multinational corporations in their domestic markets and survive with a rising head. This research showed that if the imported products are of high quality, more reliable and of reasonable price then ethnocentrism can not become hostile to them

Combined Effects of Psychological Capital and Psychological Contract on Employees’ Job Level Outcomes

This study examined the direct effect of psychological capital on employees’ job level outcomes. In addition, the study also examined the moderating role of psychological contract types (relational and transactional contract) on the direct relationship between PsyCap and job level outcomes. Longitudinal research design was adopted for this study and data were collected from employees working at different organizations in telecom sector. After deleting incomplete and invalid survey instruments the remaining sample size left with 411 respondents. Findings of the study revealed that PsyCap was positively related with employees’ behaviors and in-role- performance. The results also showed that psychological contract types (Relational and Transactional contract) moderated the direct relationship between PsyCap and counterproductive work behavior; however, psychological contract types (Relational Contract and Transactional contract) did not moderate the direct relationship of PsyCap with OCB, and in-role performance.Future research directions and implications of the study are also discussed. Keywords: PsyCap, relational contract, transactional contract, OCB, CWB, in-role-performance

International Human Resource Management: A Review from Pakistani Perspective

This article provides information about the International Human Resource Management and discusses HRM according to the international prospective in Pakistan. In this article it is discussed that how environmental and cultural factors affect the recruitment, selection and industry/employee relation in Pakistan. In the end some conclusions are made in reference to the context

Psychological empowerment and employee attitudinal outcomes: The pivotal role of psychological capital

Purpose The main purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of psychological capital in the relationship between perceived psychological empowerment and employee satisfaction, normative organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Design/methodology/approach To test the proposed research model, the authors collected field data from seven telecommunication companies located in the Islamabad Capital Territory of Pakistan. Through a two-wave data collection design, a total of 411 participants reported their perceptions about psychological empowerment and psychological capital at Time 1 and their job satisfaction, normative organizational commitment and turnover intention at Time 2. Findings Results supported the hypothesized relationships, showing that psychological capital fully mediates the relationship between perceived psychological empowerment and employee job satisfaction, normative organizational commitment and turnover intention. Research limitations/implications This study relied on cross-sectional data, which does not fully satisfy the conditions of establishing causality. Practical implications Results of this study will help organizations and practitioners to understand the importance of psychological empowerment and psychological capital and how they positively influence organizational performance, including employee job satisfaction, normative organizational commitment and turnover intention. Originality/value Drawing upon the self-determination theory of Deci and Ryan (2000), this study contributes to organizational behaviour literature by proposing and testing psychological capital as an underlying mechanism that can explain the impact of psychological empowerment on employee satisfaction, normative organizational commitment and turnover intention

Management's internal governance policies on flexible work practices and the mediating lens of work life enrichment – Outcome for employee work engagement and organizational attractiveness

Purpose – Using Pakistan’s public sector higher education institutions as the study site, this study aims to empirically substantiate, under the theoretical underpinnings of job enrichment theory (Hackman and Oldham, 1976) and Maslow’s (1943) theory of the hierarchy of needs, the impact of flexible work practices (FWPs), on employee work engagement and organizational attractiveness, with the mediating lens of work life enrichment. Design/methodology/approach – Field data were collected at five higher education institutions located in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) of Pakistan, using the convenience sampling technique and analyzed under the quantitative research paradigm. Findings – This study substantiates with an empirical evidence that flexible work practices (FWPs) have a significant positive impact on both employee work engagement and organizational attractiveness. Markedly, the study findings reveal that the said impact is significantly stronger than that of sabbaticals. Furthermore, the study reveals that the positive relationship is mediated by work life enrichment, signaling its significance in understanding FWP’s such impact on employee work engagement and organizational attractiveness. Practical implications – The study findings provide significant implications for academia, practitioners, and policymakers, in evidence-based recommendations for higher education institutions to design and implement FWPs that are effective in enhancing employee work engagement and organizational attractiveness, and, in turn, leading to improved organizational performance. Originality/value – This research study provides a novel contribution to the existing literature by exploring the combined impact of flexible work practices on employee work engagement and organizational attractiveness in the peculiar context of Pakistan’s public sector higher education institutions. Additionally, the study’s focus on the mediating role of work life enrichment further adds to its novelty