Exploring Perceptions of Elementary School Teachers on the Importance of School-Based Life Skills Education. A Case Study

There is an unusual increase in the cases of child abuse, early marriages, suicide, physical and mental violence causing a large number of school dropouts in elementary classes. This calls for the requirement to investigate or evaluate the perceptions of teachers about life skills education in public sector elementary schools. The study was conducted using qualitative interviews from twelve teachers of two public schools where life skill education is being taught. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. The findings of the study revealed that teachers are aware and have a positive attitude towards life skills education. This study will contribute to raising awareness.T

The Relationship between Perceived Job Satisfaction, Commitment and Loyalty in Banking Sector

In the current era of highly volatile corporate environment, organizations are facing challenges in the form of optimization of human resources in the banking sector of Pakistan. Human resources are measured as a source of ecological competitive advantage. The success of an organization depends upon several factors but the most decisive factor that effect the organizational performance and its employees. Job satisfaction is one of the most broadly discussed and devotedly studied paradigms in related disciplines such as industrial-organizational psychology, organizational behavior. The job satisfaction is the favorable or un-favorable attitude with which the employee views his and her work. Job satisfaction, thus, is the result of various attitudes possessed by an employee. The current study is in endeavor to observe and explore the impact of human resources practices on job satisfaction, Commitment & loyalty of private and public sector banking employees. In the study the scientific management model, identify that Human resource management practices like training performance appraisal teamwork and compensationhas significant impact on job satisfaction.

Eating Out: Fast Food Consumption and its Impact on Health of Young Generation of Karachi

This paper has measured the impacts of fast food on the health of the young generation. In today’s age where both the genders are working as bread earners of the family, people prefer fast foods because of the convenience factor and eating fast food is affecting and influencing the health of the young generation. The core population, who consume fast food the most frequently is teenage youth. The study is based on value expectancy theory and attempts to develop and test a theory-based questionnaire that identifies factor relating to fast food consumption and impact on health. In this qualitative study, data is collected by interviews with seven persons. The predetermine open-ended questions had been made to investigate the thoughts of respondents and indicate the key meanings that each participant had described his or her experiences. After conducting interviews from participants then identified relevant themes and are further discussed in the results. All findings are supported by the literature review that is related to this study. Moreover, the qualitative study ends with some recommendations to the young generation.

Experiencial Learning; Learning Abilities That Enhance Problem Solving Ability

Problem solving is one of the most critical aspects of an organization and a well thought out approach to problem solving has a direct correlation to an organization performance. The study sought to establish the effect of the four Kolb learning abilities (Concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation) on problem solving ability of the administrators in a university setting in the academic registrar’s department. A cross sectional survey design was employed. The population consisted of all administrators in the Academic Registrar’s department registrar’s department in four Universities in Uganda. Using Kreicjie and Morgan Sample size determination table, out of the population of 191 administrators, a sample of 123 was drawn and 103 responded. Simple random sampling was employed to give equal chance to every administrator in the department .The findings indicate a significant association between all the Kolb learning abilities and problem solving while abstract conceptualization and active experimentation are predictors of problem solving. It is recommended that administrators in universities and similar organisations should be trained in abstract conceptualization and active conceptualization skills to enhance their problem solving ability. It is also recommended that further research be conducted in a larger sample of administrators.

An Empirical Study of Educational Inequalities in Rural and Urban Areas of Pakistan

The central object of this paper is to give detailed analysis of educational disparity in Pakistan. This study is examined all over provinces of rural and urban of Pakistan including Islamabad for the period of 2014-15 and the data is used from PSLM. In particular, we calculate education inequality all over the population and beyond the employed population. This study is investigated individually male and female having age equal to 15 years and over and are not being enrolled in any educational institutions. The study finds that there is lack of education over the populace. Whereas, strength of education disparity is extremely low athwart in employed people. When we compare rural-urban areas of Pakistan. The study find that urban areas are less disparity in education as compare to rustic areas. The study also investigates that education inequality are extra serious amid female than male. The province wise contrast shows that education inequality is high in Baluchistan and Sindh while there is less education disparity is Islamabad.

How Consumers’ Skepticism is Derived from Deceptive Advertisements

This paper aims to explore how consumer behavior is derived by deceptive advertising and their effect that is consumers’ skepticism. The advertisement has a significant influence on every single person’s life and shapes the consumer’s perception. In this study, phenomenological interviews were conducted with three mature females and three males consumers by asking predetermined open-ended questions. The questions had been made to determine the thoughts and feeling about the unlawful, untrue, and mendacious advertisements. The current research shows these symbolic metaphors and highlights the essential meanings that each informant ascribed her consumer encounters. All relevant themes are identified after conducting interviews from participants through data analysis and are further discussed in the results and findings. All findings are interlinked also supported and consistent with earlier studies that are related in this context. The qualitative study ends with some recommendations to companies that think about their consumers and also follow ethical advertising practices.

Analysis of client satisfaction - A case of customers’ containment availing services from Micro Finance Institutions

The financial well-being of the people living in society is pivotal essential for the country's economic development. The distribution and access to wealth played important role in the economic activities of states. Micro-financing strategies utilized globally to promote distribution and circulation of money, increase access of people living in the low quintile of economic status to the wealth. Similar to global trends, the microfinance strategy was introduced, which is a rapidly growing sector in Pakistan for the last few decades. There are more than 45 registered micro-finance institutions (both for-profit and not-for-profit) that provide services to people at the low-income level in Pakistan. The current study analyzed the level of client satisfaction between private, public, and non-government organization Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs) operating at District Hyderabad of Sindh, Pakistan. The sample size of 300 clients receiving services from these MFIs, data collected by using random sampling technique on the instrument Likert Scale ranged from 1-5. The collected data processed through scientific methods factorial analysis, customer satisfaction index, and ANOVA. The results of the study presented that clients of non-government MFI are more satisfied as compared to public and private MFIs, male clients are more content to female, changes in family size and education change the level of client satisfaction, where age and monthly household income do not affect client satisfaction. In light of the study, it is recommended for MFIs to initiate client-centric policies especially in the public sector focus on the client glee in the response of services. In the micro-finance industry, female clients are the backbone; it is highly recommended to keep them in the center of attention during the development of policies to increase satisfaction levels.

Challenges of Pakistani Pharmaceutical Industry: Pakistan Case

The population of Pakistan is fast growing and the need for supply of medicine will continue to increase. The local pharmaceutical market is growing at a faster pace as compared with the international market. Until 1990, the reliance on the supply of medicine to cater to the national demand was on multinational companies holding major market share. Thereafter, the national pharmaceutical companies started investing to improve the quality of their product lines, employing qualif ied professionals, and ensuring compliance with the global standard of quality and good manufacturing practices. Consequently, national com- panies' market share drastically increased and the national demand for medicine is locally produced. The study results based on interviews of key stakeholders and available literature revealed that the local pharmaceutical sector is facing critical challenges of counterfeit medicine, pricing controversies, affordability of the medicine, lack of Research and Development (R&D) initiatives, and unethical marketing (bribing/cash incentives to the doctors). The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) seems ineffective to overcome these challenges, eliminate counterfeit medicines, and take measures to curb the unethical marketing practices that are risking patient life, health, and treatment cost. The study further explored that unethical marketing practices, and prescribing expensive brands by doctors, creates a serious conflict of interests and fast a decline in patient trust and affordability of medicine cost. Thus strong regulatory controls,transparency, moral and ethical values are needed to enforce drug acts and make the stakeholder's groups accountable. There is a need to punish both the companies bribing the doctors on the pretext of product promotion and doctors accepting such benef its to protect the patient's interest and limit treatment cost. Strict regulations and incentive plans for the pharmaceutical sector are needed to promote Research and Development (R&D).

Bays International Private Limited: Evolving Through Market Dynamics

Bays International was incorporated in 1996. Over the years it faced numerous challenges including: high employee turnover (particulary saleforce), limited expansion capabilities, low penetration in semi-urban markets, high operating expenses like rentals, increasing duties (on luxury products), low cash-flows, low budgets for advertising and marketing as compared to competitors, less awareness amongst consumers, volatile consumer preferences (especially by millennial), weak brands’ loyalties, counterfeits/fake products, smuggling and infiltration from grey channels, high number of foreign and local chains entering the market, price war especially with local chains, and uncertain political situation. Four interviews were conducted from management and two interviews from ex employees. Moreover, a lot of open access documents of the company were reviewed. Pertinent literature reveiew also revealed interesting insights about emerging consumer trends and cosmetic industry along with interviews of some marketing directors of leading global brands. The Bays leadership believes that key parameters are improving over time. The case covers how the company maneuvered itself since its inception and launched numerous other brands targeted towards different segments of the society, in order to steer towards growth in changing internal and external environment. The case is based on a scenario when there is yet another increase of taxes by the government in 2019 and presents troublesome situations to branding cum marketing strategy for the company to consider.

Revisit the relationship between two inflation indicators: Case of Pakistan

This research paper determines the association between two inflation indicators, consumer price index and wholesale price index in three groups' i.e. general group, food group, and non-food group. The objective is to f ind out if the relationship is unidirectional or bidirectional between CPI and WPI in all groups. For this purpose monthly data from July 1971 to December 2019 has been used. Furthermore, Cointegration has been calculated via Johansen's cointegration test on time series data to discover if the long-run aff iliation occurs between the variables. Before cointegration, it is essential to discover the stationarity of the variables for which the augmented dickey fuller test has been used at the f irst difference. Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) is also employed to check for the disturbances of divergence or convergence f inally Granger causality/Block exogenity test is applied to discover causality between variables, it also specifies unidirectional relationship or bidirectional relationship. As a result, it is found that there is a signif icant co-integration equation which indicates that there is an existence of long-run association amongst variables. On the other hand, there is also an indication of the short-run relationship among variables. Finally, a two-way causal relationship is indicated by the granger causality test, between CPI and WPI in general and food group and one-way causal association between CPI and WPI in the non-food group.