Critical Success Factors for Pharmaceutical Firms: The Case of Pakistan

This study is to investigate the critical success factors for Pakistani pharmaceutical firms. This study conceptualizes knowledge management, image and control as the key indicatorsof critical success factors. This study collects the data from the lower-, middle-, and top-level managers in the pharmaceutical firms in major cities of Pakistan: Lahore, Multan, Islamabad. Thisstudy performs PLS-SEM in analyzing 100 responses obtained through survey forms. Results of the study indicate that knowledge management is the element that gives rise to confession, wage, promotion and the execution of unlike objectives that increase a general exposure of the all stakeholders. It achieves a pleasurable passionate state that frequently prompts a positive organizational performance and competitive advantage. This research puts light on the gaps found in adaptation of critical success factors in Pharmaceutical industry of Pakistan as compared to the developed countries in this sector.

Impact of Behavioral Factors in Making Investment Decisions and Performance: Evidence from Pakistan Stock Exchange

Market irregularities and irrational behavior triggered investor’s changes in the stock market, and this has led to an investigation into the impact of various behavioral biases and factors affecting decision-making for individual investors. The quality of individual investor behavior in making stock investment decisions is very important to be understood as a reference of the movement of the capital market. This study investigated the role of behavioral finance and investor psychology in investment decision-making at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE). Using a sample of 147 individual investors, the study established that behavioral factors such as Herding, Heuristic, Market and Prospect that affected the decisions of the investors operating at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE). As there are a few studies in Pakistan related to behavioral finance, so this study mainly contributes to the field of behavioral finance in Pakistan. This study focusses on existing theories of behavioral finance which led to develop the hypothesis. The result of the analysis is that the four variables have greatly influenced the investment decision and return on investment. All behavioral variables have a significant impact on the decision-making process of investors, which led to the acceptance of all assumptions regarding the level of influence of behavioral factors in decision making for individual investors

Does Organizational Politics in Public Sector Mediates the Impact of Recruitment and Selection on Employee Performance

The presence of nepotism and favoritism during the execution of recruitment selection has now become a major concern for both developed and developing countries. Based on social exchange theory a framework was established to evaluate contextual performance, adaptive performance, and task performance as a result of recruitment and selection practice in an organization. Besides, the study also investigated the effect of nepotism and favoritism as a mediating variable between recruitment and selection, contextual performance, adaptive performance, and task performance. Moreover, data from 384 respondents working in the tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan were congregated and analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The results of the study reveal that recruitment and selection have a substantial impact on contextual performance, adaptive performance, and task performance. Consistently, the mediation effect was established. Furthermore, the current study is of significance for the HR managers of the hospital to formulate strategies to overcome this phenomenon particularly in the recruitment & selection process which in the end affects the healthcare employee’s performance.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Customer Loyalty: Exploring the Role of Satisfaction and Corporate Image in the Banking Industry

This study aims to determine the impact of corporate social responsibility on customerloyalty and satisfaction with the mediating effect of customer satisfaction and the moderatingeffect of corporate image in Pakistan’s banking sector. The study collected 302 responsesfrom the target population. We used a self-administered questionnaire for collecting thedata of banking customers in Pakistan by employing the convenience sampling technique.The study has used the PLS-SEM technique for statistical analysis. The results reveal thatcorporate social responsibility positively influences customer satisfaction. The results alsosuggest that CSR positively affects customer satisfaction. At the same time, CSR has aninsignificant association with customer loyalty. We also found that CS stimulates customerloyalty, and corporate image promotes CL. The results suggest that customer satisfactionmediates CSR and CL. We also found that corporate image does not moderate customerloyalty. Given the importance of CSR, we suggest that banks should allocate considerableresources for CSR activities. CSR is necessary for firms’ growth and sustainability. It also,directly and indirectly, affects the brand image, loyalty, and customer satisfaction. Due to strict regulations, banks have difficulty creating product differentiation; therefore, they relyon strategies such as CSR.

The Equity Risk Premium Puzzle in Pakistan

Our study uses the consumption-based asset-pricing power utility model to test theEquity Risk Premium (ERP) puzzle in Pakistan. The study has collected monthly stock pricedata from July 1997 to December 2017 from the PSX data portal. We extracted informationabout macroeconomic factors such as inflation and risk-free interest rate from the State Bankof Pakistan. Moreover, the study used private consumption and population data from thePakistan Bureau of Statistics. The results suggest that the ERP puzzle has a strong occurrencein Pakistan, a phenomenon previously associated with only developed markets. Onedisadvantage of the present investigation is the small sample size. A longer time durationcould have reduced short-term biases. Past researchers have suggested different approachesfor solving the equity premium puzzle. For instance, some studies used improvised structuralmodels to justify the equity risk premium puzzle using macroeconomic factors.

Impact of Financial and Non-financial Rewards on Employee Motivation and Employee Commitment among SMEs textiles sector of Karachi Pakistan

SMEs in Pakistan are not performing according to their potential. Besides other factors,they do not have a well-structured rewards package, due to which the employee motivationand commitment are low. Thus, we have developed a new model to examine the effectof rewards and packages on employee commitment and motivation. We have recruitedsix enumerators to collect the data from the target population. The enumerators havedistributed 400 questionnaires, and they received 385 filled questionnaires. The authorshave used Smart PLS version 3.2 for statistical analysis. The developed model has five directand two mediating relationships. We found support for all hypotheses. The results suggestthat financial and non-financial rewards affect employee commitment and motivation.Commitment stimulates motivation. Also, employee commitment mediates (1) nonfinancialreward and motivation and (2) financial-reward and motivation. The findings are consistent with the past literature. SMEs in Pakistan do not have a well-structured HRdepartment, and they make reward-related decisions arbitrarily. Thus, we recommend thatSMEs develop a policy for rewards that is rational and unbiased. We also recommend thatthey should balance non-financial and financial rewards.

Revisiting the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis in Pakistan

A number of studies have already determined the existence of inverted U-shaped environmental Kuznets curve in Pakistan however the role of structural breaks in determining the relationship is yet to be investigated. The objective of this study was to determine if the presence of possible structural breaks explain the existence of environmental Kuznets curve type relationship in Pakistan for the period 1980-2016 by using data of total energy consumption, Real GDP per capita, foreign direct investment and trade openness. For the analysis the study first used the conventional time series econometric methods to determine the order of integration and Cointegration in the model. Second; as it is evident from the literature that presence of structural break in the model can have a significant impact, so the study used the Zivot and Andrews unit root test with one structural break to determine the order of integration in the model and Gregory-Hansen -Cointegration method to determine the presence of structural break within Cointegration framework. The results of the study not only confirm the existence of environmental Kuznets curve in the model, it also confirms the presence of structural break in the model.

Technological Antecedents of Organizational Agility: PLS SEM Based Analysis Using IT Infrastructure, ERP Assimilation, and Business Intelligence

Organizations often ignore the use information technology infrastructure, Business Intelligence and ERP software to improvise their decision making process due to which organizational agility is suffered. Such organizations fail to make decisions according to the needs of the market that leads to the loss of market share. Based on the contingency theory, conceptual model of this study was developed using the constructs of IT Infrastructure Flexibility, Business Intelligence Use, ERP Assimilation, and Organizational Agility. Survey method was used to collect the data from the managers and executives, who are involved in the key decision making process in any organization. Total 253 out of 265 responses were considered valid and PLS SEM approach was used to test the direct and indirect effects. Results indicate that mediating effect of Business Intelligence Use and ERP Assimilation between IT Infrastructure Flexibility and Organizational Agility has been substantiated. Findings of this study conclude that IT Infrastructure should be improvised, specifically when organization is going to adopt the ERP systems and Business Intelligence to make the timely decisions according to the requirements of the market that ultimately affects the Organizational Agility.

Antecedents and Mediating Role of Green Buying Behavior

Sustainability of the environment is one of the major issues both in developed and developing countries. There is an abundance of studies on green buying behavior. However, a few have studied the mediating role of green buying behavior. Thus, we have developed a new model that has five direct and three mediating relationships. This empirical research has used a snowball sampling technique for collecting the data. We distributed 400 questionnaires and received 377 valid responses. The study has used Smart PLS software for data analysis, including reliability, validity, and generating measurement and structural models. We found that green brands, green identification, and social influence are significant predictors of green buying behavior. Further, we find that the green brand image and green buying behavior promote green satisfaction. The results also suggest that green buying behavior mediates (1) green image and green satisfaction, (2) social influence and green buying behavior, (3) self-identification, and green satisfaction. We also found that consumers have a favorable attitude towards green buying behavior. However, there is a huge gap in consumers’ attitudes and actual buying behavior. Thus, marketers and practitioners need to develop strategies that would translate a favorable attitude toward actual buying behavior.

Training & Development, Organizational Commitment and Turnover Intentions in SMEs

Training and development is an important tool for motivating employees and increasing organizational performance. Therefore, we have developed a new model in which we have empirically tested four direct relationships, three mediating relationships, and one moderating effect. We have collected the data from selected SMEs in Karachi. A total of 410 questionnaires were distributed, and 385 valid responses were available. The instrument was adapted from earlier studies. We have used Smart PLS for data analysis. Of the four direct hypotheses, we found support for two of them. Similarly, we only found support for one indirect hypothesis and no support for the moderating relationship. The study found that antecedents “availability of training and managerial support for training” stimulate organizational commitment. However, we did not find any support for the “association between motivation to learn and organizational commitment” in Karachi SMEs. In contrast to earlier literature, we found that “organizational commitment stimulates turnover intentions.” Organizational commitment mediates (1) availability of training and turnover intentions, and (2) managerial support and turnover intentions. However, the study did not support organizational commitment’s mediating role on motivation to learn and turnover intentions. Similarly, constituent attachment did not have a moderating effect in our study.